ATHENS — If you saw Kirby Smart on the team bus following Georgia’s 27-20 win, you’d have thought he was listening to Phoebe Bridgers rather than enjoying a victory over rival Auburn.

“I was riding home on the bus in a state of depression about our ability to stop the run,” Smart said. “As a coach, and my dad always said it, it’s never as good as it seems, and it’s never as bad as it seems. When I got up and actually watched it (the film), we struck blockers and played the run well at times. We didn’t fit some plays well that they did and give them credit. We probably didn’t work some of those plays enough out of the formations that they did it, they did a nice job scheming it up.

“But we’ve got to do a better job at that, make no mistake about it, but we have good run defenders.”

Georgia gave up 219 rushing yards, the most given up by the Bulldogs in a single game since the 2018 season. It was not up to the standard Georgia has established as one of the top teams in college football.

Through five games, the Bulldogs have given up an average of 113 rushing yards per game. Georgia sits tied for 38th in the nation in rush defense. A far cry from where Georgia sat in the previous four seasons when the Bulldogs’ worst run defense finished second in the country.

Now, Georgia welcomes Kentucky’s ultra-physical run offense into Sanford Stadium a week after running back Ray Davis ran for 280 yards against Florida.

“This guy’s smooth, explosive, he pass-protects really well, he protects the ball, he’s aggressive in the way he runs,” Smart said. “It reminds me of (D’Andre) Swift, he’s just a little bigger. He has a lot of the same cuts, a one-cut runner. And they do a tremendous job of blocking for him.”

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