We can’t be 25% through the regular season after Saturday night in Lexington, can we? The top-ranked Dawgs open SEC play in the bluegrass at Kroger Field against a Kentucky team reeling from a 31-6 home loss to South Carolina. At the beginning of the day on Saturday, there was talk of College GameDay making its first trip to Lexington, and at the end of the day, many have left the ‘Cats for dead while the Dawgs cruised to a lopsided win over an FCS opponent using a shortened 4th quarter (hey, Lane, maybe you need to learn something from Kirby about sportsmanship). Let’s get to the preview.
When Georgia Has the Ball
Likely much to Mark Stoops’s chagrin, the forecast for Saturday night has turned where there is little chance for rain and wind as the threat of rain appears localized to Friday. That likely means Mike Bobo will be given freer rein over the play calling and let Carson Beck play. Stoops wants this game to be played in a phone booth, and Kirby has obliged on multiple occasions especially in Lexington. Similar to last year’s blowout in Athens, a fast start by the Georgia offense puts the game away early as it is going to be a challenge for the Wildcats to keep up with Georgia in a track meet. Saturday would be a great time for the Georgia offensive line to assert its dominance early to give Trevor Etienne and the backs running lanes and for Beck to have time to pick apart the Kentucky secondary. The Kentucky defense did a good job of controlling the Gamecocks’ running game and will look to improve over the 5.6 yards per carry they allowed the Dawgs in 2023. While South Carolina didn’t throw the ball much, they were effective at 11.5 yards per attempt.
When Kentucky Has the Ball
The ‘Cats were downright awful on offense last Saturday. How does a team that only generated 183 yards of total offense keep the ball for over 32:00? Stoopsball, I guess. Kentucky ran the ball 46 times for an average gain of 3.0 yards per carry, and the passing game was worse. If the Wildcats can’t threaten Georgia with any passing game, there is no path to victory without a lot of help from Georgia in cheap field position caused by turnovers and special teams. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kentucky try to force Georgia to defend the quarterback run game with some easy RPO stuff thrown in … the types of things Brock Vandagriff did at Prince Avenue Christian before coming to Georgia. That appears to be the best formula for trying to stay ahead of the chains, keep the clock moving and limit possessions. I’m guessing Smart & Schumann know Vandagriff’s tendencies and will force him to try to complete passes into tight windows. How long a leash Vandagriff has at this point is anyone’s guess, so I would assume the Dawgs are also putting in some preparation for Kentucky’s #2 QB.
What Will Happen
The Dawgs need to get off to a fast start on both sides of the ball as they did in Athens last year. There is no reason to give this Kentucky team and their fans any hope. The Missouri game in 2022 comes to mind as a game where we allowed an overmatched opponent to stay in the game and took the Dawgs to the brink. Two early turnovers and an explosive play in the run game gave Missouri the boost they needed to get a double digit lead. I’m concerned that Kirby is going to be willing to play conservatively to allow the defense to attempt to suffocate the Kentucky offense and get out of Lexington with an ugly win and play into Stoops’s hands especially if the weather forecast changes to something a bit more nasty. I like the Dawgs to win easily, but giving 24 points on the road to a team not named Vanderbilt seems like a lot to me. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stoops get a backdoor cover for his friends up in Youngstown. Kirby gets a solid win and a lot to chew on his team about for the next 2 weeks before the showdown with Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Final Score: Georgia 38, Kentucky 17
What’s your current prediction for a Friday? Let us know in the comments section.
I expect a heavy dose of manball from Kirby with some timely shots downfield. USC drove BVG bat-#### crazy with their pass rush. We should really rattle his cage with blitzing and collapsing the pocket. Stoops will pull him in the 2nd half. Our O-line will have to man up and keep Beck upright. UK “does” have a defense with a pulse. Bottom line: 31-10 good guys and go home healthy.
Are you implying that 75% of our D line is out for this game? I’m not all that worried about it for tomorrow but as the season goes on, yeah, I’m concerned.
Turnovers in the Missouri game weren’t caused by a shorthanded defensive line.
No, and I know you’re lamenting the season being 1/4 way done. We are short manned on the DL this week though.
My guess is it’s more about getting everyone healthy for the next game in Tuscaloosa.
Don’t foresee them getting 17 points against our defense. Would have to be some very untimely turnovers for that to happen. 38 for the good guys sounds about right.
HBTFD
Yeah, Kentucky doesn’t sniff 17 points but Kirby will man-ball us to about 28-31 points. Not sure we cover.
I would agree if the 1st team is out there. I wouldn’t be surprised for a late score to get the back door cover against our reserves.
Brooks Austin said last night not to be shocked if this ends up being a 24-3 type win. He said with Bammer coming up don’t be shocked if Kirby decides to tell Bobo to keep things watered way down since he knows Ke Ricky can’t beat them and he doesn’t want to put anything on tape. He said, “Don’t be shocked if this is one of those games where Georgia fans want to fire Mike Bobo after.”
You have to have good qb play to beat Georgia. Unless Brock pulls some Alfred Rawls-type vengeance out of his ass, its going to be a long and frustrating evening for the home team.
Btw, why do I remember shit like Rawls from the 1980’s better than I do yesterday?
For those with memories that function as they should or who are too young to have been around, Alfred Rawls was a RB from a small town/school in rural (SE?) Georgia who wore our asses out in Sanford (I think) in the mid-1980’s. We couldn’t stop him. And we lost. To Kentucky. In football. Which obviously left an indelible mark.
So Rawls was Jonathan Crompton before Johnathan Crampton?
May have been. Memes were hard when all we had was western union.
Would this be Etienne’s first win over Kentucky?
It’s the reason he came to Georgia.
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The trans-Atlantic cable has been restored. Bonjour!
I believe that we’re on a 14-year streak of sending the Cats off to basketball season. Can’t wait until we get to the point where they start making the “Nobody Beats Us xx Years in a Row” t-shirts…
Ça va bien
allez les chiens!!!!!
And I’m done in the Francais department
No turn overs and NO injured players.
GO DAWGS
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