Riding Home: No. 1 Georgia Grinds Out Kentucky to Gain Major Hold on SEC East
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ATHENS - Dean Legge, Matt DeBary and Ryan Kerley talk about the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs‘ game with the No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats.
*Another Dominating Day For The Defense: Top-ranked Georgia (7-0, 5-0 SEC) came in leading the nation in Scoring Defense and now have allowed only 46 points through seven games, the lowest total in that span since 1971 (also 46). #11 UK added its second TD with four seconds left in the contest for a 30-13 final. UK was only the second team to score a TD in the red zone this season. The first came in the first half and capped a 75-yard drive in 14 plays that took 6:42. The second Red Zone possession ended with a blocked field goal by Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt. The third Red Zone trip resulted in a TD with four seconds left, ending a 22 play, 75-yard drive in 11:23.
The leading tackler was senior Quay Walker with a career-high nine. Meanwhile sophomore Jalen Carter had a career-high six tackles, 2.5 TFL and a sack. Travon Walker and Adam Anderson each picked up a half sack as Anderson has a team-leading 4.5 sacks while Walker has 2.5. Freshman Kelee Ringo picked up his first sack.
*Bennett Leads Offense: Georgia QB senior Stetson Bennett (14-for-20, 250 yards, 3 TDs) got the start for the third straight week and fourth overall this season. With today’s victory over No. 11 UK, Bennett is now 8-2 as a starter including 4-0 this season. He got the nod in place of the injured JT Daniels (lat). He completed a 19-yard TD pass to senior RB James Cook on 3rd and 4 for a 7-0 lead with 14:54 left in the 2nd quarter. In the second half, Bennett connected with freshman Brock Bowers for a pair of scores that covered 20 and 27 yards.
*Rushing Highlights: Georgia tallied 166 rushing yards on 27 attempts for a 6.1 average. Sophomore Kendall Milton had a career-long 35-yard run today, which was the longest by a Bulldog this year. Senior Zamir White (12 rushes, 46 yards) notched his team-leading seventh rushing TD, a 24-yarder. Also, senior James Cook (6 rushes, 51 yards) had his second TD catch of the year (19-yarder) and fourth of his career to give the Bulldogs an early lead.
*Array of Targets: Georgia completed passes to seven different receivers. Freshman TE Brock Bowers led the group with five catches for 101 yards and two TDs. It was his second career 100-yard game. He picked up his fifth receiving TD, a 27-yarder from Bennett for a 21-7 lead with 12:13 left in the 3rd. His sixth score came on a 20-yard pass in the fourth quarter and tied the mark for most TD catches by a TE in school history dating back to at least 1968 (Leonard Pope, 6 in 2004). True freshman Adonai Mitchell had three receptions for 43 yards.
*Special Teams Summary: Senior punter Jake Camarda finished with four punts for a 47.3 average including a season-long 63-yarder and one for 50 yards that was downed at the five by freshman Kamari Lassiter. Junior Jack Podlesny was 3-for-4 on PATs and made a 26-yard FG. He is 33-for-34 in PATs this year and 10-for-13 on FG. Also, Georgia blocked a field goal attempt as Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt combined for it. It was the first since Davis blocked a FG versus Cincinnati in the 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Georgia missed a PAT today to end its school and NCAA record for Consecutive PATs made at 363. It dated back to 2014 and included six kickers. Georgia’s Jalen Carter blocked UK’s final PAT.
*For Starters & Game Captains: Georgia had one first-time starter in Dan Jackson (DB). The captains were junior Nakobe Dean (LB), junior Travon Walker (DL) and senior Zamir White (RB). Georgia won the toss and elected to defer the football until the second half.
*Series History: With the 30-13 win, Georgia is now 23-11 versus top 25 teams under Kirby Smart including 4-0 this year. Georgia now has a 61-12-2 edge in the series history including winning 12 straight over UK. Georgia (7-0, 5-0 SEC) returns to action Oct. 30 versus Florida (4-3, 2-3 SEC) in Jacksonville. Kickoff will be at 3:30 pm ET (CBS).
*Homecoming King & Queen: The King and Queen were fourth year students Carter Marks (St. Simons Island, Management and Economics major) and senior Carley Hale (Atlanta, Exercise & Sports Science major).
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*DawgPost.com has teamed up with Fanatics to connect our readers with the best selection of officially licensed UGA fan gear out there. If you purchase through our links, we will earn a commission that will support the work we do on this site.