Georgia’s current 22-game winning streak that began with the College Football Playoff after the 2021 season, encompassed all 15 games last season as well as the first five this year contains just three contests that were decided by a single possession.
The first two of those occurred last season, when the Bulldogs prevailed 26-22 at Missouri and 42-41 over Ohio State in last December’s Peach Bowl national semifinal. The third took place this past Saturday, when Georgia continued its most successful surge in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry with a 27-20 triumph at Auburn.
“Especially with the game last year at Missouri, we learned a lot about our team and how we would respond when things got tough,” Bulldogs right guard Tate Ratledge said Monday in a news conference. “We figured that out early this year, which I think is a really good thing. You don’t really want that to happen, because you want to execute like you think you should.
“Sometimes things don’t go to plan.”
A lot of things haven’t gone to plan for this season’s Bulldogs, who are 5-0 overall, 2-0 in Southeastern Conference play and ranked No. 1 entering Saturday’s showdown (7 on ESPN) against No. 20 Kentucky (5-0, 2-0) inside Sanford Stadium. Georgia’s first league victory came at the expense of South Carolina, 24-14 on Sept. 16, but not before the Bulldogs had to climb out of a 14-3 halftime hole.