In the Kirby Smart era at Georgia, the Bulldogs have ascended to the mountaintop of college football. Every game is vital. As the wins mount, each contest becomes increasingly important. Win three big ones, then lose one of two, and dreams are quickly squashed.

As Coach King Kirby Smart says, “humility is just a week away.”

Since the second season at the helm of his alma mater, Smart has led the Bulldogs to amazing success. The highlight, back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. The accolades include three College Football Championship Game appearances, seven straight top-7 finishes, seven successive bowl/CFP triumphs and regular season records of 11-1 or 12-0 with an unprecedented six Southeastern Conference Championship Game berths over a seven year stretch. This past Saturday’s win over Tennessee Tech was Georgia’s 48th in the last 50 games, and an astounding 41st consecutive regular season triumph. Of particular pride is a 26-2 mark against the Yellow Jackets, Florida, Auburn and Tennessee since 2017.

Another regular foe the Bulldogs have enjoyed tremendous success against – and doing so in the midst of their longest stretch of consistent winning in program history – is the Kentucky Wildcats.

Big Blue hosts the Bulldogs Saturday night, eyeing the upset, and what would go down as one of Kentucky’s biggest ever wins. Not only would a win over Georgia mean topping the kingpin of college football and elevating Kentucky’s shot at the College Football Playoff and an SEC Championship Berth, it would also end a tremendous stretch of success for the Dogs against the Wildcats.

Now the streak is by no means what it had grown to for Kentucky against Florida – the Wildcats dropped 31 straight to the Gators from 1987-2017. Incidentally, Kentucky has now won four of the last six against Florida. But Georgia has won 14 in a row against Kentucky – running the decade of the 2010s and tacking on four more here in the 2020s.

Smart’s Dogs are 8-0 against Kentucky, a stretch in which Mark Stoops has guided Big Blue to a school record eight straight bowl appearances. Now the dean of SEC football head coaches, Stoops came to Lexington in 2013, and has transformed the Wildcats into a postseason regular and one of the SEC’s most physical teams. This makes Georgia’s run against Kentucky all the more impressive.

And all the wins have been big, as if every victory ever isn’t. But let’s run through them.

2016 – Rodrigo Blankenship kicked the game-winner to cap off a 27-24 comeback victory over the Wildcats on a Saturday night in Lexington. The win pushed the Bulldogs to 5-4 and enhanced the bowl resume in Smart’s initial campaign.

2017 – On the heels of the lone loss of the regular season, a dominating 40-17 Auburn win over the Bulldogs on the Plains, Georgia started slow but came back to beat Kentucky 42-13 at Sanford Stadium. The victory improved the Bulldogs to 10-1 and got the Dogs on track. Georgia went on to topple Tech on the flats, avenge the loss to Auburn in the SEC Championship Game and then win an overtime Rose Bowl thriller over Oklahoma to earn a berth in the National Championship Game.

2018 – Kentucky was in the midst of one of its best seasons ever. Both teams were once beaten. A trip to the SEC Championship Game was on the line in Lexington. The Bulldogs grabbed control early, led by D’Andre Swift, and raced to a 28-3 lead. Georgia won 34-17 en route to an 11-1 regular season, and earned a second straight trip to Atlanta.

2019 – This was a pivotal night for the Bulldogs. Georgia was upset the week prior by South Carolina, and an all-timer, all day long torrential rainstorm hampered the Sanford Stadium crowd and the Bulldogs speed advantage. It was 0-0 at the half. But Swift struck, and the Dogs fought their way to a 21-0 victory. It was teetering that night, but Smart steadied the ship through turbulent waters, and the Bulldogs reignited another tremendous campaign, and third straight 11-1 regular season.

2020 – It was the covid year, and we were all happy to be playing. Zamir White had a long touchdown run and the Bulldogs held off the Wildcats 14-3 in Lexington. Unfortunately, standout nose tackle Jordan Davis was injured, and later that night, All-SEC safety Richard LeCounte was hurt in a motorcycle accident. The next week, the Bulldogs fell to Florida in Jacksonville, costing Georgia a fourth straight trip to the SEC Championship Game.

2021 – Both were undefeated heading to Athens. Georgia sat atop the polls, and Kentucky was on the edge of the top-10. The Bulldogs won 30-13, taking a huge step towards a perfect regular season and the first of two straight national championships. Like in 2018, Stoops’ Wildcats finished with a 10-3 record.

2022 – In what has to be the coldest game any Georgia fan can remember the Bulldogs improved to 11-0 with a 16-6 victory. Georgia led 16-0 and was knocking on the door for a putaway touchdown. But the Wildcats had a goal line stand then rallied back for a touchdown. Georgia stopped the two-point attempt, and Kentucky missed a late field goal. This was the third tightest game for the perfect 15-0 Bulldogs, behind only the 42-41 Chick Fil A Peach Bowl victory over Ohio State and 26-22 comeback at Missouri.

2023 – Like in 2021, both were undefeated. It was a pristine October Saturday Between the Hedges, and Georgia came out smoking, taking the Wildcats down 51-13. Interestingly, Brock Vandagriff closed out the game at quarterback for the Bulldogs. He is, via the portal, now the starting signal caller for Kentucky.

In the 12-team playoff era, there is a little wiggle room and margin for error when it comes to keeping championship dreams alive. But looking at the difficulty of the remainder of Georgia’s schedule, a 15th-straight victory over the Wildcats would seem a borderline for the Bulldogs to be one of the dandy dozen fighting for the big prize in Atlanta on January 20.