Georgia freshman Lorenzo Carter racked up 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in Saturday's 63-31 win at Kentucky. (UGA photo/John Kelley)There were smiles aplenty Saturday afternoon in the visiting locker room following Georgia's 63-31 dismantling of Kentucky at Commonwealth Stadium.
Beaming most of all was freshman outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter.
Making his first start, the 6-foot-6, 237-pounder from the Atlanta suburb of Norcross collected nine tackles, 3.5 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Carter entered Saturday with 14 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
"It was awesome," Carter said. "It was my first time starting and my first time getting major playing time, and I tried to make the most of it."
Carter even started grinning when asked about a personal-foul penalty he earned late in the second quarter when he hit Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles out of bounds. The penalty helped enable the Wildcats to pull within 35-24 at halftime.
"He was running around and made me run too far," Carter said. "I kind of got heated and made a silly mistake, but it's all good."
Mistakes will have to be at a minimum defensively this week, when the Bulldogs (7-2, 5-2 SEC) host Auburn (7-2, 4-2). The game will be televised by ESPN at 7:15 p.m.
Auburn dropped from No. 3 to No. 9 in the latest rankings after being upset 41-38 Saturday by Texas A&M. The Tigers fumbled twice in the final three minutes and had a field-goal attempt before halftime blocked and returned for a touchdowns, which overshadowed Auburn's 582 yards of total offense, including 363 on the ground.
The Bulldogs, who are No. 16 in the new Associated Press poll, were shredded for 418 rushing yards Nov. 1 against Florida and yielded 214 in Lexington.
"We did a better job, but we didn't do a perfect job, obviously," Georgia coach Mark Richt said Sunday afternoon. "Auburn is one of the best running teams in America, and everybody is having trouble stopping them from running the football."
Georgia was ranked 13th nationally in run defense (allowing 105.1 yards a game) before Jacksonville but now ranks 57th (152.0).
The Bulldogs have shown they can be extremely formidable running the ball as well. Freshman tailback Nick Chubb has rushed 102 times for 671 yards the past four games in the absence of Todd Gurley, who was suspended for receiving payment for signed memorabilia.
Gurley, once was the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy, returns to action this week.
"We're glad he's back, and we're looking forward to seeing him play," Richt said. "I'll be glad to have this thing over with, no doubt."
Asked who would start at tailback this week, Richt said that had not been discussed.
Odds and ends
Georgia never needed to punt against Kentucky, but Richt said Sunday that Collin Barber would have handled those duties. ... Richt said "No doubt about it" when asked if Saturday was senior quarterback Hutson Mason's best game. ... Richt quickly shot down Internet speculation that the Bulldogs would break out black jerseys Saturday night, adding that was "wishful thinking."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.