LIVE BLOG: Kentucky vs. Georgia

Late TD for Kentucky

It feels like deja vu. Kentucky punched in a late touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Boley to Kendrick Law to make the final score look like a much more respectable 35-14.

Garbage-Time Interception

True freshman Grant Grayton was in the right place at the right time. Ryan Puglisi’s pass skied right to the cornerback, who returned it inside the Georgia 25-yard line. Kentucky might punch in one more score here in the final 2:30 minutes while trailing 35-7. Under bettors are sweating.

Cam Miller Made Some Fun Plays

Kentucky put in the true freshman wide receiver while Georgia rolled with its twos. Cameron Miller had two of the most impressive catches of the season. Wide receiver play has not been good. He looks like a viable option forward after catching 3 passes for 41 yards.

Punt Time

Kentucky got a first down, thanks to a Georgia penalty, but they didn’t get much more. Georgia is getting the ball back up 35-7 before the start of the third quarter. Yes, we still have another quarter to play. Thanks for following along, folks.

More Bad News

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Seth McGowan asked to come out of the game. I thought it was just fatigue. Nope, he’s injured, questionable to return.

At least next week is a bye?

It’s Getting Ugly

On third and 4, Dillon Bell caught a one-handed pass for a 33-yard gain. On third and goal from the 16, running back Cash Jones ran away from the UK defense for a score. Even if he didn’t catch it, a late hit on the QB would’ve given the Dawgs a first down.

It’s 35-7 and we still have 20 minutes of football to play. The route is on.

Important Update

Quick Georgia Touchdown is a Dagger

A quick tackle for loss didn’t help Kentucky. Georgia turned a short, 6-yard pass into a 36-yard gain by TE Oscar Delp to get to the 5-yard line. The Cats held firm against two traditional runs before Mike Bobo called a reverse to Dillon Bell, who walked into the end zone for his second touchdown of the day.

It’s 28-7 and things are looking bleak and hopeless.

Another Disaster

Kentucky looked like it was starting a competent possession to kick off the second half. Then Seth McGowan was stripped.

Officials initially ruled that Kentucky recovered the fumble. The Cats did not quickly get a snap off, giving replay review enough time to overturn it, giving the ball to Georgia at the 38-yard line following their first fumble recovery of the season.

Kentucky’s defense is struggling

Seth McGowan (53 yards from scrimmage on 9 touches) is finding some success and Cutter Boley (7.8 yards per attempt) did some good things for Kentucky in that first half. The offense had some moments. The same has not been really true for the defense. Brad White’s group had no answers that half. UGA was ahead of the chains constantly and got to live in third-and-short.

Missed Field Goal

Aside from one pre-snap issue that cost Kentucky a timeout and about 20 seconds, we saw the best 2-minute offense from a Mark Stoops team in a long time. Kentucky got inside the 10-yard line with 8 seconds to play, but couldn’t get into the end zone. Jacob Kauwe had a chip shot, but missed his first field goal of the season. Georgia leads 21-7 and Kentucky gets the ball first to start the second half.

Georgia Capitalizes on Short Field

The Dawgs only needed to go 40 yards to get into the end zone. A defensive holding penalty on third down put Georgia in the red zone. A couple of runs later, Dillon Bell took a jet sweep into the end zone to give UGA a 21-7 lead.

Flag Erases Long Return

Kentucky couldn’t do anything on offense from the shadow of its own goalpost. On the ensuing punt, Zachariah Branch got a seam and returned it inside the Kentucky 30, but a holding call took away some of those yards. Georgia can regain all momentum with a touchdown-scoring drive.

Kentucky gets a Stop!

The Kentucky defense hadn’t been playing well. They bowed up at the right time.

Cats got a TFL on a first down run, then put pressure on Stockton, who looked rattled for the first time today. Unfortunately, it’s a long climb uphill for the offense. Brett Thorson punted it 60 yards, then the ball took a great bounce out of bounds at the 1-yard line.

Two Injuries

Georgia’s left tackle is in the locker room with an injury, which means the Dawgs are without both starting offensive tackles. Jordan Lovett picked off a pass earlier, but now he’s in the locker room with a shoulder injury.

Missed Opportunity

Off the turnover, Kentucky elected to throw the football. It didn’t work.

Boley elected not to try to squeeze in a pass against Georgia’s man coverage on first down and was tackled for no gain. A screen picked up one yard. They actually got Fred Farrier open about 20 yards down field but he couldn’t haul it in.

The quick three-and-out isn’t going to help this gassed Kentucky defense. Not sure if the Cats will have a better opportunity all day.

TURNOVER TIME!

It looked like Georgia was going to effortlessly move the ball down the field for another touchdown. The Kentucky pass defense was getting picked apart, until it wasn’t.

Jordan Lovett read the pass to the seam like a book and picked off the pass inside the 10-yard line. The Cats got the ball down one score around the UK 25-yard line.

TOUCHDOWN KENTUCKY!

The play-action pass did what it was intended to do. Georgia’s defense bit on the fake and Josh Kattus leaked out to give Boley a wide-open target. The tight end went untouched for the 29-yard touchdown.

This offense isn’t known for its ability to score fast. They just went 75 yards on four plays in 94 seconds. What a time to be alive.

An Explosive Play!

Kentucky ended the first quarter with its biggest play of the day. Kendrick Law got a block on the quick screen and raced 38 yards down the field to get to the 32-yard line. Kentucky has to get a touchdown because coming back from down 14 points is not Mark Stoops’ specialty.

Stockton’s Legs Power 96-Yard TD Drive

Kentucky had Georgia backed up into its own end zone. It didn’t matter. They went almost the entire distance of the field in 13 plays and five minutes.

The Cats had a chance to get off the field on third and short. Stoops called a timeout, then Stockton ran for 18 yards. They went tempo on the following play, and a late hit got the Dawgs into the red zone. Stockton juked two Kentucky defenders to walk into the end zone and give UGA a 14-0 lead.

Georgia ran 25 plays in the first quarter. Kentucky gets the ball back with under a minute left on the clock.

Mistake Kills a Promising Kentucky Drive

We’ve seen this before.

Seth McGowan helped the Cats pick up a first down with a pair of runs. Kentucky went play-action and Cutter Boley made a great play to avoid the free rusher, then delivered a dart to Josh Kattus for a first down.

*Flag on the Play*

An illegal man downfield made it 1st and 15. Kentucky was able to get it to a manageable distance on third down, the protection was good, but nobody was open. The penalty killed a decent drive, forcing Kentucky to punt.

At least Laros has a boot. The punter smashed it 55 yards, forcing Georgia to start its drive near the 4-yard line.

Methodical Georgia TD

The Dawgs had a couple of explosive runs on the opening drive, but this was a long, sustained drive that took 12 plays and 6:09 off the clock. Gunner Stockton’s legs made the two most crucial plays. He moved the chains on a third and 2. Near the goal line, Kentucky dropped eight on third down, so he tucked it and ran it seven yards into the end zone to give the Dawgs a 7-0 lead.

Georgia Gets the Ball First

Tails never fails. Kentucky won the toss and elected to defer. Let’s play some football.

Tough Crowd

I’ve been attending Kentucky games in Sanford Stadium for a decade. This is the smallest crowd by far. The noon kickoff can explain the late arrival for Georgia students, who are celebrating homecoming this weekend. Typically, there’s a pretty large Big Blue footprint in the corner of the end zone. There are only a few rows of Kentucky fans in the visitor’s section.

Calzada is Back

But not back to starting. Zach Calzada will be available as the Cats’ QB2. He injured his throwing shoulder in week two against Ole Miss. The Incarnate Word transfer has spent each week on the availability report, but was taken off ahead of the game at Georgia. If Boley isn’t cutting it or gets injured, Kentucky has another option this week with Calzada.

“Fire Stoops” paper bag hat spotted in Athens

You know things are bad when fans start wearing paper bags on their heads at games. One member of BBN went a step further today and wrote “Fire Stoops” on one and is wearing it while walking around outside Sanford Stadium. This is where we are, folks.

RIP to the Best Pressbox in the SEC

For years, Commonwealth Stadium was known for having one of the best views for the press in the SEC. That changed when the stadium was renovated in 2015. Georgia was the last one standing, with an outdoor pressbox at the club level. It was the best place to watch a game.

As you might suspect, those seats were too valuable to give away for free. They were turned into suits and the press was moved to the far corner near the top of the stadium. Beggars can’t be choosers, but this isn’t as cool as it once was.

Two Game-Time Decisions

The final availability report is giving a pair of injured Wildcats a chance at playing. DJ Waller was listed as questionable all week after missing the last 3.5 games. Alex Wollschlaeger was a late addition to the injury report on Friday night. The starting right tackle joined Kentucky’s starting cornerback as a game-time decision.

If Wollschlaeger is unable to go, expect Malachi Wood to step into the Bowling Green transfer’s place at right guard.

We are LIVE

Welcome to Sanford Stadium, where the Wildcats are preparing for battle against the Dawgs. Ahead of our arrival, we did a little walk and talk. Did it work? See for yourself.