The Red & Black | October 5, 2023 publication

Owen Warden

Before Dominic Lovett was ever a Bulldog, he was familiar with the team.

Just months prior to transferring to Athens, Lovett almost ended Georgia’s chance at a second-consecutive national championship. Lovett was instrumental in the team’s upset bid, as he led Missouri with six catches for 84 yards.

Georgia won that game 26-22, but Lovett and the Tigers played Georgia more competitively than any other team in the regular season — a point of pride for Lovett.

“I took that game as an honor,” Lovett said. “I look at that game like a growing point from being there and here, as Georgia is one of those teams that you’re gonna have to play for four quarters and [are] never out of the fight. They came out on top, I had no bad blood. I told them after the game, ‘maybe we catch you next year,’ and then I decided to come here [the] next year.”

Despite having love for Missouri, Lovett said he felt that Georgia was the perfect match for him. He pointed toward the academics and the athletic program as factors that made the move an easy decision.

Lovett also said he was thankful for the camaraderie that his new teammates gave him right away. Lovett said he has enjoyed joking with his teammates, even when they’re joking with him about appearing on

TV in a Missouri uniform and facing players in practice that he used to face in game scenarios.

“Me and Dom go back and forth, he’s very competitive,” safety Malaki Starks said. “He caught a ball on me when he was at Missouri, so we joke a lot about it, but just to see the things he can do. He’s pretty quick, [his] abilities [are] awesome, very aggressive when the ball gets to him, so just being able to compete against him in practice only makes us better individually [and] as a team.”

Lovett’s transition to Athens wasn’t flawless. He said the practice intensity and the conditioning challenged him the most upon his arrival, although he added that he wasn’t surprised. Thankfully for Lovett, he had a fellow wide receiver transfer join him with the Bulldogs in Rara Thomas.

The two are roommates and share the experience of having played against Georgia at some point in their college careers. Thomas, who transferred from Mississippi State, also played against Georgia in 2022.

Lovett said that the transition off the field went smoothly, but the eye test shows that the on-the-field product has looked just as smooth.

Lovett is currently third on the team with 194 receiving yards but is second on the team with 20 catches. He’s been used heav-

ily in the quick game and in run-pass options (RPOs) to get the Bulldogs down the field in short spurts. He has yet to reach the end zone this season but has been key in getting the Bulldogs close enough to score.

“Every time I took the ball, I’m trying to get the touchdown by any means necessary and I feel that the quick game is a plus for us,” Lovett said. “That’s just another weapon for us to use moving down the field.”

Head coach Kirby Smart, who cites some of Lovett’s short-range receptions as effective runs, said he’s impressed with how quickly Lovett adapted to the Bulldogs offense and how well he’s progressed in just a short time.

“He’s made some really critical third downs. He’s made plays in the slot [and] I’ve seen his confidence grow,” Smart said. “He was probably further along than Rara in terms of learning the offense [and] un -

derstanding the offense. And he came from an offense somewhat similar, so he’s had an easier transition as far as picking things up. But he’s been a great kid in practice. He’s full of energy, he competes.”

Lovett’s facing the pressure of playing in front of a new fan base. He’s far away from his hometown of Belleville, Illinois, his high school in Missouri and his family. However, he said he’s avoided his nerves by playing a game he’s passionate about for an Athens fan base that he calls “one big family.”

“Honestly, I’d say I’m more excited than nervous,” Lovett said. “I get butterflies before every game because I’m excited to play for Dawg Nation. I got out there and lay everything on the line every game, so I go out there happy and excited. My family and my friends come see me play, so it’s an honor to wear the ‘G’. I go out there and I don’t take that for granted.”

In for a cat fight

No. 20 Kentucky faces No. 1 Georgia under the lights

Samuel

Higgs

Georgia is set to kick off its third night game of the season against its third SEC opponent on Saturday, Oct. 7, when No. 20 Kentucky (5-0) comes to Athens. Kentucky is looking for its first win over Georgia since 2009, and its first-ever win against Kirby Smart.

The Wildcats are led by head coach Mark Stoops, who has posted a 70-59 overall record in his tenure, the team’s winningest coach in program history. Stoops has been the head coach for 11 of Kentucky’s past 13 matchups against Georgia. Kentucky is Georgia’s first ranked opponent of the season entering off a 33-14 win over Florida last week.

The Kentucky offense is led by quarterback Devin Leary, who transferred from North Carolina State this offseason. In his last full season in 2021, he threw for 3,433 passing yards with 35 touchdowns and five interceptions and the Wolfpack went 9-3.

receiving yards and three more touchdowns. Davis only rushed for 29 yards when he played against the Bulldogs last year, but his teammates didn’t fare much better. Vanderbilt lost 55-0, a bad day all-around for the Commodores. He rushed for 280 yards and three touchdowns against Florida last week.

Kentucky has a duo of wide receivers that have crossed the 200-yard mark on the season. Tayvion Robinson is currently in the lead with 19 catches for 308 yards and three touchdowns, while Barion Brown is right behind him with 19 catches for 251 yards and one touchdown.

Brown should be a familiar name for Georgia, as he hauled in 10 catches for 145 yards and a touchdown in last year’s matchup against the Bulldogs. His numbers were especially eye-popping because the game wound up as a 16-6 slugfest between two run-heavy teams. The frigid atmosphere of Lexington, Kentucky in November didn’t help matters.

The benefit of having a defensive-minded head coach is having stellar defensive performances. The unit is captained by linebacker Trevin Wallace, who is second on the team with 27 tackles and leads the team in sacks with three and a half in the season.

Cornerback Maxwell Hairston is first on the team with 33 total tackles. He also won SEC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 4 after returning two interceptions for touchdowns.

It has taken some time for the Bulldogs offense to get comfortable this season with a new quarterback in Carson Beck and the return of offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. The attack through the air is headlined by All-American tight end Brock Bowers, who still finds ways to show everyone he’s one of the best in the nation at his position.

offensive line to determine the best fit going forward, with several players moving in and out of the lineup.

On defense, All-SEC safety Javon Bullard is still recovering from an injury he sustained against Ball State. Bullard had 10 tackles against Auburn last week.

“We have the longest injury list we’ve ever had since [I’ve been] here,” Kirby Smart said before the game against UAB. “You rarely hear me talk about our guys being injured or ‘woe is me.’ I don’t. It’s something that you can’t control. For a couple of years, we’ve been really fortunate to not have very many injuries and this year it seems to be the theme.”

The Bulldogs are still at the beginning of their slate of SEC opponents, and even if they’re battling the injury bug at the moment, they’ll still enjoy the home-field advantage of Sanford under the lights.

FAST FACTS

X Despite playing each other every year since their last victory over the Bulldogs, Kentucky has not defeated Georgia since 2009

X Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops is the winningest coach in Kentucky history. Not one of his 70 wins has come against Georgia

X Kentucky is Georgia’s first ranked opponent of the season. The Wildcats were ranked No. 20 in the latest Associated Press Poll

The following year, Leary tore his pectoral muscle in a game against Florida State which caused him to miss the remainder of the season. The sixth-year senior is still looking to return to the form that made him such a desirable prospect in the transfer portal.

The rushing attack is centered on running back Ray Davis, who is the Wildcats’ clear leading back with 594 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on the year, with an average of 7.8 yards per carry. The Vanderbilt transfer also has 146

“He’s an animal,” Beck said after Bowers’ two-touchdown, 120-yard performance against UAB. “We try to get the ball in his hands, we did a good job tonight at getting him open and getting the ball in his hands, and he makes plays after he does that.”

Even with the success Georgia continues to have on the field, the team hasn’t escaped the injury bug.

Daijun Edwards leads an injured backfield that is missing Branson Robinson and Roderick Robinson. The injury to right tackle Amarius Mims has caused a shift on the

X Georgia currently has the longest home winning streak in college football. The Bulldogs have won 22 games straight at Sanford Stadium

X The Bulldogs are currently leading the SEC with eight interceptions. They have intercepted a pass in every game this season

X Georgia has allowed the fewest points per game this season in the SEC at 13. Despite this, the Bulldogs have eight sacks, the second fewest in the SEC

Georgia defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse (78) tackles a Kentucky player at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky, on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. KATIE TUCKER/STAFF

Points from the press box

Turnovers taking Georgia defense from good to great

Georgia has intercepted eight passes this season, more than any team in the SEC.

The Bulldogs have been excellent at taking the ball away from their opponents through the first five games of the year.

They’ve intercepted a pass in each of those matchups, a big reason they’ve surrendered the fewest points in the conference thus far.

Taking care of the ball is one of the most crucial parts of football. Takeaways can shift the momentum of the game, delivering hope to a listless team and ripping victory from the hands of the triumphant.

Against South Carolina, takeaways were pivotal to seal the victory for Georgia. Twice in the fourth quarter, when Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler tried to drive his team down the field to narrow the 24-14 deficit, the Bulldogs’ defense came in clutch with an interception.

The week before, Georgia secured three interceptions during the first quarter against Ball State, stopping the Cardinals’ momentum before it could even begin. Time and time again, interceptions have been crucial to the team’s success.

After the game, though, Georgia head

coach Kirby Smart seemed critical of his defense’s performance.

“I was impressed that we got the turnovers,” Smart said. “We didn’t get them the way we wanted to. We wanted to get some punch-outs, rip-outs. We got lucky. We got a great play by Malaki [Starks], we got a tipped ball, another tipped ball and we capitalized on those. You give kids credit for that but without those there are several drives where we didn’t stop them, they stopped themselves.”

Georgia leading the league in interceptions may look good on a stat sheet, but the reality doesn’t quite match up. The defense has benefitted from tipped balls, overthrown passes and inaccurate opposing quarterbacks. Georgia’s defenders have been in the right place at the right time and pounced on the opponents’ mistakes.

And yes, college football can be messy and filled with mistakes at times. Georgia will never face a perfect opponent. However, the defense is relying on its opponents to make mistakes right now, rather than forcing those mistakes themselves — and that’s a very dangerous game.

What happens if the Bulldogs can’t find any errors to capitalize on? Then they’re faced with a unit that just surrendered 14

first-half points to South Carolina and a UAB team that should have been hopelessly outmatched but managed to score three touchdowns.

8

Smart and the Georgia defenders often talk about upholding a standard and maintaining the level of consistent excellence that past Georgia defenses have established. So far, the standard is intact.

If the Bulldogs can’t find a way to sustain their takeaway-prone performances — and if they can’t find a way to contain some of the high-powered SEC offenses they’ll face throughout the rest of the season — then the time-honored Georgia defensive standard may be in jeopardy.

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Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary

Devin Leary was one of college football’s most prominent transfers of the 2023 offseason. The senior arrived at Kentucky after five years at North Carolina State University. He threw for 3,433 yards, 35 touchdowns and five interceptions in his last full season in 2021. Leary’s time in Lexington, Kentucky has yielded mixed results, but plenty of promise. He’s thrown for 1,129 yards in the first five games of the season but has also already tied his career total for five interceptions in a season.

Georgia wide receiver Dillon Bell

Dillon Bell has stepped up in the midst of mounting injuries to Georgia’s running back room. The sophomore wideout has seen considerable snaps this year in the backfield. Bell has 17 carries for 98 yards and two touchdowns on the season. His biggest play on the ground was a 21-yard scamper for a touchdown against Ball State. He has also caught eight catches for 78 yards, and his role in the offense could evolve as Georgia’s backs get healthy.

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Kentucky linebacker Trevin Wallace

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Trevin Wallace has become Kentucky’s biggest leader in the middle of the defense. He is second on the Wildcats with 27 tackles, and leads the team with three and a half sacks. A native of Jesup, Georgia, Wallace is one of the hardest hitters in the country and has a knack for finding the football. Early in the season, Wallace has established himself as one of the SEC’s most productive defenders and is a player Georgia must keep an eye on before every down.

Georgia STAR Tykee Smith

It’s been a long, injury-filled road for Tykee Smith to become an impact player for Georgia, but that’s exactly what he’s doing in 2023. The senior defensive back has 20 tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack and three interceptions this season. He’s just the third Georgia player in the last 20 years to have at least three interceptions in the first four games of the season, joining Bacarri Rambo and Richard LeCounte. If Smith can find his way to the football again on Saturday, it could spell trouble for Kentucky.

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Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston

Maxwell Hairston was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week after his performance against Vanderbilt in Week 4, where he became the first player in Kentucky history to return two interceptions for touchdowns in the same game. He was also deemed the Jim Thorpe National Defensive Back of the Week and Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Hairston is a ball-hawking cornerback with blistering speed that has 33 tackles, three interceptions, three passes defended and a forced fumble on the season.

Georgia linebacker C.J. Allen

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C.J. Allen flashed plenty of potential in the first five games of his college career. The freshman has recorded just eight total tackles on the season, but spent several snaps with the first-team defense against UT Martin and saw more of the same against UAB. He’s already established himself as one of the best coverage linebackers on the team. It’s worth keeping an eye on how much more playing time he’ll manage to swipe from Jamon Dumas-Johnson and the other linebackers as the season continues.

Maddie Daniel 706-433-3046 | adaniel@randb.com

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Corrections

By Bo Underwood

Georgia linebacker Smael Mondon (2) and defensive back Tykee Smith (23) celebrate after making a play against South Carolina at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. LANDEN TODD/STAFF

John James

Georgia has intercepted eight passes this season, more than any other SEC team.

‘It’s gonna take time’ Student voices on Georgia football’s offense

his career. Heading into the conference stretch of the 2023 season, Georgia’s offense will need stronger performances all around when it takes on SEC opponents.

The Red & Black asked students around the University of Georgia campus for their opinion on Georgia football’s offensive performance so far, as well as predictions for the number of touchdowns that the Bulldogs can put up against the Wildcats.

Will Herman

JUNIOR PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR

DALLAS, GEORGIA

Touchdown Prediction: Five

“I don’t think the offense has been as explosive as it was last year, but I think it’s been very consistent, all things considered. I think they’re just gonna have to keep getting better, and they still have a lot of great explosive players. When you get a new quarterback, it’s gonna take time.”

Thursday Crossword

Rohan Anne

SOPHOMORE FINANCE MAJOR

CUMMING, GEORGIA

Touchdown Prediction: Six

“I think [Carson Beck] is over-hated. He definitely doesn’t look too comfortable. But again, I feel like that’s just slow starts out of everything. I think in the second half, you always end up a little more comfortable with it.”

Ava Kreitner

SENIOR MARKETING, FRENCH MAJOR

PEACHTREE CITY, GEORGIA

Touchdown Prediction: Four

“I would say that the teams we’ve played haven’t been very good teams, so we should be putting up more points for those. I mean with the options [Kirby Smart] has, I feel like [Carson Beck] is the right choice.”

SECOND-YEAR MEDICAL STUDENT

CARTERSVILLE, GEORGIA

Touchdown Prediction: Five

“It seems like it takes a long time to get going. I guess [Carson Beck] is the right choice, but I don’t really know what our other choices were. I think they’re picking it up. We’re scoring a little bit earlier than we had.”

Khase Willis

The Georgia Spike Squad poses during the second half against the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. Georgia won 49-21. LANEY MARTIN/STAFF

between Georgia and Auburn. LANDEN TODD/STAFF

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck (15) prepares to hike the ball during the second half the game between Georgia and Auburn. LANDEN TODD/STAFF

Georgia running back Daijun Edwards (30) runs with the ball during the first half of the game between Georgia and Auburn. LANDEN TODD/STAFF

Football flashback

Georgia’s last loss to Kentucky

Owen Warden

Georgia football hasn’t lost to Kentucky for 13 games straight.

This means Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops has never beaten Georgia in his decade of coaching the Wildcats, despite winning more games than any other coach in Kentucky football history. Georgia holds a 62-12-2 record over the Wildcats in the 76 times the two have played.

Joker Phillips, the coach before Stoops, couldn’t beat the Bulldogs either in the two seasons he coached the Wildcats. History has to rewind all the way back to Rich Brooks, who coached the Wildcats from 2003 to 2009, to find a victory over Georgia. Brooks coached the fifth-most games for the Wildcats and was the last Kentucky coach to beat Georgia, 14 years ago.

Flash back to a time when Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind” was topping the charts, the Black Eyed Peas played on every radio and Pixar’s “Up” had audiences sobbing in the theater — 2009, the last time Georgia lost to Kentucky.

Former head coach Mark Richt led Georgia, while its offense was run by a familiar face, current offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. Matthew Stafford, one of the best quarterbacks in program history, had just been selected No. 1 overall, giving quarterback Joe Cox the keys to a talented offense.

Receivers like Tavarres King, Rantavious Wooten, Orson Charles and AJ Green — who missed this 2009 game due to an injury — all adorned Georgia’s passing game, while Caleb King and Washaun Ealey held down Georgia’s running game. But even with immense talent, Richt, Bobo and the Bulldogs struggled all season.

Both Kentucky and Georgia entered the game with a 6-4 record. Two evenly matched teams went down to the wire, but Kentucky punched first.

A Kentucky passing touchdown and a missed extra point gave the Wildcats a lead early. The Bulldogs took the lead in the second quarter, after a field goal and touchdown gave them a 10-6 advantage.

Georgia held its lead all the way until the fourth quarter, when a 60-yard Derrick Locke touchdown tied the game up at 27 a piece. Locke was instrumental in Kentucky’s victory, as he had 80 yards both on the ground and through the air, plus two receiving touchdowns.

Cox, however, was more detrimental to

the team’s performance. On the very next drive for Georgia, he threw an interception that was returned to the 8-yard line. The turnover set up future NFL star Randall Cobb for an easy rushing touchdown — his second of the day.

After the two teams traded punts, Georgia drove down the entire length of the field and reached the 1-yard line. On paper, Georgia had the perfect opportunity to score and tie the game up with over two minutes remaining. Instead, Ealey fumbled and gave Kentucky the ball back — a crushing blow that seemed to seal Georgia’s fate. Yet Georgia got the ball back with 1:45 remaining at its own 47-yard line. There was still some hope for the Bulldogs. If Bobo

and Cox could march just 53 yards down the field, Georgia could tie things up — but no. On the first play of the drive, Cox threw his third interception of the game, which allowed Kentucky to simply run out the clock and secure the win.

Brooks retired after the 2009 season, marking an end to a run that saw him take down Richt’s Bulldogs not once, but twice. Current head coach Kirby Smart has never lost to Kentucky since he’s taken the job, unlike his offensive coordinator, who was also the quarterbacks coach for Georgia when the team lost to Kentucky in 2006. Stoops is looking to make history, while Bobo and the Bulldogs look to keep it from repeating.

Former Georgia head coach Mark Richt looks at the scoreboard during a game between Georgia and Kentucky at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013. FILE/STAFF