No. 1 Georgia escapes Kentucky’s upset bid with 13-12 win
Trevor Etienne ran for a team-high 79 yards on 19 carries, helping No. 1 Georgia eke out a 13-12 win over Kentucky on Saturday in Lexington, Ky.
Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) won its 42nd straight regular-season game as Carson Beck completed 15 of 24 passes for 160 yards, while Dominic Lovett caught six passes for 89 yards in the Bulldogs’ SEC opener.
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Former Georgia quarterback Brock Vandagriff was 14 of 27 for 114 yards, while Demie Sumo-Karngbaye ran for a game-high 98 yards as Kentucky (1-2, 0-2) dropped its second straight game and its 15th consecutive game to Georgia. Alex Raynor was 4-for-4 on field-goal attempts, accounting for all of Kentucky’s scoring.
Holding a 6-3 halftime lead, Kentucky put together an 11-play, 61-yard drive that was capped with Raynor’s third field goal, extending the Wildcats’ lead to 9-3 at the 9:03 mark of the third quarter.
On the ensuing Georgia drive, Beck found Lovett for a 33-yard pass and Dillon Bell on a 20-yard pickup, setting the offense up on the Kentucky 32-yard line. Georgia got as far as the Wildcats’ 12, where Woodring hit his second field goal, a 30-yarder to trim the deficit to 9-6 with 3:52 left in the third.
After a Kentucky punt, Etienne accounted for 51 of Georgia’s 68 yards on the next drive, setting up Branson Robinson’s 3-yard rushing score, giving Georgia a 13-9 lead with 12:20 remaining in the game.
Kentucky answered with Raynor’s fourth field goal, a 51-yarder to cut the Georgia lead to 13-12 at the 8:01 mark. After forcing a three-and-out, Kentucky had a fresh set of downs on its 16 with 6:25 left but was forced to punt at the 2:58 mark.
Beginning on their own 15-yard line, Beck and company ate up nearly all of the remaining time before punting with 18 seconds left. Kentucky couldn’t advance past its own 32-yard line on the final play as the clock expired.
After Georgia punted on its first two possessions, Kentucky cracked the scoreboard with Raynor’s 55-yard field goal at the 2:45 mark of the first quarter.
Following another Bulldogs punt, Vandagriff was sacked on back-to-back plays, with the second sack resulting in a fumble that was recovered by Damon Wilson II on the Kentucky 23-yard line with 4:45 left in the second quarter.
Etienne’s 7-yard rush was the only positive play of the ensuing Georgia drive, but Woodring’s 34-yard field goal tied the game at 3-3 with 3:48 remaining in the first half.
On the following Wildcats’ drive, Kentucky ate up 3:43 of clock, taking a 13-play, 61-yard drive to the Georgia 14-yard line, where Raynor knocked down his second field goal, a 32-yarder with five seconds left in the half, giving Kentucky a 6-3 halftime advantage.
