On Saturday, Kentucky
attempts to snap Georgia’s nine-game winning streak over the Cats.
LEXINGTON – October 18, 2019 – Bradley Charles – Bluegrass
Sports Nation
On Saturday, the Kentucky Wildcats (3-3, 1-3 SEC) travel to the
Peach State to square off against the Georgia Bulldogs (5-1, 2-1 SEC). ESPN’s
Football Power Index currently gives Kentucky just over a 6% chance of
defeating Georgia.
Georgia leads the all-time series 58-12-2, with a 29-4-2
record in Athens. The Bulldogs have won the last nine meetings, with Kentucky’s
last win coming at Athens in 2009.
Georgia enters the game ranked 10th in the AP Poll. Kentucky
is 3-25 all-time against a ranked Georgia squad with the last such victory
coming in 1988.
Kentucky
Kentucky is coming off a 24-20 victory over Arkansas, and
all signs point to Lynn Bowden Jr. receiving the start at quarterback for the
second game in a row. Last week, Bowden went seven of 11 through the air for 78
yards and a touchdown. Bowden rushed for 196 yards and two touchdowns on 24
carries and even returned a punt. Since 2000, only three FBS players have at
least 20 rushing attempts, 10 passing attempts, and a punt return in the same
game: Antwaan Randle El, Julian Edelman, and Lynn Bowden Jr. At this point,
Bowden being the starting quarterback against Georgia is essentially a
universal expectation.
Despite Kentucky’s success last week, it is hard to envision
Kentucky beating Georgia with Bowden throwing only 11 passes for 78 yards. On
Monday, when Stoops was asked if Kentucky will pass the ball more in the game
against Georgia, he replied, “We certainly are going to have to have more
balance this week. You just look at Georgia defensively, they give up a very,
very few amount of explosive plays, very few explosive runs.”
Georgia
It goes without saying that Georgia is a top-notch football
team, averaging 38.5 points per game while allowing 12.3 per game; owning one
of the best home-field advantages in the country. The Georgia offense is
totaling nearly 505 yards per game, while the defense allows just shy of 282
per game. Also, Georgia has a conversion rate of 46.3% on third down, which
ranks third in the SEC behind LSU and Alabama.
Quarterback Jake Fromm has been impressive, as expected,
this season. Fromm is one of the better quarterbacks in the country, holding a
28-6 record as the as a starter at UGA. Through the air this season, Fromm is
114 of 162 for 1,371 yards and nine touchdowns to just three interceptions.
The Bulldog rushing attack is led by D’Andre Swift who has
89 carries on the season for 573 yards and five touchdowns. Brian Herrien and
Zamir White will, most likely, receive touches as well. Swift, Herrien, and
White are all averaging nearly 6.5 yards per carry. Georgia has only allowed
four sacks on the season.
The Bulldogs’ receiving corps is a balanced group with eight
players having caught at least nine passes and none with more than 19. Both George
Pickens and Lawrence Cager each have 19 receptions on the season. Pickens leads
the team in receiving yards with 283; Cager follows with 245.
Defensively, Georgia has an astounding 29 players who have
recorded a tackle for a loss this season and 11 who have recorded a sack. Junior
linebacker Monty Rice leads the team in total tackles with 38, followed by cornerback
J.R. Reed who has 31, and fellow linebacker Tae Crowder who has 30.
Stoops’ Comments
On Monday, Mark Stoops said, “Knowing Georgia, the way
they’re coached, the coaches that they have and the leadership they have on
that team, the winning attitude, it will be a very difficult time going in
there this week. We have to make sure we elevate our game because I’m quite
sure that Georgia is going to bounce back in a strong way and be ready to play.”
Final Thoughts
Personally, I think Kentucky needs to try to run a more
traditional offense against Georgia than they did against Arkansas last week.
It’s hard to envision Kentucky getting a victory when only throwing a dozen
passes. As mentioned earlier in the article, Stoops’ comments on Monday agreed
with this notion.
No matter what happens on Saturday, Kentucky
has seen great success under Mark Stoops.
The game is scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. and will air on
ESPN.
