No. 24 Kentucky football was blown out by the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs 51-13 on Saturday in a performance that exposed many of the team’s weaknesses.
After solid performances in their first five games of the season, the Wildcats crumbled against the top team in the country in a game that should be a learning experience before the remaining schedule that includes many tough opponents.
“I told the team that the good news is it counts as just one game,” head coach Mark Stoops said following the game. “We have to respond and bounce back, and I’ll put this on me. We weren’t prepared in any area, we didn’t play very good in any area, and they beat us from the start to the finish.”
One of the things that stuck out most to people in Kentucky’s first few games, especially the win over Florida, was the strong run game, led by Ray Davis. However, Davis and JuTahn McClain were held to just 80 combined rushing yards by the Georgia defense.
Davis had many solid runs in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs figured out how to stop him after that point, and he struggled to find holes and gain more than a few yards after that.
Kentucky had trouble picking up yards and first downs in general, only gaining 183 total yards and converting 12 first downs throughout the entire game.
The Wildcats went 2-for-11 on third down against Georgia, which is definitely something that will need to change against Missouri and other future opponents.
Quarterback Devin Leary only completed 38% of his passes against the Bulldogs and 55% of his passes all season, so Leary and the receiving corps have to work together to make sure there are no big mistakes in the passing game.
Even though the offense could not come up with many scoring drives during the game, punter Wilson Berry had trouble giving the Bulldogs bad field position, averaging only 37.5 yards per punt.
On the other hand, Kentucky’s defense has performed well all season, but Georgia’s explosive offense proved to be too much to handle, gaining 435 passing yards and 608 total yards on Saturday.
The Wildcats had a very hard time making tackles, as a large portion of Georgia’s yards came after first contact or after the ball was caught.
“We’ve just got to watch the film, correct the mistakes, and go back to work,” D’Eryk Jackson, who led the team in tackles, said after the game.
At the beginning of the game, Kentucky was massively thrown off by penalties, including an offensive holding and personal foul from offensive lineman Jager Burton and unnecessary roughness on defensive lineman Deone Walker.
The penalties turned what could have been important drives into drives that just helped Georgia pull away even further.
“The moment was too big for some, we didn’t play very good, we didn’t play very disciplined, we didn’t play very rough, you know, we didn’t get it back,” Stoops said.
Kentucky made many mistakes during the matchup against Georgia, but if it wishes to be amongst the top teams in the SEC, the upcoming week against Missouri will be pivotal for the Cats. Fixing their mistakes and clinching bowl eligibility will be key now as the Cats’ schedule doesn’t get any easier.
The Wildcats will attempt to bounce back on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Kroger Field. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
