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October 23 – Georgia
The Georgia game will be the third straight contest in Commonwealth Stadium for Kentucky. The Wildcats have played Georgia surprisingly well over the past few years and have split the last four meetings with the Bulldogs. Last season’s Wildcat win came between the hedges in Sanford Stadium as Kentucky played through a tough first half and secured the win late in the game. By the time Kentucky gets to this point in the season, the depth chart should be completely set and the Wildcats will have had enough time to really gel along the lines. Kentucky will hope to follow last year’s recipe for success and rely on a strong running game mixed with occasional passes offensively. The Wildcats would also be wise to try and force as many turnovers as possible defensively. The Bulldogs will be coming in to Lexington just a week before heading to Gainesville for the big-ass cosmo party or whatever it’s called. Georgia will be as talented In the trenches as almost anyone in the country and will likely start 3 SRs and 2 JRs along the offensive line. The defense should be fully transitioned to their new 3-4 defensive scheme by this point, but it’s not an easy switch to make and there might still be some hiccups. Redshirt Freshman gunslinger Aaron Murray will have had some time to get comfortable in the offense and could show why many evaluators thought he was neck and neck with USC starter Matt Barkley as the top prep QB in his class. The overall talent level is still slightly skewed in the Bulldogs favor, but the gap is as narrow as it’s ever been.
Kentucky will lose if…..
The Cats smaller defense allows the Bulldog offense to run all over them. Georgia will bring a stable of backs to town led by vastly underrated Caleb King and sophomore Washaun Ealey to run behind a massive offensive line of talented and experienced players. Kentucky’s Linebackers aren’t much bigger than most of the Georgia Running backs and could easily be overpowered if they don’t stay true to their defensive assignments. If star receiver A.J. Green has a big night the game could be over by halftime. He is one of the few wide-outs that has the skills and ability to completely take over the game and will be at least five inches taller than the man covering him in this contest. Aaron Murray is likely a future NFL QB and will have plenty of targets roaming the field to carve up the UK defense if the secondary is caught snoozing. Kentucky allowed TE Orson Charles to shred the defense for 73 yards on dump passes, and Charles will be back again to roam the short field. The Georgia defense will be implementing their new 3-4 look this season and this blitz happy scheme could easily lead to a long night for the Kentucky QB. The Bulldogs will have linebackers flying at the passer from every different direction and their defensive backs will feast on errant and rushed passes as the UK QB is under duress. If Georgia gets an early lead, the Cats will have a hard time catching up. Despite what most of the UK fanbase wants to believe, you could really even say that Georgia lost last years game more than Kentucky won it. It’s tough to get a good team to beat themselves, and Georgia should be a pretty good team.
Why Kentucky will win…..
The Wildcats will enter this game on the end of a three game home stand and let’s be honest here; this is an extremely average Georgia team by their standards. The Bulldogs failed to field a consistent rushing attack last season, and it’s unlikely that talented freshman Ken Malcome has the type of year that allows him to replace four upperclassmen at Running back. While A.J. Green is talented, he has struggled to stay healthy and there’s no guarantee that he’ll even participate in this game. Outside of Green, the other receiving options are good, but unspectacular. Aaron Murray might be a future star, but the key word is future. He’ll be a redshirt freshman and prone to mistakes that young Quarterbacks make. The Kentucky defensive line will have one of the biggest advantages in speed they will have all year against Georgia and could wreak havoc in the backfield as they simply run around the Bulldog offensive line. The Linebackers’ speed will come into play in this game as they will be able to run around and avoid blockers similar to the way Georgia Linebacker Rennie Curran did last year. The UK defensive backfield will be playing against an offense that will have a lot of inexperience at the receiver positions and could make the reads necessary to force turnovers from the young QB. The Georgia defense is still an enigma. The switch to a 3-4 could prove more difficult than anticipated and Kentucky will take advantage of any botched coverages and should notch some big plays. The Cats will have an offensive line capable of opening holes for Derrick Locke and the Georgia linebackers will have a hard time covering the speed merchant out of the backfield on swings and screens. Randall Cobb always seems to step up his game against Georgia and I see no reason for him to take the year off. He should be able to take advantage of the Bulldogs’ undersized defensive backs on his way to a big night. There are so man Georgians on the UK roster that were overlooked by their home-state team, you can be sure that there will be plenty of players with something to prove. If the Wildcats can come into this game with some momentum and establish their game plan effectively, they should be able to knock the Bulldogs off for the second year in a row. If Cobb has the type of game he’s capable of, Georgia could be looking for a new head coach by the end of the season and Cobb could be on the Heisman short list.
Be sure to check out our friends over at Saturday Down South‘s breakdown of this game.
Why Georgia will win HERE
Why Kentucky Will win HERE
Here on the WBN
For a breakdown of the Louisville game, go HERE
For a breakdown of the WKU game, go HERE
For a breakdown of the Akron game, go HERE
For a breakdown of the Florida game, go HERE
For a breakdown of the Ole Miss game, go HERE
For a breakdown of the Auburn game, go HERE
For a breakdown of the South Carolina game, go HERE
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