3 takeaways from Georgia's easy win over Kentucky as Carson Beck puts on a show
Georgia had a shaky win over Auburn last week, but was expected to get a stiff test from undefeated Kentucky, which rolled into Sanford Stadium with an upset on its mind.
The narrow win over Auburn cost Georgia points in the AP Top 25 poll, as the Bulldogs’ grip on the No. 1 ranking slipped some.
Georgia extended its winning streak to 23 games with a convincing 51-13 win over Kentucky on Saturday night. Georgia, still enjoying the glow from back-to-back national championships, has held the top spot in the AP Poll for 16 consecutive weeks.
Of course, UK has been in this position before, in fact 3 of the 6 years the Wildcats have offered upset hopes as the media-proclaimed dark horse in the SEC East. But those hopes were quickly dashed in similar fashion as Saturday in Athens.
Carson Beck
The Georgia quarterback put on a show in the first half, and became the first Georgia quarterback in the last 20 seasons to put up 284 yards, and by halftime, he had 307 yards on 21-for-26 passing and 3 touchdowns. He also led an offense that scored on all 6 of its possessions.
Beck connected with 7 different receivers in the first half. Georgia registered 20 first downs in the first half, was 3-for-4 on 3rd down conversions, and 4-for-4 in the red zone.
Beck was the 5th SEC player with 300 passing yards and an 80% completion rate in a first half against a conference opponent. He exited the game with more than 12 minutes remaining in the game.
Kentucky plays without focus
Between dropped passes and penalties that showed a lack of composure, Kentucky appeared to not have much focus early in the game. Because of that, this was UK’s largest halftime deficit since trailing Vanderbilt 27-0 on Nov. 3, 2012 at then-Commonwealth Stadium. Kentucky lost that game 40-0. By halftime, the Cats had 5 penalties for 60 yards. All that caused UK to struggle at its bread and cutter, the running game, as it produced just 25 yards by halftime.
After there was some question whether they would play, Tayvion Robinson and Barion Brown made contributions.
At halftime on UK radio, Stoops lamented that even though Georgia outplayed Kentucky, the Cats kept shooting themselves in the foot with penalties, and they can’t do that on the road.
Brock Bowers
Brock Bowers’ 2nd half touchdown helped him become the first Georgia player with 100+ receiving yards in 3 straight games (121, 157, 132) in the same season since Terrence Edwards in 2002. Bowers’ touchdown catch was his 24th career receiving TD, which is 2nd most in Georgia history, behind Edwards. He passed AJ Green.
Bowers finished with 7 catches for 132 yards on 9 targets with 72 yards after catch.