When the most important plays in Georgia's win over Kentucky on Saturday afternoon were a couple of referee re-spots, you know you just witnessed an old-school football game. But you'll hear no complaints from the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs, who needed little more than that to record a 14-3 victory over the host Wildcats.
The win, Georgia's 11th in a row over Kentucky, should set up another top-10 matchup against Florida next Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla. The Gators (2-1) play host to Missouri on Saturday night, but will do so still short of players because of a recent COVID-19 outbreak on the team.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs (4-1) played as conservatively as they have during the Kirby Smart era, which is saying something. Georgia recorded touchdown drives on its opening possessions of both the first and second halves, and that was it. The Bulldogs passed up an opportunity to kick a field goal deep in Kentucky territory late in the game and turned the ball over on downs.
Georgia got a career-high 136 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown from sophomore running back Zamir White, and rushing accounted for 215 of their 346 total yards in the game. Quarterback Stetson Bennett recorded the other score on a 2-yard run but threw two more interceptions, giving him five in the last two games.
Kentucky, playing behind first-time starter Joey Gatewood at quarterback, was held to just 229 yards, with only 91 of that coming on passes.
All that was good news for Georgia. The bad news is the Bulldogs headed back to Athens a beat-up football team. Defensive players Lewis Cine (ankle), Jordan Davis (shoulder), Julian Rochester (knee) and Quay Walker (concussion) all left the game and did not return.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were playing without wide receiver George Pickens (shoulder) and running back Kenny McIntosh (knee), who did not make the trip to Lexington.
