Stats that stood out from Kentucky's 13-12 loss to No. 1 Georgia
Kentucky had a terrific opportunity to pull off a monumental upset at home against No. 1 Georgia. Unfortunately, a questionable call for a punt late in the fourth quarter allowed the Bulldogs to ice away a closer-than-expected 13-12 victory. Although there wasn’t much offense to go around, there were plenty of notable stats and numbers that stood out.
For starters, hats off to senior kicker Alex Raynor. The former Georgia Southern transfer scored the first points of the game with a 55-yard field goal, the longest in program history. According to UK statistician Corey Price, Raynor became just the second-ever Wildcat to hit two 50-yarders in one game (Joe Bryant vs. Georgia in 1977) — he also drilled a 51-yarder in the second half. In fact, Raynor scored all 12 of Kentucky’s points thanks to his impressive leg. In addition to his two 50+ yard kicks, he made ones from 40 and 32 yards out.
Next, we’ll give the Kentucky defense some credit. Brad White‘s unit didn’t allow a touchdown until early in the fourth quarter. Georgia finished with just 262 total yards of offense despite coming into the night averaging 472.5 per game through the first two weeks of the season. UK limited Georgia to a mere 65 total yards of offense through the opening two quarters, the fewest in a first half by the Bulldogs since 2009 against LSU.
UGA recorded just 12 first downs compared to Kentucky’s 23. Zion Childress, Ty Bryant, and D’Eryk Jackson all finished with six tackles each. The defense did everything it could to give the Wildcats a chance to win this ball game, a common theme in this series over the years.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, Georgia has only been held to under 20 points three times on the road over the last five seasons. All three have happened against Kentucky: 16 points in 2022, 14 points in 2020, and 13 points in 2024.
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As for Barion Brown, after not coming down with a catch last week for the first time in his college career (27 games played to that point), the junior wide receiver hauled in his 100th career reception. That makes him just the 20th player in school history with at least 100 catches. Brown’s 18-yard reception in the first quarter against Georgia was UK’s longest play of the entire game.
Kentucky falls to 3-18 all-time against the No. 1 team in the nation. The one-point loss is the closest the ‘Cats have come in a defeat to the nation’s top-ranked program, the next closest being an 8-0 loss to Auburn in 1958. Georgia has now won 42 straight regular season games and 16 in a row against UK.
Overall, Kentucky outgained Georgia 284-262 while also winning the battle of the run game, 170-102. Demie Sumo-Karngbaye set new career highs in carries (22) and rushing yards (98) while redshirt freshman Jamarion Wilcox saw his first real college action, totaling 43 yards on nine carries. But for the second game in a row, UK failed to find the end zone.
Check out the final box score below for more numbers from the tough loss.
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