Position Grades: UK-UGA

Kentucky fell to Georgia 35-14 and dropped to 0-3 in the SEC on Saturday afternoon. The team may have competed, but the game itself was not especially competitive.

Here are position grades for each unit on the field from CI publisher Justin Rowland.

Quarterback: B

It was a tough assignment for Cutter Boley, but the bright spot was Georgia doesn’t get after you with a pass rush the same way some other teams do. Boley was 25/42 for 225 yards, two touchdowns and one pick. He was sacked twice. While there were some opportunities Boley missed and areas where he could have been better, could have gotten rid of the ball or let one go quicker, he wasn’t the problem on Saturday.

Running Back: C

There wasn’t a lot of free room for the backs to move. Seth McGowan ran hard and finished with 44 yards on 11 carries, but he also fumbled one away that really hurt the Cats. Dante Dowdell couldn’t find any room to run and ended the game with nine yards on four attempts.

Wide Receiver: C

They didn’t match up especially well with Georgia’s defensive backs. From the frames we could see on the broadcast, Georgia defensive backs were generally running stride for stride with Kentucky’s receivers and that led to Boley throwing to some pretty tight windows. Kendrick Law led the team with six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. Cam Miller came on strong in the second half and showed some great hands, grabbing three balls for 41 yards. Hardley Gilmore, Ja’Mori Maclin, and Fred Farrier all had receptions but they were more bottled up and did less damage.

Tight End: B

The tight ends didn’t have as much of an impact as they have had in some other games but Josh Kattus had a 29-yard reception and Willie Rodriguez had a catch taken away on a questionable call by the replay officials.

Offensive Line: B

It didn’t seem like too bad of a day for the offensive line. There were areas that could have improved but Boley was only sacked twice and one of those wasn’t due to the line. The backs combining for 53 yards on 18 carries isn’t very impressive but there were not too many breakdowns up front. There were a couple of things Jager Burton could have done better. On one play near the goal line all of the other linemen moved before the ball was snapped and it messed with the timing of the play.

Defensive Line: B-

This wasn’t the defensive line’s best game. Kentucky didn’t have any sacks. Georgia rushed for 180 yards, and about 130 yards in the first half when the game’s tone was being decided. Several defensive linemen chipped in on tackles in the backfield but they didn’t win the matchup with Georgia’s offensive line, which was banged up and playing some young guys. They needed to own that matchup a little more to have a real chance at an upset.

Linebacker: C

Alex Afari had six tackles and was the best linebacker in the game. There were no sacks in the game and tackling was an issue for the fourth game in a row. UK only forced one punt on the day.

Defensive Back: B-

Jordan Lovett had a nice interception in the first half and UGA might have gotten points that drive so it was a big play. JQ Hardaway led the team with 11 tackles. He did have a penalty that gave UGA an automatic first down deep in Kentucky territory. UGA quarterbacks did throw two picks, but they also completed 18/27 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown. The Dawgs averaged 13.6 yards per completion.

Special Teams: C

Jacob Kauwe picked a bad time to miss his frst collegiate field goal attempt. Kentucky had driven the ball down deep in UGA territory with a strong late half drive but he missed and the Cats didn’t get any points. That was a crushing moment. Georgia had a big punt return that almost went for an even bigger return. Aidan Laros was strong again, averaging 47 yards on five punts and dropping two deep in UGA territory. This unit had a subpar day but still looks like a pretty formidable special teams group.

Coaching: C

There weren’t many moments where you thought the coaching was horrible on game day. Kentucky was in a position to make the game interesting late in the first half so it wasn’t an all systems fail as an effort and the preparation was there. But they were not able to run the ball much against Georgia and relied very heavily on the pass. Boley had about four times as many pass attempts as McGowan had rush attempts. UK never really tested the Bulldogs and all three units had mediocre results.