Kentucky's pass defense exposed by Georgia in brutal road beatdown

In what was billed as Kentucky’s best chance to go toe-to-toe with the best program in college football in recent history, Georgia decided to deliver a message. Kirby Smart‘s team put their A-game on the field. Georgia’s A game is still elite.

In the 51-13 blowout victory of Kentucky on Saturday night at Sanford Stadium, Mike Bobo‘s offense scored points on their first six possessions and ended the game with 51 points in 11 drives. The Dawgs had four touchdown drives of 75-plus yards against a Kentucky defense that had been playing at a top-15 level through the first five weeks of the season.

Georgia delivered a statement in Week 6. That statement lit up Kentucky’s pass defense like a Christmas tree.

Carson Beck Show

New starting quarterback Carson Beck is having a good season. The redshirt junior entered Saturday’s contest completing 72 percent of his 32.2 passes per game on 9.3 yards per attempt. Beck has been efficient (54.3% passing success rate) and explosive (21.7% explosive pass rate) through five games.

The new quarterback and the rest of the offense put it all together on Saturday night.

Mike Bobo’s unit went pass-heavy to begin the game and that included his first 12 passes. Beck finished the game setting career highs in completions (28), passing yards (389), and passing touchdowns (four). Kentucky had no answers for UGA’s passing attack.

Little pitch and catch.

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— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) October 7, 2023

Beck finished the game with a 71.4 percent passing success rate and eight explosive completions. The pocket passer averaged 11.1 yards per attempt and shredded Kentucky’s pass defense. Defensive coordinator Brad White had no answers.

This game was decided early when it became blatantly obvious that Kentucky’s pass coverage could not hold up. Star tight end Brock Bowers had his typical big game (seven receptions on nine targets for 132 yards), but Daijun Edwards provided real value as a pass catcher (six receptions on six targets for 51 yards) out of the backfield. Outside receivers Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and Rara Thomas combined to record nine receptions for 162 yards and two touchdowns on 12 targets. The Wildcats got beat across the board.

Kentucky entered this game ranking No. 113 in completion percentage (65.0%) and No. 39 in QB rating (121.17). The pass defense has shown some flaws at different points throughout the season. Those were exposed on Saturday night, and Georgia took advantage.

Heading into a matchup against Missouri’s top-10 passing offense, those same issues could get exposed again in Week 7.

Kentucky’s passing game continues to disappoint

Kentucky’s offense could’ve played an A-game on Saturday night, and it still would not have mattered. The Wildcats simply could not create stops on defense. However, some blame goes on the offense. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen had a good plan early. Unfortunately, two good drives to begin the game were stopped due to penalties. But when you take a look at this game as a whole, Kentucky’s passing game continues to disappoint.

Against one of the best pass defenses in college football. Devin Leary completed 10 of 26 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns while taking three sacks. Drops were still an issue. The wide receiver room only contributed 60 percent of the game’s receptions. The super senior quarterback is missing throws and is not playing with much confidence right now.

Through three SEC games, Leary is only completing 45.9 percent of his 24.7 throws per game on 5.4 yards per attempt. This is losing offensive football. Vanderbilt transfer Ray Davis has been a revelation at tailback, and he once again had a solid outing on Saturday, but the passing game has got to pick it up.

Kentucky has to have Leary and his wide receivers pickup production in the back half of the schedule. If they don’t, we will see an offense that is once again heavily run game reliant under Mark Stoops.