Heading into Saturday night’s game against Georgia Kentucky was 3-17 all-time against number-one ranked teams. They’d lost nine in a row since beating LSU back in 2007. After playing as badly as possible against South Carolina and Georgia being, well Georgia, most thought this one was a mismatch. Of course, you don’t play the game on paper, you play it on the field. UK had several chances but couldn’t get the ball in the end zone. In the end that and some questionable playcalling did them in. Let’s break it down as Georgia Edges Kentucky 13-12.
Cats Come Up Short Again
Not How The Experts Thought It Would Go
From the outset, the Kentucky defense made a statement. In fact, they held Carson Beck and the Georgia offense to four straight punts in the first half. As a result, the Wildcats held a big advantage in field position. On UK’s second drive, they got down to the Bulldog 36 before stalling. Alex Raynor nailed a school-record 55-yard field goal giving the Cats a 3-0 lead.
What Might Have Been
With 8:27 left in the second quarter, Beck hit Dominic Lovett on a completion. However, when he rolled over the ball popped up. Zion Childress snatched it out of the air taking it back for an apparent touchdown.
Imagine if this counted 😮 pic.twitter.com/z2wvRcQhbf
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 15, 2024
After a review, it was ruled an incomplete pass. You be the judge, was there enough there to overturn the call?
Last week the Big Blue Wall couldn’t keep South Carolina out of the backfield. They did a much better job until late in the first half. Vandagriff was sacked on consecutive plays, the second resulting in a fumble. Not only did the play lose 28 yards loss but a turnover to boot. Four plays later Peyton Woodring made a 34 yarder and we were tied.
Vandagriff marched the Cats down the field again getting to the Georgia 14. UK had time for a shot at the end zone. However, Stoops elected for the points and a 32-yard field goal gave the Cats a 6-3 lead at the intermission.
Going Back And Forth
Kentucky began the second half leading Georgia for the first time since 2016. The Bulldogs rallied that day for a 27-24 win. Raynor’s third field goal of the night, this time from 40, gave UK a 9-3 lead. From that point, Beck and the Bulldog offense started to click. Where they were getting stuffed by the Wildcat defense they suddenly had some seams.
A 30-yard Woodring field goal cut the lead to three and on the next possession, the Bulldogs finally hit pay dirt. Going 68 yards in 10 plays Branson Robinson took it the final three and just like that Georgia was up 13-9. Once again Kentucky had their chances and once again they stalled. A 51-yard Raynor field goal cut it to one.
One Shot At Glory
Kentucky’s defense forced a three-and-out and Vadagriff found himself 84 yards from putting his name in the history books. The Cats moved the ball to the Georgia 47-yard line by running the ball. However, on second and third down UK tried to pass to no avail. Facing a fourth and eight Stoops elected to punt and see if the defense could hold one more time.
Unfortunately for the Big Blue Nation that old issue, stopping teams on third down, reared its ugly head. On a third and nine deep in Bulldog territory, Beck hit Lovett for 33 and that was a game-breaker. UK did finally force a punt but got the ball with less than 10 seconds. They really didn’t do much and that was it as Georgia edged Kentucky 13-12.
Looking Ahead
With the loss Kentucky drops to 1-2 on the season and 0-2 in the SEC. In the process, they lose for the 15th straight time to the Bulldogs. They’ll step out of the conference next week when Ohio University comes to Lexington. That one’s a 12:45 pm kick-off on the SEC Network.
As for Georgia, they go to 3-0 on the year and 1-0 in league play. Kirby Smart’s club has a week off before heading to Tuscaloosa on September 28th for a huge one against Alabama. Of course, the Crimson Tide are the last team to beat Georgia in the regular season, that coming in November of 2020.
Final Thoughts
The last three times Georgia has come to Lexington, Kentucky held them to 14, 16, and 13 points. Unfortunately, the result is three losses. Stoops decision to not take a shot at the end zone and then punt late in the fourth quarter will be talked about for some time.
According to ESPN Analytics:
Kentucky had a 34% chance to win if they went for the 4th down.
Kentucky had a 12% chance to win if they punted.
— PELS YEAR. BBN (@pelsyear) September 15, 2024
Another hot topic is getting away from the run game on that last drive when the Cats were doing well. For the game, UK ran for 170 yards led by a career-high of 98 from Demie Sumo-Karngbaye. In addition, Jamarion Wilcox added 48. Playing against his old team Vandagriff completed 14 of 27 passes for 114 yards.
Give Stoops and the coaching staff credit they had the Wildcats ready to play after last week’s debacle. Once again they played Georgia as well as anyone. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the end zone for a second straight week and it goes down as another loss to the Bulldogs in a game they most certainly could have won.
Thanks for checking out our recap here at Last Word On College Football as Georgia edges Kentucky 13-12.
