LEXINGTON – Not yet, Kentucky.

A trip to Atlanta for a Southeastern Conference football title will have to wait. The stage was just basic protocol for Georgia, the team representing the SEC East in the league championship game after a 34-17 handling of Kentucky at a sold-out Kroger Field on Saturday.

The No. 6 Bulldogs (8-1 overall, 6-1 SEC, ranked No. 6 in College Football Playoff rankings) manhandled Kentucky for three quarters to build a 28-3 lead that was too insurmountable for the No. 11 Wildcats (7-2, 5-2, ranked No. 9 in CFP rankings).

Kentucky caught enough breaks in the first half to keep it within 14-3 at halftime, but Georgia scored on its first two drives of the third quarter to put it away. D’Andre Swift’s 83-yard touchdown run made it a four-score lead with 7:56 left in the quarter.

Georgia will go back to Atlanta for the second straight season as the SEC East winner with a shot at returning to the College Football Playoff still within reach.

“The long run broke it open,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “Give them a little space and they’re difficult. … The execution from a top three, four and five team, they’re obviously very talented and well-coached and you have to be very precise, and we have to win some of those one-on-one matchups and we have to do a better job coaching starting with me and everybody on down.

“We’ll all accept it together and keep fighting and get back in that position.”

Kentucky’s rapid rise on the national stage this year will be restricted to hopes of a high-profile bowl bid and keep the Wildcats out of the SEC Championship game once again since the event began in 1992.

Kentucky’s final three games feature more favorable matchups at Tennessee (4-5), the final home game against Middle Tennessee (6-3) and struggling Louisville (2-7). The opportunity is still on the table to win 10 games for the first time since 1977.

“This team is special,” quarterback Terry Wilson said. “I know the thing about this team is we’re not going to give up and we’re going to keep playing hard and keep getting after it.

“We’re deep in SEC games, so keep working and don’t get complacent and lazy. Stay united as a team and believe in everybody and we’ll be fine.”

When opportunity arose, Kentucky’s strengths weren’t on display on the national stage with CBS broadcasting the game in front of 63,543 in attendance, the largest crowd at Kroger Field since the stadium renovation in 2015.

The Wildcats’ nation-best scoring defense (13.0 points per game) and top-10 unit in defense yards per game (295.3) was scorched for 34 points and 444 yards by the Bulldogs. Swift and Elijah Holyfield combined for 271 yards on the ground.

It added insult to injury when safety Darius West was ejected for targeting in the third quarter.

The Wildcats weren’t much better offensively except by the scoreboard, with their most points since scoring 24 against South Carolina on Sept. 29. Kentucky held the ball for 18:08 in the first half and only had 133 yards and a 34-yard Chance Poore field goal to show for it.

The Wildcats were ultimately held to 4.8 yards per play and running back Benny Snell Jr. had just 73 yards rushing.

“I think our team all week had great preparation and I thought we stayed in our routine,” Stoops said. “Against a very, very good team like that you have to execute and be extremely precise along with being athletic and physical. They have explosive guys on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

“You have to play better. I think our team is very experienced and we have to put ourselves (in position) to play in games and will continue to learn.”{&end}