ATHENS — Georgia came out of the home tunnel at Sanford Stadium and took charge of a football game on Saturday.

The Bulldogs scored first on Kentucky, charging to a 14-0 first-quarter lead and 21-7 halftime lead en route to the 35-14 win.

It was the first time Georgia had scored first against a Power 4 conference opponent in nearly a year to the date in Sanford Stadium (Oct. 5, 2024, in a 31-13 win over Auburn) and the first time in eight games the Bulldogs held a halftime lead over a Power 4 opponent (Oct. 19, 2024 in a 30-15 win at Texas).

So, Kirby Smart was asked, with a challenging road game at Auburn ahead this Saturday night, what led the Bulldogs to get off to a fast start against Kentucky?

“Do we want to start fast? Yes. What made us start fast? I can’t give you [an answer],” Smart said. “We didn’t take a pill, we didn’t inject anything, we didn’t put a different pregame meal.

“You know, we go out to execute every game. Sometimes the opponent makes that really hard. Sometimes we make it hard because we bust.”

Smart said his staff works on the same question, in terms of designing a game plan and preparing the team to play better than the opponents from the opening kick.

“That’s the objective of every game: How do we start fast, what do we do to start fast, and how can we execute better than the other team?” Smart said. “At the end of the day, that’s what it’s about.”

Tennessee scored on its first three possessions in Georgia’s SEC opener in Knoxville, going up 21-7 by the end of the first quarter before the Bulldogs rallied for a 44-41 overtime win.

Alabama converted on its first eight third-down opportunities in building a 14-0 first quarter lead in Sanford Stadium en route to its 24-21 win over the Bulldogs.

And now comes Auburn, a desperate rival that has started the season 0-2 in conference play with close losses on the road against No. 6 Oklahoma (24-17, Sept. 20) and No. 5 Texas A&M (16-10, Sept. 27).

“It’s what makes it hard anytime you go on the road — it’s an intense, crazy environment,” Smart said of playing under the lights in Jordan-Hare Stadium. “The night games are more so than the day games, in terms of that atmosphere that’s created, but, we practice in that.”

Georgia has won more than twice as many games when scoring first in a game under Smart — 75-11 — than when the opponent scores first 33-10.

Even more eye-opening, the Bulldogs are 87-4 when leading at halftime and 18-15 when trailing at halftime.

Smart knows what to expect when Georgia comes out of the visitor’s tunnel at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and he has prepared his team to get off to another fast start amid those challenging circumstances.

“We create an environment of chaos and noise and try to create some confusion so we have to communicate in that,” Smart said. “So our guys get to practice in it. We’ll have to go out and execute it.”

The sooner the better.