Dawgs run wild
Kentucky defense can’t slow pair of 100-yard rushers
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Georgia believed it had a point to prove.
Bulldogs running backs D’Andre Swift and Elijah Holyfield spent all week hearing about the rushing prowess of Kentucky’s Benny Snell Jr. Georgia’s defensive players kept fielding questions about their inability to stop the run or rush the passer.
They responded Saturday with a performance that convincingly showed Georgia remains the class of the SEC Eastern Division. Swift ran for a careerhigh 156 yards and two touchdowns as the sixthranked Bulldogs defeated No. 9 Kentucky 34-17 to clinch the SEC East title.
“I think people had started doubting us,” Swift said. “We just tried to silence the critics.”
Swift had an 83-yard touchdown in the third quarter that gave Georgia (8-1, 6-1) a 28-3 lead. He also had a nifty 20-yard scoring run in the second quarter.
Holyfield ran for a career-high 115 yards on 18 carries, scoring on a 4yarder in the third quarter. Georgia rushed for a season-high 331 yards to earn a spot in the SEC championship game Dec. 1 in Atlanta.
“It’s definitely a point proven,” Holyfield said. “There was a lot of talk about them. and not enough talk about us.”
Kentucky (7-2, 5-2) has never reached the SEC championship game, which has been played every year since 1992. The Wildcats entered the weekend with the nation’s top scoring defense and hadn’t allowed anyone to exceed 20 points all year, but they couldn’t slow down Georgia’s tandem of Swift and Holyfield.
Before Saturday’s game, the only player to rush for as many as 75 yards against Kentucky was Texas A&M’s Trayveon Williams, who ran for 138 in a 20-14 overtime victory over the Wildcats. Swift and Holyfield were both over the 100-yard mark by the end of the third quarter.
Swift’s first touchdown gave Georgia a 14-3 late in the second quarter. After Georgia got the ball to open the second half, Holyfield’s touchdown extended the lead to 21-3. On the Bulldogs’ next series, Swift raced through a big hole and didn’t appear to get touched on his 83-yard sprint to the end zone.