First Scouting Report: At No. 1 Georgia, Kentucky will seek to shock the world
An early look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next football game:
The opponent
Kentucky (5-0, 2-0 SEC) will travel to Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 7, to face No. 1 Georgia (4-0, 1-0 SEC) at Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium (seating capacity 92,746):
The game will kick off at 7 p.m. (EDT) and be telecast by ESPN.
Coach Kirby Smart’s two-time defending national champion Bulldogs will put their 21-game winning streak on the line Saturday at Auburn in a game that will kick off at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) and be telecast by CBS.
Series history
Georgia leads the all-time series with Kentucky 62-12-2 and has beaten the Wildcats in 13 straight meetings.
UK coach Mark Stoops is 0-10 vs. Georgia.
Bulldogs head man Kirby Smart is 7-0 vs. Kentucky.
Most recent meeting
Kenny McIntosh ran for 143 yards and a touchdown and Jack Podlesny booted three field goals as No. 1 Georgia survived a determined Kentucky defensive effort and won 16-6 on Nov. 19, 2022, at Kroger Field.
UK’s chance to pull a monumental upset was sabotaged by offensive inefficiency. The Wildcats drove the ball into Georgia territory four times and into the Bulldogs’ red zone three times, but produced only one score.
Then a freshman, Kentucky wide receiver Barion Brown had a monster showing against the No. 1 Bulldogs, catching 10 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown.
Know your foe
1. Since falling to Georgia 27-24 on a last-second, 25-yard field by Rodrigo Blankenship in Kirby Smart’s first season as Bulldogs head man in 2016, Kentucky has not played the Dawgs within single digits since.
Since the 2016 near miss, the Wildcats’ losing margins vs. Georgia have been 29, 17, 21, 11, 17 and 10 points, respectively.
The 2016 contest was also the last time UK scored more than two touchdowns in a game against Georgia.
2. Two-time national championship-winning quarterback Stetson Bennett’s replacement at Georgia is Jacksonville, Florida, product Carson Beck. A 6-foot-4, 220-pound junior, Beck is off to a solid start.
Entering Saturday’s game at Auburn, Beck was completing a robust 72.66% of his passes and had thrown for 1,184 yards and six touchdowns with only one interception.
3. Georgia junior tight end Brock Bowers might be the most-talented player in college football. The 6-4, 240-pound product of Napa, California, entered the Auburn game with 22 catches for 252 yards and two TDs.
In the past against Kentucky, Bowers produced one big game and one surprisingly quiet one.
Two seasons ago, when Georgia and Kentucky met in Athens with both teams unbeaten and playing for the SEC East lead, Bowers caught five passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns.
Last season, as the Dawgs survived 16-6 on a blustery, cold day in Lexington, Bowers caught only two passes for 10 yards.
Ray Davis’ monster game leads Kentucky football to its third straight win against Florida
Where does Ray Davis’ big rushing day against Florida rank in Kentucky football history?
Who is Ray Davis? What to know about the Kentucky RB who dominated against Florida
Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s commanding 33-14 win over No. 22 Florida
Final statistics from Kentucky football’s 33-14 win over No. 22 Florida
