LEXINGTON, Ky. — College GameDay was ready to set up camp here Saturday for Georgia-Kentucky until the Wildcats were slapped around by South Carolina.
It turns out the matchup was worth the prime-time slot it occupied on ABC.
No. 1 Georgia had to dig deep to pull out a tougher-than-anyone-expected 13-12 win at Kroger Field.
There are plenty of games that will warrant ESPN’s road show to follow Georgia around like Deadheads or Swifties go from town to town.
On tap: at No. 4 Alabama next on Sept. 28, at No. 3 Texas on Oct. 19 and at No. 5 Ole Miss on Nov. 9.
“We get to go to Bryant-Denny and many other places on the road this year,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “So it’s going to be an adventure every time we go out on the road. I mean, it’s a tough schedule, guys. When we got it, I knew it. I mean, the first game I pointed at was Kentucky because everybody was talking about the other three on the road.”
There’s also No. 9 Tennessee between the hedges.
Add in the win over then No. 14 Clemson and that’s five ranked opponents.
Alabama has new coach Kalen DeBoer, quarterback Jalen Milroe and fabulous freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams and like Georgia gets two weeks between games after pounding Wisconsin 42-10 in an impressive road win in Big Ten country on Saturday.
“I don’t know that we can rest and recover,” Smart said. “I mean, that’s what people think bye weeks mean. We’ve got to find a way to improve and get better. You know, we were really beat up coming into this game, specifically at one position, and it was a really tough week for us.”
Former Alabama running back Mark Ingram warned on Fox after the game: “I think the defense needs to tighten it up at the line of scrimmage. They gave up 149 rushing yards to Wisconsin today. … Georgia’s coming to town and they’re going to need to play a lot better up front to win that game.”
Georgia has played five ranked opponents in the regular season just five times previously, once under Smart.
That came in the 2018 regular season, but the highest ranked were Florida and Kentucky — who were No. 9 at the time.
Four of Mark Richt’s teams played five ranked opponents in the regular season.
The 2014 Bulldogs highest was a No. 9 Auburn and his 2008 team also had five that included a No. 5 Florida team that thrashed the Bulldogs 49-10 and No. 8 Alabama that delivered a 41-30 Blackout loss to Georgia.
In 2005, the five included one top 10-opponent, No. 7 Tennessee. In 2001, Georgia played a pair of No. 6 teams, including Tennessee who they crushed with a hobnail boot 26-24.
Georgia played again Saturday without injured defensive linemen Mykel Williams, Warren Brinson and Jordan Hall. Defensive end Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins got banged up during the game but still played what Smart said was the most snaps he’s had at Georgia.
Nazir Stackhouse and Christen Miller also took on bigger roles in a game Kentucky had more snaps than Georgia (73-54) and time of possession (35 minutes to 25).
“We’re missing some key D-lineman,” cornerback Julian Humphrey said. “We’re missing a lot of guys. Once we get those guys back, it’s going to be better for us.”
The Bulldogs won with their lowest total yards (262) and points (13) since a 10-3 win over Clemson to open the 2021 season.
“We can’t make excuses,” quarterback Carson Beck said. “We didn’t come in here and play our brand of football.”
Georgia still carries a 16-game winning streak in opponent’s home stadiums — tops in the nation — to Tuscaloosa on Sept. 28.
“We’re going to play better and better offenses,” Smart said. “We’ve got to get better and better, but it’s pretty hard to do. I mean, I don’t know if anybody in college football has been able to sustain that. It’s just hard.”
