Nick Chubb rushed for 170 yards and a touchdown as No. 20 Georgia (7-2, 5-2 SEC) ran away from Kentucky (5-5, 2-5 SEC) Saturday afternoon in Lexington. The Bulldogs put up 63 points in a victory as they prepare for a big crossover game against Auburn, and now they get ready to welcome back Todd Gurley to the offense.
Chubb carried the football 13 times for Georgia Saturday in his final game as the go-to player on the ground. If nothing else, Chubb proved capable fo carrying the offense if needed, but next week should see Georgia get Gurley back into the mix. Gurley had missed four games due to a violation of NCAA rules regarding signing memorabilia for compensation. His return will come at a great time for Georgia, as the Bulldogs still need to win some games to come out on top of the SEC East. Georgia trails Missouri in the SEC by one game in the loss column. Time is running out for Georgia though, with just one more SEC game to be played this season. Georgia owns a head-to-head victory tiebreaker over Missouri. Missouri still has three more SEC games to play after a bye week this weekend.
Even without Gurley, Georgia’s offense has played well with the exception of last weekend against Florida. The Bulldogs rushed for 305 yards as a team and passed for 254 yards. Georgia was a perfect eight-for-eight on third down conversions against Kentucky and the offense piled up 559 yards of total offense. Quarterback Hutson Mason tossed four touchdown passes and five different players entered the end zone for Georgia as the offense spread things around and even got some playing time for reserves. Isaiah McKenzie also had a huge impact on special teams for Georgia. McKenzie opened the game with a 90-yard touchdown return on the game’s opening kickoff. In the second half, McKenzie again struck gold with a 59-yard punt return to give Georgia a 49-24 lead at the time.
Kentucky remains one win shy of becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2010. Although the Wildcats had some good moments against Georgia, Kentucky was unable to come out of the half and make anything happen. Kentucky will have two more games to clinch eligibility. Next week Kentucky visits Tennessee for the final SEC game on the schedule for the Wildcats. Two weeks later Kentucky will visit in-state rival and ACC member Louisville. Getting to a bowl game will not come easy for Kentucky at this late stage, but it is not that far out of reach either.
Kentucky is heading in the right direction as a football program, but Georgia is still multiple stages beyond where the Wildcats are trying to go.