Jamie Vaught: Sharing a few leftovers from Saturday night’s showdown between Kentucky and Georgia

Leftovers from Saturday night’s Kentucky-Georgia football showdown at Kroger Field:

• Despite UK’s 13-12 loss to then-No. 1 Georgia, the Wildcats were very impressive on defense, and they had a fighting chance to pull a major upset until the very end.

•  Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, who is now in his 12tth year in Lexington, said, “I’m not saying I’m pleased with the moral victory. We are 10 years past that. I do care about the way we play. I do care about our preparation. I care about the way, you know, we represent the fan base and the way we represent this university and the way we play. We played hard. I thought we had opportunities to win the game. We had another ball on the ground late with a chance to win. One day that ball will bounce the right way, and we will get the opportunity to go down there and cap down It off. I am very proud of our coaches and our players. Let’s be honest. That was a hard week. They responded. And played exceptionally hard.”

• Kentucky is now 1-2 with nine games remaining, including five at home. If the Wildcats defense continues to stop opponents like it did against the powerful Bulldogs, UK will have a decent chance to have a winning season and having an improved offense would help, too.

The remaining beatable foes, in my opinion, include Ohio (home), Vanderbilt (home), Florida (away), Auburn (home), Murray State (home) and Louisville (home). The three “likely unbeatable” opponents are No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 1 Texas, all away from Kroger Field.

Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of six books about UK basketball, including recently-published “Forever Crazy About The Cats: An Improbable Journey of a Kentucky Sportswriter Overcoming Adversity.” Now a retired college professor who taught at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro., he is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at KySportsStyle@gmail.com .

• Georgia QB Carson Beck said it was not a surprise to see a close game with the Wildcats. “Like you said, it’s not easy (to make adjustments to win). Especially on the road,” said Beck, who completed 15 of 24 passes for 160 yards. “You go back and look at two road SEC games in the past three years. Missouri 2022, dog fight. Last year, Auburn, dog fight. This year, dog fight. We knew it was going to be a dog fight coming in. I think there’s a thing we have to fix. Going to watch the film and improve on those. They’re a physical team and a lot of respect there, but we were able to pull it out.”

• There were a couple of questionable play-calling moves by Stoops and his coaching staff, but he defended his decisions during the postgame press conference.

“I know, people are going to question the 4th down (toward the end of the game). You know I have been honest with you for years and if I made a mistake like last week I will tell you. I do not regret punting that ball. I felt like if we went for it there and don’t make it, our offense, if we stop them, has to go the length of the field. That was going to be tough against that defense. (It was a) predictable pass situation. That’s not our strength.”

Also, with nine seconds remaining in the first half, Kentucky basically had two chances to score, including a possible touchdown pass from UGA 14. Instead, it opted for a successful 32-yard field goal by Alex Raynor on the first try, giving UK a 6-3 margin at the intermission.

“(It) would take complete momentum away from us if we get a strip sack or fumble or don’t go in at the lead,” said Stoops. “I thought our offense did a hell of a job possessing it and giving us a chance.”

• Wide receiver Dominic Lovett of Georgia, who had game-highs six receptions and 89 yards, said Kentucky played very well. “They played with energy and physicality; they played a great game,” he said. “Props to them. I’m not going to say that we couldn’t get in a rhythm, that is simply just a very good team.”

• Georgia’s sticky defense has not allowed a single touchdown this season. The Bulldogs have allowed just 18 points on six field goals with UK booting four. UGA came in ranked tied for fourth in the nation in scoring defense.

• Kentucky senior placekicker Alex Raynor, who is from Kennesaw, Georgia, hit four field goals, including a school-record 55-yarder. He became the second player in school history with two 50-yarders in one game, with Joe Bryant doing so, also against Georgia, in 1977.

On Rayner’s extraordinary performance, Stoops said, “(He’s) very reliable. I feel very good. That’s why you love that ball in your hand giving it a shot there at the end. But yeah, they were all long today. Weren’t they? It felt like it. He has been very steady and always had a calm demeanor and is very accurate in practice and just does his job.”

• UK’s defense held Georgia to 262 yards of total offense, fewest since putting up 260 against Texas A&M in 2019.

• On his performance, Kentucky defensive back Zion Childress, who had six tackles (with five solos), said, “I just came to play today. I played a decent game last week (against South Carolina), a fairly good game. I just kept telling myself that was my goal for the rest of the year, to continue to play well every week. Just lead those guys, they’re expecting me to do my job at a high level and they’re expecting me to beat them at a high level.

“You’ll never be all the way there. There’s always room for improvement. Like I said, everybody that suited up on defense, anybody that suited up today, put in some great effort.”

Childress added UK’s effort in a 31-6 loss against South Carolina “was there, (but) the execution wasn’t there. So that was the biggest thing, being able to do your job, knowing what you need to do (against Georgia).”

• Running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye established career highs with 22 carries for 98 yards. That’s the most yards ever for a Wildcat against a top-ranked team.

• It was very nice to see former UK All-American QB Tim Couch honored at Kroger Field. The 47-year-old Couch, who is from Hyden in Leslie County, will be inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in December.

• Kentucky finishes its four-game homestand Saturday when it hosts Ohio University at Kroger Field. The 12:45 pm ET game will be shown on the SEC Network. In addition, UK Athletics will formally induct its 2024 Hall of Fame class on the field. They are Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (track and field), John Cropp (administrator/coach), Henrik Larsen (rifle), Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (track and field), Jodie Meeks (men’s basketball) and Corey Peters (football).

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