UPDATED: Georgia struggles vs. Kentucky, but win sets up monumental matchup with Florida
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Florida did its part by taking down South Carolina on Saturday. Georgia followed suit by beating Kentucky, though it didn’t go down like anyone predicted.
Nearly a four-touchdown favorite, the No. 11-ranked Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC) found themselves in a street fight with the 1-7 Wildcats. Georgia finally eked out a 29-24 victory, but there was hardly a wild celebration in postgame locker room. Even the tone of the ever-optimistic Mark Richt seemed indifferent and weary.
“You know what, I’m happy with the victory,” Richt said somewhat unconvincingly. “We’re what, 6-1? That’s not bad.”
It’s good enough to set up at SEC Eastern Division showdown next Saturday in Jacksonville. After Saturday’s disparate results — the No. 2-ranked Gators (7-0, 6-0 SEC) thumped No. 7 South Carolina 44-11 in Gainesville — not many will give Georgia a chance in their annual rivalry game next to the St. Johns River. Still, a win over what will be a favored Florida team will put the Bulldogs in the driver’s seat to repeat as SEC champions.
“That’s why you play on Saturdays,” Richt said.
Kentucky was certainly saying that Saturday. Georgia needed a record-setting night from quarterback Aaron Murray, a roughing-the-kicker penalty and an a hotly-contested onsides kick recovery to settle Saturday’s score. The victory wasn’t finalized until the Bulldogs stopped Kentucky’s final pass for a 13-yard gain at the Wildcats’ 30-yard line as time expired.
Aaron Murray’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Lynch – it was his fourth on a record-setting night — made it 29-17 with 7:51 to play, the first time the Bulldogs had been ahead by more than a touchdown all night. Ultimately, that play gave Georgia the cushion it needed to get back to Athens with the victory.
Murray finished with a career-best 427 yards on 30-of-38 passing and now holds the school record for career touchdown passes with 75. David Greene (2001-04) had the previous record with 72.
“I’m not a record guy,” said Murray, who also set the school mark for completion percentage with 30 or more receptions (78.95). “I just want victories. I want championships. That put us another step closer toward achieving those goals. We just have to go out there and keep competing and winning games.”
Said Richt: “A lot of things have to go well to throw the ball like that. You’ve got to be able to protect, to run good routes, to put the ball on the money and catch it. And you have to have a good idea what you’re doing. You have to have some scheme involved in there. I thought everything came together well.”
Murray completed the majority of his passes to wideouts Tavarres King and Malcolm Mitchell, who finished with nine receptions apiece. King had 188 yards and scored two touchdowns, including a 66-yarder. Mitchell had 103 yards. Marlon Brown dropped what would have been a sure-fire touchdown from 52 yards out in the second quarter.
Despite their struggles running the ball — they managed only 77 yards on 32 attempts — the Bulldogs’ claim their ability to throw the ball gives the offense confidence heading into Saturday’s game against the defensive-minded Gators.
“I think so,” King said. “I think those big guys, our O-L, will take pride in protecting No. 11 and let him get it down field to his boys.”
Florida’s offense might be licking its chops after getting a close look at Georgia’s defense, which continued to give up yardage in huge chunks to the previous hapless Cats. Kentucky, which came into the game 13th in the 14-team SEC in total offense, gained 329 yards, 198 of it in the first half . The Wildcats converted 4-of-7 third downs in the first half, all on runs, and finished 6-of-14.
“hey ran the ball on third-and-10 or so a lot and we let them run for first downs,” defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. “We need to stop that in the zone that we have if we play physical. Obviously we’re going to address that. I didn’t think we played the third-down runs well and we need to clean that up.”
The game was still in the balance when Georgia’s Connor Norman recovered on onsides kick attempt by Kentucky with 3:59 to play to thwart the final upset attempt. It was a bang-bang p[lay as Kentucky’s kicker Joe Mansour hesitated to pounce on the ball as it slowly rolled 10 yards. Norman dove in under Mansour, a LaGrange native, just as he went down.
“Connor was heads up to go in there and snatch it and convince the refs it was his,” Richt said.
The Bulldogs were able to knock out three first downs after that and ended its possession at the Kentucky 16 when tight end dropped what would have been a first-down catch at the Wildcats 1.
Kentucky had time only to get off one desperation pass, which it completed to no avail at its own 30. The plan was for some sort of hook-and-lateral, but Georgia’s Shawn Williams was on Kentucky’s La’Rod King too fast and wrapped him up before King could get rid of it.
“Well, I don’t live in ‘almost,’” said Kentucky coach Joke Phillips, who drops to 12-21 as the Wildcats’ coach. “At the end of the year, we don’t say we almost win. The records say wins and losses. This was a loss.”
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555 comments Add your comment
ugab
October 21st, 2012
4:50 pm
Thanks.SKB for ruining our next 5 freaking years. We all know CMR is a good man. We need a coach. It appears that about 80% of ga fans are tired of seeing mediocracy. It is the same ole crap different season. I just want to see the players give their all for 4 quarters. I want to see every player in the best physical shape of their lives. I want to see the players defend their home turf. I want to see a good game plan. I want to see the players ready to play on game day. Just play good solid football. Its coaching. This day and time. If you can’t get it done, your fired. BOBO QUIT RUNNING UP THE MIDDLE,WE GOT THAT ON FIGURED OUT. THE END AROUND TO MITCHELL GETS YOU ABOUT NEGATIVE 10 YARDS EVERYTIME YOU RUN IT. USE THE RUNNING PLAYS THAT WORK AND PASS THE DAM BALL. LET MURRAY DO SOME READS AND KEEP THE BALL. SC AND FL ARE KILLING PEOPLE WITH THE RUNNING QB READ OPTION. MURRAY HAS RAN IN THE PAST AND PICKED UP POSITIVE YARDAGE. WHY NOT THIS YEAR? DUH
College Football Scores: SEC Week 8 | SEC Football
October 21st, 2012
4:55 pm
[...] No. 11-ranked Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC) found themselves in a street fight with the 1-7 Wildcats.,” Chip Towers of the AJC wrote. However, barely scraping by Kentucky is not likely to inspire confidence heading into next [...]
OrlDawgCop
October 21st, 2012
4:57 pm
It’s a pretty low day sitting here at work taking heat from all my Gator co-workers. I don’t know what the problem with the team is this year because I thought UGA was much better than how they’ve played the last two games. I’m not even looking forward to Saturday afternoon, sorry guys I know it sounds negative but I think it’d be better off for me to just check the score every thirty minutes. I wish these guys could put togather a complete game just one time versus a big time opponent. It’s been a long road of beating the little guys and getting smoked by the elite teams the last few years.
Dawg89
October 21st, 2012
5:01 pm
Our punt coverage team sucks. McGowan is scared to death. He let the first one drop in front of him when he should have fielded it. Then, after a butt chewing, he fielded several with what appeared to be a great amount of reluctance.
dawg85
October 21st, 2012
5:05 pm
I hear CBS wants to drop the game….they know what is coming and everyone but the gators will turn the set off….CMR doesn’t have the passion to be a consistant winner…his mind is on everything but football…he needs to go do what he does best and let us go get the coach we need. No more excuses
28 point favorite over KY
October 21st, 2012
5:14 pm
Muschamp can off the field at half leading 21-6 and he was mad as a hornet-he demands perfection.
Our AD should pay for Richt to go to one of Muschamps coaching clinics. Oh, wait he will get one in Jax for free.
28 point favorite over KY
October 21st, 2012
5:20 pm
came off the field———————-typo
chuck
October 21st, 2012
5:24 pm
Kentucky deserved to win!!!!!!.They outplayed us all night.
Jeff
October 21st, 2012
5:54 pm
Could we get the Grayson Rams’ Defense to replace UGA’s?
Tim Scott
October 21st, 2012
6:12 pm
WOW !!! for a team that has only lost once this year and who routinely wins 10 games a year, you all have a the sky is falling attitude. Based on talent I think UF and UGA are near about even. Now I love my Gators and yes we are unbeaten but waiting until the second half is getting just a little scary. I would feel better if Florida could come flying out of the gate next week.
Anyway I look forward to another classic battle between the Dawgs and the Gators at the WORLDS LARGEST COCKTAIL PARTY
Neutral
October 21st, 2012
6:15 pm
“even money” says UT beats SC this upcoming weekend. If I could get to Vegas I’d be all over it!!! TN matches up perfectly with arguably the best OL in the SEC and a passing attack that gave Bama fits against a very suspect SC secondary. Also, and most important…..think about how “flat” and tired SC will be after UGa, LSU and FL. Bank on it guys…… TN will win…..get your bets in.
Neutral
October 21st, 2012
6:17 pm
Jeff,
Wrong, Grayson’s superstars also have been reading the headlines toooooo much, kinda like UGa’s defense.
Lagdawg
October 21st, 2012
6:17 pm
Te team has taken a big step backwards and they look like limping dogs. Not hat anybody expected and this is not going to win an SECC much less than a NC. I think CMR has over stayed his time. I was standing behind him, but here we go again. UGA will get toasted against UF. We thought that the SC game was bad, wait until the UF game. It is time for new leadership and we will just have to deal with the loss of commitments to get this ship headed in the right direction. so what that they are 6-1, they still look very bad and still cannot bea top competetion and with the start of next year’s schedule, UGA can start the season off 0-2 because we all know how well they prepare for the big games.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 21st, 2012
6:22 pm
“win sets up monumental matchup with Florida”
Yeah as in monumental beat down by the UF gators.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 21st, 2012
6:24 pm
If USC and UF played in Jacksonville, would it be called The Worlds Biggest Cock Party?
football guy
October 21st, 2012
6:40 pm
What happened to the Dream Team?
hahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahah…………………
…………………………….
………….
28 point favorite over KY
October 21st, 2012
6:53 pm
Read it here first, Richt will try some candy a$$, bush league stunt to motivate these unmotivated players.
What’s it going to be Markie, a black out,or a red out. Please don’t pull that endzone dance(circa 2007), that will pi$$ of the Gators and it will be a long, long day.
28 point favorite over KY
October 21st, 2012
6:59 pm
The dream team became a night mare
Raiderbeater
October 21st, 2012
6:59 pm
To the people who praise UGA for being 6-1:
It has been YEARS since UGA beat a team that was ranked. Multiple YEARS you imbeciles!
Georgia’s opponents they beat have a 12-31 record this season!!!!!!!!!!
NONE have a winning record!
Signature wins this year have been against 3-4 Tenn and Mizzou! Who are BAD!!!!!
And you say we shouldn’t be pissed???
Neutral
October 21st, 2012
7:00 pm
@28 point favorite
Totally disagree….the whacko behavior in the end zone is exactly what is missing. We need to get a little more crazy and fired -up!!!
Volares Sántimo
October 21st, 2012
7:00 pm
Florida 63, Georgia 10
Once again, the silly dream ends in Jacksonville.
Raiderbeater
October 21st, 2012
7:01 pm
And yes…..section 331 season ticket holder…..have held season tix for 10 years. TENS OF THOUSANDS of my money has gone to UGA. I am thinking it over now.
Neutral
October 21st, 2012
7:03 pm
@Raiderbeater
Bama’s opponents have a worse record so I guess they are overrated and suck!!!
Neutral
October 21st, 2012
7:08 pm
Raider beater,.
Been a UGa fan and alumni for 50 years (and lettered in wrestling), but not about to throw in the towel because we may have a 10-2 season. C’mon pal….don’t give up so easily….and please don’t wish we had Petrino or Smart!
Tide Roll
October 21st, 2012
7:19 pm
Man, Could you guys OG Chance Warmack, OT JuJuan James, and OT Vadal Alexander . All Georgia athletes and ALL GONE. This is why it’s been 32 years people. Geez. Get a clue!
Neutral
October 21st, 2012
7:20 pm
@Volares
Yes, FL will be a heavy favorite, but I don’t believe I would give 53 points…….in fact, if you are so confident let’s wager $100,000 on the game and you only have to give me 43 points…..(a TD, Xpt and FG less than your prediction)..what a deal smartass!!! Are you in? If yes, I guarantee I’m in and we can figure out a way to make this happen. Please advise.
Neutral
October 21st, 2012
7:23 pm
@Tide Roll
It has been more than 32 years. You are talking about the time since UGa’s last probation aren’t you? How long since Bama’s last one?
aarh
October 21st, 2012
7:39 pm
cugas- If there’s anyone who’s not over rated, then it’s Jarvis Jones. He played against Mizzou & still had a monster game, but he’s been playing hurt ever since then, has missed 2 games since then, & has even more injuries since then as well. You also have to keep in mind that everyone is keying on not letting him beat them as well. Jarvis pretty much single handedly beat Mizzou, bc it was actually close for a while…until he started wrecking havoc.
FLA DAWG
October 21st, 2012
8:26 pm
The Dawgs absolutely CANNOT beat Florida this year. If The Dawgs lose big there is a reasonable expectation the Richt’s (& Bobo & Grantham) days are numbered.
Hard to write this but if losing big to Florida will ensure a change in coaching staff then I’m hoping The Dawgs lose and lose big. It’s called Tough Love.
By the way, we could have had Muschamp as HC a couple of years ago.
joe jenkins
October 21st, 2012
8:32 pm
I think bobo has done a nice job so far….could do better though…..how many of yall realize snice bennett has been gone our perimiter blocking is poor now….that might be huge part in why gurshal has struggled….plus the o-line is terrible….they are not as bad as the defense though…we may have one of the worst defenses in the nation…sad but true
Jack Atha
October 21st, 2012
8:37 pm
I’m sorry. I love Georgia, but we are going to get killed by Florida.
FLA DAWG
October 21st, 2012
8:41 pm
Do you all realize that right now Mark Richt actually believes The Dawgs can beat UF ! ?
Faith can move mountains but it can’t help inept coaches beat a better coached team – especially in The SEC.
Mobile Dawg
October 21st, 2012
9:04 pm
Some tough thoughts and observations:
I’m with you FLA DAWG, lose and lose big.
There is to much love and not enough accountability in our football program.
Our terrific passing game withers in big games with the absence of a physical presence.
We have become apathetic.
We’re soft.
I think we have to much religion in our program.
brandonlee49
October 21st, 2012
9:10 pm
Dawgs Better Find an A-Game IFthey have one, otherwise it’s All Over !! But the Cry’in… there’ll be Plenty of that after they lose their Bowl Game, 43-10… to somebody like Ball State, or BYU…
DawgNole
October 21st, 2012
9:13 pm
Florida Dawg
October 21st, 2012
9:11 am
We need a miracle next week, I live in South Florida and am surrounded by obnoxious Gator fans. Something tells me I’m going to have to turn my phone off next Saturday.
_____________________
“Obnoxious Gator fans.” Isn’t that redundant?
4DaBirds
October 21st, 2012
9:24 pm
One bad team beats another bad team.
Georgia should defect to the WAC, because that is how they play.
DawgNole
October 21st, 2012
9:37 pm
El-Toro GATA
October 21st, 2012
10:57 am
mediocre teams like buffalo, FAU, Kentucky put huge numbers.
____________________
Calling those teams “mediocre” is being mighty kind.
DawginLex
October 21st, 2012
10:20 pm
Shoot out coming
Florida 35-31
Murray plays great but crap the bed once and that’s the difference
Also the most pathetic thing I have ever seen was 2 guys in full Georgia tech gear at the game cheering for Kentucky because their own pathetic team can’t beat us
DawginLex
October 21st, 2012
10:24 pm
You morons are laughable comparing scores
Explain how Vandy almost beat Sc and Florida. You retards don’t realize that certain teams always play others tough
This game will be close but Florida will win because we can’t stop the run
hornblower
October 21st, 2012
10:31 pm
is jarvis jones really hurt, or is he sandbagging it until he turns pro? remember odell thurman?
BigDawg
October 21st, 2012
10:32 pm
D stinks & our kicker smells out loud, 2 reasons Gators are smiling!
Cane89
October 21st, 2012
10:33 pm
If you think that USC’s beat down of UGA was ugly; wait until UF gets after those puppies!
hornblower
October 21st, 2012
10:39 pm
and the Vegas point spread is exactly the reason Ga has a chance to win considering our past history with the boys. and i lettered in wrestling, too.
hope2013
October 22nd, 2012
6:38 am
From what’s being said by the team,the players are on the bench. They are all very frustrated because there’s nothing that they can do abount. Some players have went to the coaching staff with only lies to be told to them. But in the meantime we are not taking care of business like we should. The coaching staff are only letting the players play that they seem to like for some reason. Which is total unacceptable and flat out wrong. How can u take Ken Malcom position and give it to the freshmens all because the did well in the first couple of games. Ken is clearly a running back then both of these freshmans.To sum it all up the coaching staff is playing the who I like foolishness, and it will come back to bite them in the A***** REAL SOON. They will not give the other players a chance and this is very sad. And they say Richt is a saint bullcrap.
barneyfife
October 22nd, 2012
7:34 am
You would have thought CMR would have been gone BEFORE they gave him another 5 year contract extension! But hey, this is Michael Adams & UGA where insanity reigns supreme. I stopped by donations in 2009 and have not been to a game since. The Athletic Department is not the only area of UGA that needs a housecleaning. That whole place is rotten to the core, and it goes much higher than Athens. For those of you who care about our Alma Mater, PLEASE read “Behind the Hedges”. It will open your eyes with documented facts about UGA (the author, now deceased, was an AJC reporter for many years). All of this nonsense at UGA begins to make a lot more sense when you read that book.
At the end of the day, it is just football. However, the obscene amounts of money our coaching staff gets paid to produce this crap made me throw in the towel. Like it or not, college football at this level is a business. Unfortunately, too many still financially support this substandard product. In the real world the rest of us live in, these clowns would have been unemployed from the top down.
homeboy
October 22nd, 2012
9:00 am
Give me a break – 10th! PLAY SOMEBODY. The Powerful SEC contains four teams in the East that have a combined conference record of 2 and 16! Only FL, GA and SC have wins to speak of but they are against these 2 and 16 teams. Who couldn’t win against them? Georgia barely beat an 0-4 conference foe in Kentucky and they are ranked 10th. Pitiful.
Devildog
October 22nd, 2012
9:06 am
The sad thing is and I hate to say this but Steve Spurrier could take the tallent that the Dawgs have and win a National Championship. We have recruited top ten or better for how many years and our coaching staff can do nothing with it..I would bet Joker Phillips could do a better job than what we have, his team was ready to play.. I went to the game the other night the UK fans around me were very pleased with their team and they were refering to Bobo as HONEY BOBO……..! Fire them all and Hire Kirby Smart to get our Dawgs back……..!
Jborodawg
October 22nd, 2012
9:42 am
“..It has been YEARS since UGA beat a team that was ranked….”
What does that have to do with right now; this week? I’d bout give my left nut for us to beat Flawduh in order to shut up this continued rant. Actually, we’ve beaten several ranked teams the last few years…ranked when we played them and maybe eventually fell out.
“…playing and coaching, with no heart…they act so uninspired week after week as if they could care less…overall lack of any toughness or energy…We have become apathetic…I think we have to much religion in our program…”
I started to say, “I’ve never seen such misplaced, inaccurate, or fallacious observations.” But, on second thought, I have; right here on the AJC, and quite frequently.
“…Todd Gratham. A fiery coach and defensive mind that the Georgia Brass put a collar on because he was to fiery…” Just too typical of the some of the comments here.
Thank you Rick James@12:08pm…”…blogs for the armchair fans who only watch on television and do nothing but complain…” And know all the answers.
Thank you Sammy@4:02pm…”…UGA is 6-1 and ranked #11 in Coaches poll…” Yes, you’d think we were a perennially losing team, never ranked and never having gone to the SECC game.
There are well over 100 other D1 programs that fit the bill. There are about 20 (or more) “top” programs whose coaches should be fired…Okey, Tex, FSU, WV, Clem, Awb, Tenn, Neb, Mich, Mich St, Stan, Boise, etc etc. Chitzik has a NC under his belt. Y’all want him for HC?
gab @4:50pm…”…I want to see a good game plan. I want to see the players ready to play on game day. Just play good solid football…” Nothing wrong with that. We want to see them come out ready to play; play fairly mistake-free for four quarters and at least be competitive; and not be blown out. I totally agree. But, I get the feeling that if we’d lost to SC by a last second field goal, the comments would be the same here. And, I agree that it was very disheartening to see Kaintuck run the ball so well. Inexcusable. “Big John” and Geathers (and the return of ‘Tree) were supposed to be the answer to that. The D, no the whole team, better get their act together to have a chance against Flawduh.
Just saying…some act like we’ve already lost the Flawduh game. Some act like we have a losing record and the season is already a disaster. Let it play out.
Go Dawgs!
DawgNole
October 22nd, 2012
11:34 am
Mostly agree with Jboro Dawg. I’d like to see how we fare against fla first. Obviously, it doesn’t look promising for the Dawgs at this point–and a loss pretty much confirms for me that this coaching staff no longer is able to get the team properly prepared for big-time opponents. Few give us a chance in this game; however, that’s often when decent teams bow up and show their stuff. And if the Dawgs are able to do that, then there’s an awful lot to play for THIS season. If not, it’s time for a change. For me, the jury’s out until Saturday night.
Jborodawg
October 22nd, 2012
11:48 am
I failed to mention, SC has two losses; one a blowout by Fl. I reckon that makes Spurrier apathetic, no energy, no toughness, mediocre.
Worth mentioning: Kentucky always seem play us tough because half their team is usually from Georgia. They were passed over by UGA and really want to prove something when we play…?… But, still no excuse for their running the ball against us like that.
“For me, the jury’s out until Saturday night.”
Me too.