Trevor Etienne ran for a team-high 79 yards on 19 carries, helping No. 1 Georgia eke out a 13-12 win over Kentucky on Saturday in Lexington, Ky.
Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) won its 42nd straight regular season game as Carson Beck completed 15 of 24 passes for 160 yards, while Dominic Lovett caught six passes for 89 yards in the Bulldogs’ SEC opener.
Former Georgia quarterback Brock Vandagriff was 14 of 27 for 114 yards, while Demie Sumo-Karngbaye ran for a game-high 98 yards as Kentucky (1-2, 0-2) dropped its second straight game and its 15th consecutive game to Georgia. Alex Raynor was 4-for-4 on field-goal attempts, accounting for all of Kentucky’s scoring.
Holding a 6-3 halftime lead, Kentucky put together an 11-play, 61-yard drive that was capped with Raynor’s third field goal, extending the Wildcats’ lead to 9-3 at the 9:03 mark of the third quarter.
On the ensuing Georgia drive, Beck found Lovett for a 33-yard pass and Dillon Bell on a 20-yard pickup, setting the offense up on the Kentucky 32-yard line. Georgia got as far as the Wildcats’ 12, where Woodring hit his second field goal, a 30-yarder to trim the deficit to 9-6 with 3:52 left in the third.
After a Kentucky punt, Etienne accounted for 51 of Georgia’s 68 yards on the next drive, setting up Branson Robinson’s 2-yard rushing score, giving Georgia a 13-9 lead with 12:20 remaining in the game.
Kentucky answered with Raynor’s fourth field goal, a 51-yarder to cut the Georgia lead to 13-12 at the 8:01 mark. After forcing a three-and-out, Kentucky had a fresh set of downs on its 16 with 6:25 left but was forced to punt at the 2:58 mark.
Beginning on their own 15-yard line, Beck and company ate up nearly all of the remaining time before punting with 18 seconds left. Kentucky couldn’t advance past its own 32-yard line on the final play as the clock expired.
After Georgia punted on its first two possessions, Kentucky cracked the scoreboard with Raynor’s 55-yard field goal at the 2:45 mark of the first quarter.
Following another Bulldogs punt, Vandagriff was sacked on back-to-back plays, with the second sack resulting in a fumble that was recovered by Damon Wilson II on the Kentucky 23-yard line with 4:45 left in the second quarter.
Etienne’s 7-yard rush was the only positive play of the ensuing Georgia drive, but Woodring’s 34-yard field goal tied the game at 3-3 with 3:52 remaining in the first half.
On the following Wildcats’ drive, Kentucky ate up 3:43 of clock, taking a 13-play, 61-yard drive to the Georgia 14-yard line, where Raynor knocked down his second field goal, a 32-yarder with five seconds left in the half, giving Kentucky a 6-3 halftime advantage.
