Kirby Smart provides a silver lining for Georgia after a near-disastrous 13-12 win over Kentucky
By Josh Yourish
No. 1 Georgia escaped its SEC opener in Lexington Kentucky with a 13-12 win over the Wildcats to get to 3-0. It was nearly a disaster for the Bulldogs who only managed 262 yards of offense and trailed 9-6 after three quarters. Carson Beck finished the game 15/24 for 160 yards with no touchdowns and running back running back Branson Robinson made the lone trip to the end zone for Georgia.
Trevor Etienne finished with 79 yards on 19 carries as concerns about offensive coordinator Mike Bobo continue to fester in the fanbase. This performance came on the heels of Kentucky’s Week 2 31-6 loss to South Carolina in Lexington. In that one, former Georgia quarterback Brock Vandagriff threw for just 30 yards and completed only three passes, but Saturday night, Vandagriff went 14/27 for 114 yards and ran for 26 more, nearly matching Beck’s production.
It was obvious that Georgia did not play to its potential after underestimating a Kentucky team coming off an embarrassing home loss. In the postgame with ESPN’s Molly McGrath, Smart acknowledged that fact.
“I’m not sure our guys listened to the message all week because this is a good football team,” Smart said gesturing to the Kentucky sideline.
With the win, Georgia extended its regular season win streak to 42 straight games. The Bulldogs have now beaten Kentucky 15 straight times, the longest streak of wins against any single SEC opponent in program history. Yet, those historical marks weren’t the only silver linings that Georgia’s head coach could find.
“We’re resilient,” Smart told McGrath, “three years ago, we go to Missouri and we almost lose that game at night on the road, we played at Auburn last year, on the road, almost lost that game. So, you’ve go to find ways to win these and that’s what we did.”
Smart then added, “the best news is, we can wake these guys up and get better because the No. 1 thing we have go to do is get better.”
While Georgia was struggling in Lexington, No. 2 Texas routed UTSA 56-7 behind Arch Manning after Quinn Ewers left the game with an injury, so the Longhorns could jump the Bulldogs in the AP poll and give Smart’s team even more motivation.
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