Georgia survived, but barely. The third week was a confrontation with Kentucky, and boy! it was just ugly; sorry, Georgia football lovers. Kirby Smart’s team, which has been dominating their opponents like Clemson and Tennessee Tech, had a hard time with the Wildcats before coming through 13-12. Georgia had been flying high on motivation, but this game? It exposed some cracks, and it was clear something was off.

But what is next for Georgia? This game against Kentucky opened some problems that Alabama will probably make them pay for – and that they have to solve before the gam e in the second match. Josh Pate said it best when he pointed out Georgia’s, ‘false sense of security.’ They might’ve come into this season as the Kings, but Alabama’s here, and they have no plans to turn back.

Now, Georgia’s still undefeated. They dispatched Clemson in their opener, setting them aside 34-3, and proceeded to dismiss Tennessee Tech 48-3. But the Wildcats? This was approved by the fact that they offered some resistance. Beck completed 160 yards in passing while Etienne went for 79 by the ground. Lovett caught 89 yards in receiving, but this match was a tough nut to crack for the Dawgs. Kentucky had them sweating – and with Alabama looming ahead next, this should act as a wake-up call to the Bulldogs.

However, the credit for the defense of Georgia did a pretty good job when they were best-pressed to do it. It set up a great second-quarter play by Raylen Wilson when he strip-sacked the quarterback, and the Dawgs did enough to combat Kentucky’s offense to come out with the win.

A near disaster for Kirby Smart in Kentucky

The offense of Georgia was slow, nearly nonexistent. Essentially, numbers for both teams were down from the first two games, especially Beck, who played very badly. The Dawgs could not develop a proper momentum. The team owes its win to Branson Robinson who made a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, however, Kentucky challenged them to the very end. Georgia was nudged into a final rush by the buzzer, and to be honest, if Kentucky had a couple more seconds on the clock, this would probably have resulted in a different outcome.

Alex Raynor, the kicker of Kentucky, stood tall and gave the Wildcats hope by booting a 51-yard field goal. And let’s not forget, he also made a record 55-yard field goal earlier in the game. Kentucky dominated Georgia for almost the entire first half tallying 6 to Georgia’s 3 and making the invincible Bulldogs seem fairly beatable. Some of Raynor’s several kicks and Vandagriff’s aggressive style proved that Kentucky was not afraid of the defending champions.

The Bulldogs need to lock in. The game that lies ahead is the rematch of last season’s SEC Championship title game. This time around, the two teams come into the game in slightly worse physical shape, but if Georgia has anything to keep their perfect season on the field, then they are going to have to grind it out. The false sense of security that has been portrayed by the Dawgs has now been pulled apart. Now, it is time to show that they are still the team to challenge.