Georgia makes pepper look spicy to beat Kentucky

Georgia may be 11-0 on the year and 8-0 in SEC play, but that Kentucky game was something…

It may have been a 16-6 road victory over Kentucky for the Dawgs, but man, was that one absolutely exhausting for Georgia fans…

With a hard-fought road win over UK, top-ranked Georgia improved to 11-0 on the year, finishing SEC play at a perfect 8-0 in back-to-back seasons. Going 8-0 in SEC play in back-to-back years has only happen twice previously: 1995-96 for Steve Spurrier’s Florida Gators and 2008-09 for Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide. Still, there was nothing enjoyable about the Kentucky game.

While Smart knew this would be a low-scoring rock fight, and a game where Georgia did not want to show much on tape from an offensive perspective, it is just unfathomable how the Dawgs almost lost this one to Kentucky. Georgia has not lost to Kentucky since falling at home in the infamous 2009 Joe Cox game. Will Levis played well in the second half, but my goodness gracious.

Next up for Georgia will be the North Avenue Trade School Bumblebees Between the Hedges.

Of course, Georgia played with its food vs. Kentucky on Saturday evening

Since these two fanbases largely overlap, I felt like I was watching an Atlanta Falcons game. I mean, the talent gap between the best college football program in the country vs. a woebegone NFL team eating an absurd amount of dead-cap is astronomical. Regardless, this was one of those games akin to major Dirty Bird shenanigans where you succumb to an ice cream headache.

It may have been cold at Kroger Field and the wind may have been a factor throughout the ballgame, but Georgia played down to its competition and almost got burnt to a crisp. If not for field goals and field position, a lesser Dawgs team would have lost to Kentucky. I understand being especially vanilla offensively with bigger games coming down the pipeline, but this one was gross.

The Dawgs struggled mightily to run the ball in short-yardage situations and in the red zone. It kind of became a running joke that they would call something extraordinarily bland on third-and-short to no avail. Even though he is an elite defensive tackle, Jalen Carter is not in fact a fullback. Going Power I with two yards to go from under center reeks of previous James Coley catastrophes.

To not kick the chip-shot field goal on fourth-and-goal to make it 19-0 Dawgs was beyond head-scratching. It would have made it a three-score game, something that Kentucky probably would not have been able to overcome. It was around this time when Levis and the UK passing game woke up, carving up a UGA secondary that probably wanted to chill next to those space heaters.

I think what this game illustrated is Georgia will continue to get its opposition’s best game no matter what, especially on the road. But as Coach Smart has often said over the last two years, it is so hard to win on the road in the SEC. Kentucky may have fallen on hard times, but the Wildcats had too much pride to mail it in this week, especially after losing at home to Vanderbilt last week.

Overall, a win is a win at this point for Georgia. Should they beat the Ramblin’ Wreck at home next Saturday, the Dawgs will be heading back to the playoff, even if they were to fall to the Bayou Bengals in Atlanta in two weeks. Although it has been hard for Georgia to get up for some of their games, when the Dawgs have needed to answer the bell, they have done so in convincing fashion.

In time, the frustrations will exit Dawg Nation’s minds over this game, but a win is still a win, y’all.

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