The Georgia Bulldogs avoided one of the biggest upsets in recent memory with a 13-12 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats in the Bulldogs’ first SEC matchup of the season.

From the beginning of the game to the final seconds, it was very clear what Kentucky Head Coach Mark Stoops had in mind for his offense: pound the run game for four quarters. Schumann’s defense had to be elite once again to save the Bulldogs. While the Wildcats successfully ran the ball 45 times for 170 yards, the Georgia defense did just enough to force field goals instead of touchdowns. The “Junkyard Dawgs” mindset of Georgia’s defense was in full swing, sacking Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff three times, having five tackles for a loss, and forcing three fumbles. Without yet another outstanding performance, Bulldog Nation would have been left devastated with a season-changing upset.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Dawgs’ offense finally broke through for a touchdown from running back Branson Robinson with 12:20 remaining to make the score 13-9. On paper, the offense was anything but impressive with Carson Beck throwing for just 160 yards and the rushing attack going for 102 rushing yards. However, the offense made the necessary plays in key moments to just scrape by.

Looking back to years past, Georgia’s program has had their fair share of close calls against unranked SEC teams on the road, including a 4-point win against Missouri in 2022 and a 7-point win last year against Auburn. If there’s one thing you can say about Kirby Smart as a coach, it’s that he’s built his players and teams on resiliency, heart, and a mindset to keep fighting until the scoreboard hits zero.

After the game, Smart started off by saying he has an “immense amount of respect for Coach Stoops” and that he emphasized to his locker room that this would be a “blow-by-blow game”, which certainly was true. When asked what the biggest thing he learned about the team was, he kept it simple:

“Toughness, resiliency, response, leadership.”

Georgia will have next weekend off before heading back on the road for a monumental matchup with the Alabama Crimson Tide on September 28th.