Georgia Football dominates Kentucky to win SEC East

The Georgia Football team won it’s second straight SEC East title when they beat the Kentucky Wildcats 34-17 at Kroger Field.

The Atlanta Falcons might want to start thinking about renting out locker room space to the other Georgia Football team. The men who don the red and black are once again SEC East champions, and they will play their third game at Arthur Blank’s palace in a calendar year.

D’Andre Swift averaged almost ten yards per carry, adding 156 rushing yards on just 16 carries to go with his two touchdown scores. His 83-yard jaunt put the Dawgs up 28-3 in the third quarter and essentially iced the game away. Elijah Holyfield added 115 and a touchdown on 18 carries, and the Dawgs stole the Kentucky Wildcats’ groceries on Saturday afternoon at Kroger Field. What began as a raucous sea of blue maniacs with dreams of turning the Peach State capitol into “Catlanta” eventually turned into thousands of disgruntled fans exiting with a few minutes remaining in the game’s final frame.

The Wildcats’ vaunted running game, once thought to be the reason why they might win the game, was held to just 84 total yards on 35 carries, good for an average of 2.4 yards per carry. Benny Snell Jr., Kentucky’s workhorse tailback, was limited to 73 yards on 20 carries to go along with a short touchdown run. Snell could be seen visibly limping before halftime, as the much-maligned Georgia defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage for long stretches of the contest. Ranked near the bottom of the SEC in sacks, the Dawgs racked up four on Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson. Wilson compiled decent numbers, completing 23 of 29 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown pass to Asim Rose.

Jake Fromm, despite only throwing for 113 yards, was very efficient, completing 14 of 20 passes. He found Isaac Nauta on a 4-yard touchdown pass on the Dawgs’ opening drive of the game that was set up by a 65-yard Mecole Hardman punt return. Georgia got a little banged up over the course of the game. Head coach Kirby Smart told the media during his post-game press conference that freshman guard Cade Mays suffered a stinger, center Lamont Gaillard possibly hyperextended his knee, and Hardman got banged up but could’ve returned.

Georgia out-gained Kentucky 444-310, with 331 of those yards coming on the ground. Freshman phenom Justin Fields, whose playing time (or lack thereof) has been the center of heated debate among the Georgia faithful, saw meaningful snaps and contributed 26 yards on six carries, including a crucial third-down conversion late in the third quarter. Truthfully, the Dawgs might have had an even easier afternoon if not for two fumbles. One came on a bad snap from backup center Trey Hill, and the other on a botched handoff between Fromm and Swift. Georgia was able to even things out, however, with two fumble recoveries of their own. Several freshmen from the heralded 2018 recruiting class saw action as well, including Brenton Cox, Channing Tindall, and Adam Anderson.

Now, Georgia awaits a home date with Auburn to conclude its SEC slate, followed by home bouts against UMass and in-state rival Georgia Tech. But as this Saturday night winds to a close, all eyes are rightly focused on Saturday night’s tilt in Baton Rouge between #1 Alabama and #3 LSU. The Dawgs will likely meet the winner of that game on Saturday, December 1st in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game. For now, Kirby Smart’s team will savor its ownership of the east yet again.