Kentucky football (1-2) fell short in its match up with No. 1 Georgia (3-0) on Saturday, with the Wildcats failing to score a touchdown in a 13-12 loss.
The Cats entered the contest down a starting offensive linemen in junior guard Jager Burton, with Kentucky’s two game time decisions in senior offensive tackle Gerald Mincey and junior cornerback Maxwell Hairston suiting up to start in the Cat’s second SEC game.
Kentucky would win the coin toss and elect to defer to the second half, with Georgia’s opening drive ending in a punt after a sole first down courtesy of Bulldog junior running back Trevor Etienne.
An unsportsmanlike conduct on the punt would push the Wildcats back to their own 1-yard line, but two subsequent rushes from junior quarterback Brock Vandagriff would get the Wildcats out of trouble and to their own 22-yard line.
A defensive holding call would extend the Wildcat drive after a sack on third down, with Kentucky getting another fresh set of downs shortly after following a 10-yard reception by junior Dane Key.
Kentucky would fail to move the sticks after the Key reception and would be forced to punt, but the Wildcat defense would give its offense the ball back on Georgia’s side of the field after a forced three and out and a subsequent 39-yard punt.
Senior kicker Alex Raynor would get Kentucky on the board shortly after, setting a career-long and school record with a 55-yard field goal.
The Wildcat defense would continue to hold strong as it forced yet another punt, with the Cats moving the sticks once before punting on the following drive.
Kentucky would force yet another Georgia punt after having a pick-six called back, but the following Wildcat drive would end in a Vandagriff fumble that would give the Bulldogs the ball on Kentucky’s 23-yard line.
A defended pass by senior linebacker D’Eryk Jackson would spoil Georgia’s great starting field position, but a Georgia field goal would knot the score at three.
With just under four minutes left in the half, the ball would be put back in Vandagriff’s hands. The following drive would end in another Raynor field goal with Georgia quarterback Carson Beck kneeling down to give Kentucky a 6-3 lead at halftime.
Kentucky would receive the second half kickoff, with the subsequent drive ending in yet another Raynor field goal to give the Cats a 9-3 lead.
Beck would proceed to get under center for the Bulldogs first drive of the second half, and he would proceed to march the Dogs down the field to cut the Wildcat lead in half with the game’s fifth field goal.
The Wildcats next drive would serve as their first three and out of the game, and the Bulldogs would follow with a drive capped off by the first touchdown of the game to give Georgia its first lead of the game.
Following the game’s first touchdown, the Cats would take over in hopes of answering, but would end up settling for Raynor’s fourth field goal of the game to bring Kentucky within one.
Needing at least a field goal to take the lead, the Kentucky offense would secure two first downs before being forced to punt.
Kentucky’s defense would force another Georgia punt, leaving the Wildcat offense nine seconds to get in field goal range.
Nine seconds would prove to be not enough time, and a defensive battle between the Cats and Dogs would end with a 13-12 Georgia victory.
Following the loss, Kentucky will turn its focus towards its next match up as they host the Bobcats of Ohio University, with kickoff slated for 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21.
