ATHENS - After falling behind 7-0 in the first two SEC games this year and trailing after the first quarter (21-7 at UT, 7-0 vs. #17 UA) and at halftime (21-17 at UT, 24-14 vs. UA), Georgia posted a 14-0 lead after the first quarter today and led 21-7 at halftime on its way to a win.
*Georgia took the opening kickoff 75 yards on 12 plays for a 7-0 lead with 8:51 left in the 1st quarter. Then, it drove 96 yards on 13 plays with another TD for a 14-0 advantage with 55 seconds left in the 1st quarter. The Bulldogs finished 9-for-12 on 3rd Downs today.
*Series History and Bouncing Back: With today’s 35-14 win, Georgia leads the UK series 65-12-2 including winning the past 16 meetings. This is the second longest winning streak against an opponent in school history, trailing only the 22 in a row against Mercer from 1892-1941.
*Georgia improved to 17-3 after a loss under Kirby Smart. Georgia has not lost back-to-back games in the regular season since 2016 and has not dropped two in a row since the 2018 postseason.
*Reviewing The Offense: Georgia tallied 35 points, gaining 425 yards (180-rushing, 245-passing) on 71 plays in the victory.
*Redshirt junior QB Gunner Stockton finished the day 15-for-23 for 196 yards with one passing TD, 2 rushing TDs and one INT in three quarters. Stockton posted a seven-yard rushing TD for a 7-0 lead to cap the opening drive and then a six-yarder for the second. The 96-yard drive came on 13 plays in 5:15. Also, Stockton had two rushing TDs in the season-opening win over Marshall.
*RS-freshman QB Ryan Puglisi (3-4, 49 yards, 1 INT) came in for the final drive of the 3rd quarter and finished the game.
*Georgia took a 21-7 lead on a three-yard run by wideout Dillon Bell that finished a six play, 40-yard drive in 2:49. It was one of two he had on the day to give him five rushing TDs for his career. Also, he had a team-high four catches for 68 yards.
*Redshirt freshman Chauncey Bowens led the team in rushing with 15 attempts for 70 yards). He was making his first career start.
*Nine different Bulldogs had a catch today. Senior Dillon Bell had a team-high four for 68 yards while junior Zachariah Branch had four catches for 18 yards. Freshman tight end Elyiss Williams had a career-high three receptions for 48 yards
*The Bulldogs went up 35-7 with 4:23 left following a nine play, 71-yard TD drive that was capped by a 16-yard pass to Cash Jones on 3rd-and-goal. It was Jones’ first score this year.
*Up 35-7 with 12:31 left in the contest, Georgia failed to convert a 4th-and-1 at the UK 11. They Bulldogs are 5-for-7 on 4th Down this year.
*A Look At The Defense: UK was held to 14 points, tallying 270 yards of total offense (45-rush, 225-passing) on 64 plays.
*UK cut it to 14-7 early in the 2nd quarter on its second possession, going 75 yards on four plays in 1:34. The drive ended with a 29-yard TD pass from Cutter Boley to tight end Josh Kattus. UK’s final score was a 23-yard drive after an INT and came with 1:51 left in the contest to make it 35-14.
*The leading tacklers were junior CJ Allen and sophomore Justin Williams with six apiece.
*Junior CJ Allen notched his second sack of the year plus had his first career caused fumble and fumble recovery. Redshirt freshman Nnamdi Ogboko collected his first career sack. Ellis Robinson IV picked up his second career INT, this one on a red zone stop in the 4th.
*Points Off Turnovers: UK got seven points off two Bulldog miscues. Opponents only have 16 points off seven Bulldog turnovers this year.
*Georgia notched its first fumble recovery of the year as CJ Allen got it after forcing it with 13:18 left in the 3rd quarter at the UK 38. It led to a TD and a 28-7 lead. Ellis Robinson IV got his second INT of the year with 4:02 left in the contest. Georgia is now -2 in Turnover Margin.
*Checking In On Special Teams: Junior PK Peyton Woodring tallied five points on PATs plus took care of the kickoffs.
*All-America punter Brett Thorson had one punt for 60 yards that went out at the UK 1 with an assist by gunner London Humphreys. It was his fourth of 50+ yards this season and seventh played inside the 20 out of 12 total on the year.
*Junior Zachariah Branch had one punt return for 15 yards.
*Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters: Georgia’s captains were Monroe Freeling, Lawson Luckie, Daylen Everette, and Quintavius Johnson. Freeling went down with a leg injury in the first quarter and did not return.
*Kentucky won the toss and elected to defer the ball until the second half. Georgia took a 7-0 lead on its opening drive.
*Georgia started its fifth different offensive line of the season as a pair of true freshmen in Dontrell Glover (RG) and Juan Gaston Jr. (RT) comprised the right side. This marks the first time since 2008 that the Bulldogs started two true freshmen on the offensive line as that year Cordy Glenn (G) and Ben Jones (C) started the final seven games of the season.
*Homecoming: Georgia celebrated Homecoming this week, and at halftime, Jacob Harper and Kate Hacker were named the Homecoming King and Queen. Harper is a fourth-year agricultural and environmental science communication and journalism major from Pelham, Ga. Hacker is a fourth-year marketing major from Cartersville, Ga. The Bulldogs improve to 83-18-2 on Homecoming including winning nine straight.
*Up Next: Georgia (4-1, 2-1 SEC) will travel to Auburn (3-2, 0-2 SEC) with kickoff at 7:30 pm ET on ABC. The Tigers enjoyed an open date today after road losses to No. 11 Oklahoma (24-17) and No. 9 Texas A&M (16-10) the previous two weeks.
