D’Andre Swift had his best game of the season, as the Georgia Bulldogs beat the Kentucky Wildcats to win the SEC East for the second year in a row.
In one of the biggest games of the season, the No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs ran all over the No. 9 Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington on Saturday afternoon. Not only did Georgia win the ball game 34-17, but the Dawgs won the SEC East for the second consecutive season. Sophomore running back D’Andre Swift was everything for Georgia in this division title clincher.
While Georgia had been a top-10 team for the entire season, it hasn’t always been easy for the Dawgs to run the football with conviction. Even though they lost both Nick Chubb and Sony Michel to the NFL, Georgia had faith in its new tailback tandem in the form of Swift and junior Elijah Holyfield.
However, Swift had not had a 100-yard rushing game until last week’s neutral-site victory over the Florida Gators down in Jacksonville. Thanks to an 83-yard scamper to put the Dawgs up 28-3, Swift had easily his best day on the ground this season. He finished with 16 carries for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Holyfield had a great day himself, as he rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
With their win over SEC East foe Kentucky, Georgia will await the winner of No. 1 Alabama versus No. 3 LSU in the SEC Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Dec. 1. But does Georgia really have what it takes to beat the SEC West winner in a few weeks? Has Georgia found itself since falling to LSU over in Baton Rouge just a few weeks ago?
Though Georgia has lost to both the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers in their most recent meetings, this revitalized running game headlined by Swift and Holyfield makes for a more compelling title bout matchup.
Georgia has been strong on defense for most of the season, though head coach Kirby Smart would like to see his pass rush get after it a bit more. That being said, Georgia did have four quarterbacks sacks of Kentucky signal-caller Terry Wilson on the afternoon.
Ever since getting embarrassed in Baton Rouge by the Bayou Bengals, sophomore quarterback Jake Fromm has been one of the more confident signal callers in the Power 5. Winning at Kroger Field against the best Kentucky team in who knows how long can’t be overlooked in any capacity.
All that aside, for Georgia to continue its quest potentially back into the College Football Playoff, the Dawgs will need to lean on both Swift and Holyfield in the running game. Fromm has shown that he can make the big-time, high-pressure throws, but isn’t at his best attempting close to 30 passes in a game.
Georgia may have lost a ton of talent to the 2018 NFL Draft, but asserted its dominance over its division rivals. The Dawgs went 6-0 in SEC East play for the second straight season. Georgia still has its cross-divisional rival in the Auburn Tigers left on the slate to close out SEC play.
However, this game will be in Athens and a three-loss Auburn team hasn’t won on the road versus Georgia since 2005. Georgia will host Auburn next week with two non-conference games left on the slate versus the UMass Minutemen and Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Congratulations to Georgia for winning its ninth share of the SEC East division crown since 1992. This will be the seventh time the Dawgs will play in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. In their first six, Georgia has gone 3-3 in those title bouts. Will the Dawgs get to 4-3 this December, albeit in upset fashion? We will just have to wait and see.