Georgia cruises to 16th straight win over Kentucky
Mark Stoops has helped Kentucky end a pair of embarrassing losing streaks to SEC rivals Florida and Tennessee during his time in Lexington, but another is trending in that direction.
Georgia recorded its 16th consecutive win over the Wildcats on Saturday in Athens, barely breaking a sweat in a 35-14 romp at Sanford Stadium.
“It’s hard. It’s frustrating. We’re not where we want to be,” said Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops, whose team dropped to 2-3 overall and 0-3 in SEC play.
It marked the Cats’ 12th loss in their last 13 league games.
Junior quarterback Gunner Stockton threw for 196 yards and a touchdown and also ran for 48 yards and two scores to help the No. 12 Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1 SEC) bounce back from last week’s loss to Alabama.
Georgia outgained UK 425-270, picking up 165 of those yards on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead on a pair of Stockton keepers for touchdowns.
“They gave us a lot of problems early with formations,” Stoops said. “Offensively, a lot of times, I don’t think people give them enough credit. It may not look very flashy and all that stuff, but they’re very hard to defend. Very physical, keep you off-balance.”
A 29-yard touchdown pass from Cutter Boley to tight end Josh Kattus sliced the Bulldogs’ lead to 14-7 at the 14:21 mark of the second quarter.
Dillon Bell scored on a 3-yard run to extend Georgia’s lead to 21-7 with 2:45 remaining in the first half.
Trailing 21-7, Kentucky had a chance to make it interesting before halftime, but saw a promising two-minute drill end with a missed 26-yard field goal by Jacob Kauwe, his first errant kick of any kind this season.
The Cats then fumbled deep in their own territory on the opening drive of the second half and found themselves down 28-7 on another 3-yard touchdown run by Bell.
Georgia made it 35-7 on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Stockton to Cash Jones with 4:23 left in the third quarter.
A 5-yard touchdown pass from UK’s Boley to Kendrick Law with 1:51 remaining in the game capped the scoring.
Boley, a redshirt freshman making his second road start, finished the game 25 of 41 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. He was also intercepted in the end zone and sacked twice.
Kentucky was unable to get its running game on track, finishing with just 45 yards on 22 carries. Seth McGowan had 44 of those yards on 11 carries before exiting after reaggravating a leg injury he sustained last week at South Carolina.
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In our “Rapid Recap” feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss…
GAME BALL:
Gunner Stockton, Georgia — The Bulldogs’ latest low-profile quarterback did a nice job of managing the game and keeping the UK defense off-balance with his running ability. His 48 yards rushing on only six carries were probably more impactful than his 196 through the air.
BY THE NUMBERS:
2 – Touchdown passes by Cutter Boley were the most by a UK freshman quarterback in an SEC road game since Morgan Newton threw two against Georgia in 2009.
9/12 – Georgia offense on third-down conversions.
11:24 – Time of possesion for UGA in the first quarter.
14 – Receptions by Kentucky wide receivers, a season-high. Kendrick Law led the pack with six.
65-12-2 – The Bulldogs’ all-time lead in the series against the Wildcats.
298:09 – Time into the season when UK got its first touchdown pass to a wide receiver.
QUOTABLE:
“I hate to give anything like that legs… There’s zero (chance) I’m walking away. Know what I mean? Zero. There’s no quit in me. That’s unequivocally, 100% false, and anyone who says otherwise is lying.” — UK head coach Mark Stoops responding to a report that he approached Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart on negotiating a buyout last season.
UP NEXT:
Kentucky has its second open date of the season next week prior to playing host to Texas on Oct. 18 at Kroger Field. The No. 9 Longhorns (3-1, 0-0 SEC) are playing this afternoon at Florida.