LEXINGTON, Kentucky – College GameDay was ready to set up camp here for the Georgia-Kentucky game on Saturday until the South Carolina Wildcats suffered a loss.
It turned out that the duel was worth the prime-time slot on ABC.
No. 1 Georgia had to dig deep into its pockets to secure a harder-than-expected 13-12 victory at Kroger Field.
There are plenty of games that justify ESPN’s roadshow following Georgia, like the Deadheads or Swifties travel from city to city.
Next up: No. 4 Alabama on Sept. 28, No. 3 Texas on Oct. 19 and No. 5 Ole Miss on Nov. 9.
“We’re going to Bryant-Denny and a lot of other places this year,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “Any time we go on the road, it’s going to be an adventure. I mean, it’s a tough schedule, guys. When we got it, I knew it. I mean, the first game I pointed out was Kentucky because everyone was talking about the other three away games.”
No. 9 Tennessee also stands between the hedges.
If you include the win over then number 14 Clemson, there are five seeded opponents.
Alabama has a new coach Kalen DeBoer, quarterback Jalen Milroe and fabulous first-year wide receiver Ryan Williams, and like Georgia, has two weeks off after crushing Wisconsin 42-10 in an impressive road win in a Big Ten country on Saturday.
“I don’t know if we can rest and recover,” Smart said. “I mean, that’s what people mean by off weeks. We have to find a way to improve and get better. You know, we were really banged up before this game, especially at one position, and it was a really rough week for us.”
Former Alabama running back Mark Ingram warned on Fox after the game: “I think the defense has to get stronger at the line of scrimmage. They allowed 149 rushing yards to Wisconsin today. … Georgia is coming to town and they’re going to have to play a lot better up front to win the game.”
Georgia had only played against five higher-ranked opponents five times in the regular season, once under Smart.
This happened in the 2018 regular season, but the highest rankings were achieved by Florida and Kentucky, who were ranked 9th at the time.
Four of Mark Richt’s teams played against five seeded opponents in the regular season.
The Bulldogs’ best performance in 2014 was Auburn (No. 9), and its 2008 team also had five wins, including a Florida (No. 5) team that crushed the Bulldogs 49-10 and Alabama (No. 8) that blacked out Georgia 41-30.
In 2005, the five included a top-10 opponent, No. 7 Tennessee. In 2001, Georgia played two No. 6 teams, including Tennessee, which they beat by a wide margin, 26-24.
Georgia again played without injured defensive linemen Mykel Williams, Warren Brinson and Jordan Hall on Saturday. Defensive end Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins was injured during the game but still played most of the snaps he had at Georgia, according to Smart.
Nazir Stackhouse and Christen Miller also took on larger roles in a game in which Kentucky had more snaps than Georgia (73-54) and time of possession (35 minutes to 25).
“We’re missing some key D-linemen,” cornerback Julian Humphrey said. “We’re missing a lot of guys. Once we get those guys back, things will be better for us.”
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck after the Bulldogs won with their lowest total yards (262) and points (13) since a 10-3 victory over Clemson to start the 2021 season.
“We can’t make excuses,” he said. “We didn’t come here to play our style of football.”
Georgia still has a 16-game winning streak at its opponents’ home stadiums – the best in the country – and travels to Tuscaloosa on September 28th.
“We’re going to get better and better offensively,” Smart said. “We have to keep getting better, but it’s pretty hard. I mean, I don’t know if anyone in college football has been able to keep that up. It’s just hard.”
This article originally appeared in the Athens Banner-Herald: Unranked Kentucky is the start of big tests for the still unbeaten UGA football team
