Midnight Madness – Kentucky preview

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It’s October, so it’s time for Kentucky fans to start looking to the start of basketball season. This axiom has particularly been true after the Wildcats visit Sanford Stadium. Both teams are coming off losses last week … Kentucky to South Carolina and Georgia to Alabama. The Cats have back-to-back games on the road and are looking to their open date next week before hosting Texas.

Let’s get to the preview.

When Georgia has the ball

Kentucky’s defense has been shredded in SEC play. Ole Miss rushed over 200 yards while South Carolina used ground out 180 on almost 50 attempts. Those 2 teams combined for 6 rushing TDs against the Wildcats. Against the pass they may be worse, Kentucky has given up over 10 yards per attempt in SEC play so far, but they did get 2 interceptions against Ole Miss.

Given how the Kentucky defense has fared, this is a game where the Dawgs need to take what the Cats are willing to give. If they want to protect their secondary, crank up on the league’s best running games. More likely, they are going to stack the box and force Stockton to throw. Gunner should have opportunities to create explosives in the passing game.

Final thought … stay away from turnovers.

When Kentucky has the ball

Kentucky is last in the conference by a fair margin throwing the ball. That includes games against the defensive stalwarts of Toledo and Eastern Michigan. Mark Stoops is going to try to shorten the game by running the ball and milking the clock. If there was a time to commit the front 6 to run stopping, today is that game. The Dawgs defense has been difficult to run consistently against, and I expect that to continue on this afternoon.

Get the Cats behind the chains and keep them there, Dawgs.

What will happen

Will Kirby try to out manball Stoops? If so, expect a game that doesn’t reflect the superior athleticism we have over Kentucky. If Kirby coaches this game as we have seen in Kentucky’s past games in Athens, this game could get out of hand. It would be a sight for sore eyes to see this team get off to a fast start on both sides of the ball and end all hope of a massive upset early.

I think this game ends up somewhere between those extremes.

Dawgs win by a final score that doesn’t reflect game control.

Final Score: Georgia 38, Kentucky 17

This entry was posted in Kentucky: Is It Basketball Season Yet?, SEC, UGA and tagged , , by eethomaswfnc. Bookmark the permalink.

About eethomaswfnc

I've been a Dawg my entire life. UGA was always my dream school where I received 2 Terry College degrees and met my DGD wife. I've been a season ticket holder for over 30 years and love the in-stadium experience over anything from Section HD. My first game in Sanford Stadium was the 1981 Auburn game where we clinched the SEC championship. The best game I've attended in person was the Midnight Miss against Ohio State (nite, nite!). The best home games I've attended were the 1984 Clemson game (the Butler did it) and the 2013 LSU game (that 4th down is still the loudest single moment I've experienced between the hedges). The game I love to win is against the Handbags (FTMF), and the game I hate to lose is the NATS (Tuck Fech).

14 thoughts on “Midnight Madness – Kentucky preview”

  1. ‘Get Right’ game…
    Dawgs 42
    Felines 10
    Percy, get me outta heah. 😁

  2. Y’all have fun. I’ll be on the tractor. No noon rock fight for me. This is always a boring game or almost always. Hopefully nobody gets hurt.

  4. Spot on ee. I’ll be looking and worried if the Cats find they too can convert 3rd & 7s with quick slant passes or QB runs. Time for Stockton to stretch the field with success and discover his TEs.

  5. I hope to see the killer instinct come out in the team today.
    Dominate Kentucky from the first play through the last.

    • I saw a video clip from 680 The Fan saying that Buster Faulkner unlocked the key to Schuman’s defense last year and everyone since has watched the tape and used it against us.

      I don’t know 680. For all I know, they’re a Nerd station. But it’s not a crazy theory. I guess today might tell the tale. If all of a sudden UK’s offense steps out on us, then they may be right.

  6. If KY has a 350 OL that can catch the ball, we’re in trouble (as our guys were scared to tackle)!

  7. Noon start, late arriving student crowd, and our propensity to start slow leads me to think it’s a FG game at the half with Dawgs pulling away in the 2nd half and winning 27-17.

  8. I’m hoping the emphasis is on starting fast and getting TD’s only in the red zone. I’d love to see Gunner throw it deep more. He’s really good at it.

    Please no grind it out eat the clock game.

  9. This could be the football equivalent of a Mexican Standoff. Our team has not got that put it away early mojo. I will be watching but I’ll have a trash can handy.

  10. Just win third down and the turnover battle. Don’t care how they whoop them really, just want to see lights out defense.

  11. Kirby will absolutely try to out manball Stoops. I swear, sometimes when I see Gunner changing the play when he sees a stacked box, I think he’s calling a run when we had a pass play. More people in the box appears to translate into more reason to run for this team. We rarely seem to take what they’re giving.

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