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ATHENS, Georgia (Ticker) -- Quincy Carter threw for 304 yards and a pair of touchdowns as No. 14 Georgia outlasted stubborn Kentucky, 49-34, in a battle of Southeastern Conference East Division teams. Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC East) remained atop the division and set up its showdown with sixth-ranked Florida next weekend in Jacksonville. Kentucky (5-3, 3-2) lost in Athens for the 11th straight time, despite the best efforts of Dusty Bonner and tight end James Whalen Jr., who hooked up for four touchdown passes. Bonner threw for 421 yards -- the most ever against Georgia -- as he broke the 400 plateau for the second time this season. However, Kentucky has lost both games. The Bulldogs held Kentucky to a record minus-50 rushing yards as they extended their hold on the all-time series to 41-10-2. They have not lost at home to the Wildcats since a 33-0 defeat in 1977. Kentucky's previous low rushing game was minus-14 yards against Clemson in 1982, while the best such effort by Georgia's defense had been minus-49 yards by VMI in 1967. "Defensively, whenever a team has minus-50 yards rushing, you know you are doing a great job," Georgia coach Jim Donnan said. "I was happy with how we created and got some loss-yardage plays." Georgia grabbed the lead for good when versatile freshman Charles Grant scored on a one-yard run after a blocked punt with 10:56 left in the first quarter. Grant later scored on a 42-yard run and recorded three sacks from his defensive end position. He finished with seven tackles, including five for losses totaling 36 yards. "We came off the ball a lot better today," Grant said. "I watched film and noticed the center would pause for a moment before he snapped the ball. Every little bit counted today." Although Georgia does not keep school records for sacks, it got to Bonner a total of 11 times after recording 12 sacks in its first six games. Kendrell Bell also had three sacks and seven total tackles. "We worked hard on the pass rush all week," Grant said. "Coach stressed the pass rush because they throw the ball a lot." Bonner did his best to overcome the sacks by completing 33-of-52 passes while being intercepted just once. Whalen had 10 catches for 151 yards and his four receiving touchdowns were a new mark for a Georgia opponent. Running back Kendrick Shanklin added 124 yards on eight receptions. "I thought I played all right, but there's always room for improvement," Whalen said. "We knew coming into this game that Georgia was a sleeping giant," Kentucky coach Hal Mumme said. "They struggled early in games against Central Florida and LSU, but today they came out with fire. Our line could not compete with their line early in the game, and as the game went on, they were getting sacks due to bad snaps and coverage." Carter was 16-of-28 and was intercepted once, adding a team-best 87 yards on 11 carries. Jasper Sanks ran for 83 yards on 13 attempts as Georgia racked up 577 yards of offense to 371 for Kentucky. "We played great offensively today, but we have to throw out those turnovers," Carter said. "Next week we can't do that. Last year Kentucky gave up the run and the coach did a good job of calling my number. Today was the same thing, but you have to give the offensive line 99 percent of the credit." Sanks ran seven yards for a score following a turnover shortly after Grant's initial scoring run to double Georgia's lead. Carter threw a 20-yard TD pass to true freshman Terrence Edwards with 11:37 left in the first half to make it 21-0. Bonner got the Wildcats on the board with 8:19 left in the first half with a one-yard scoring toss to Whalen and Anthony White bulled in from a yard one play after a turnover to close the gap to 21-13. On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Carter hit running back Brett Millican with a short pass that turned into an 80-yard touchdown and a 28-13 lead. Bonner and Whalen connected on a five-yard TD pass 98 seconds later, but Patrick Pass counterted with a 29-yard run nearly three minutes thereafter and Sanks scored from seven yards with 32 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 42-20. Grant's 42-yard scoring burst with 11:19 left extended the lead to 29 points before Bonner and Whalen combined for scores of two and 32 yards to make the final score respectable.
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