UGA Football's Stingy Defense Saves the Day for No. 1 Dawgs
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LEXINGTON - UGA Football coach Kirby Smart said he learned a lot about his team tonight at Kentucky.
*Defense Yet To Allow A TD This Season: On the year, the Bulldogs have allowed just 18 points on six field goals with UK booting four tonight. The Bulldogs came in ranked tied for fourth in the nation in Scoring Defense (3.0 ppg).
*Georgia’s leading tacklers tonight were Daylen Everette with a career-high eight plus Malaki Starks had eight. CJ Allen and Chaz Chambliss were next with had six apiece. It was a career-high for Chambliss too.
*UK finished the game with 284 yards of total offense on 73 plays. In the first half, the Wildcats led 6-3 with 130 yards of total offense on 39 plays.
*On its second possession tonight, UK became the first team to score on the Bulldogs in the first half this season after making a school-record 55-yard FG.
*In the first half, the Bulldogs had three sacks and forced three fumbles but only recovered one. Sophomore Gabe Harris Jr, notched his first career sack. Late in the 2nd quarter, junior Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins picked up a sack, his first of the year and second of his career. On the next play, Georgia’s Ryalen Wilson sacked Brock Vandagriff and forced a fumble which was recovered by Damon Wilson at the UK 23. It led to a game-tying field goal. For Raylen, he now has 1.5 sacks for the year and two for his career. It was the first career fumble recovery for Damon Wilson.
*UK began the second half with an 11-play, 61-yard drive in 5:52 that ended with a 40-yard FG and a 9-6 advantage.
*After the Bulldogs cut it to 9-6, they forced UK on its second possession to a three-and-out with 2:17 left in the 3rd quarter.
*Georgia took a 13-9 lead, and UK answered with a 51-yard FG to cut it to 13-12 with 8:01 left in the game.
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*Summary Of The Offense: Top-ranked Georgia edged UK 13-12. They ran 54 plays and tallied 262 yards of total offense.
*Senior QB Carson Beck finished 15-for-24 for 160 yards. In the first half, Beck was 5-for-11 for 32 yards plus one rush for five yards. Beck improved to 16-1 as the starting quarterback.
*Up 13-12 with 2:58 left in the game, the Bulldogs began a drive at their own 15. On 2nd-and-9, Beck connected with Dominic Lovett for a 33-yard gain to the UGA 49. The Bulldogs would run the clock down to nine seconds before punting.
*Georgia’s fifth possession in the 1st half began at the UK 23 after a fumble recovery. It resulted in a 34-yard game-tying FG to make it 3-3 with 3:53 left.
*Georgia’s first possession of the 2nd half resulted in a 30-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 9-6. It capped an 11-play, 63-yard drive in 5:11.
*On their second possession of the 2nd half, the Bulldogs marched 68 yards on 10 plays in 4:57 for a go-ahead TD. The drive was capped by a three-yard scamper by Branson Robinson, his 2nd TD of the year. Following the PAT, Georgia had its first lead at 13-9 with 12:20 left in the contest.
*Senior Dominic Lovett finished with a team-high six catches for 89 yards.
*The Bulldogs tallied 102 rushing yards. Junior Trevor Etienne had a team-high 19 carries for 79 yards.
*Starting right guard Tate Ratledge went down in the first half with a knee and ankle injuries and did not return.
*In the first half, the Bulldogs collected just 63 yards of total offense on 23 plays and trailed 6-3.
*Georgia’s three points in the first half was its lowest since last season when it trailed South Carolina 14-3 and eventually won 24-14
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*Streaking: With tonight’s 13-12 win over UK, top-ranked Georgia (3-0) now has won 42 straight regular season games dating back to the 2020 season.
*Georgia extended its SEC and school record streak of consecutive SEC regular season victories to 28.
*The Bulldogs extended their current FBS-leading streak of wins in an opponent’s home stadium to 16.
*Georgia now has won 15 straight over the Wildcats and lead the UK series 64-12-2.
*The Bulldogs are 49-2 in their last 51 games.
*Special Teams In Action: Junior Brett Thorson’s had six punts for a 49.5 average. Georgia punted only five times in their first two games.
*Thorson’s first punt tonight covered 56 yards. His next punt came out of the endzone and was 39 yards with no return. His third punt went 58 yards and into the endzone for a touchback. He has six punts of 50+ yards this season. His fourth punt of the half went for 44 yards and was downed at the UK 8. His first punt of the 2nd half covered 56 yards and went out at the UK 16. His final punt of the night was a squib attempt that went 40 yards for a touchback
*Sophomore PK Peyton Woodring tallied seven points on field goals of 34 and 30 yards plus one PAT. He handled the kickoffs too. For the year, Woodring is 6-for-6 in field goals including 4-for-4 from the 30-39 range.
*Captains, Coin Toss and For Starters: Georgia’s captains were Smael Mondon, Malaki Starks, Tate Ratledge and Trevor Etienne. UK won the toss and deferred the ball until the second half. There were two first-time starters in sophomores London Humphreys (WR) and Damon Wilson (LB). Humphreys, who is in his first year with Georgia, started five games at Vanderbilt last year.
*Up Next: The Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0 SEC) have an open date next Saturday before resuming SEC action at No. 4 Alabama (3-0) on Sept. 28 at 7:30 pm.