Georgia has a feeling it might see lots of wildcat from the Wildcats this weekend

While some Kentucky fans see a bland run up the middle, Kirby Smart sees something totally different.

While some Kentucky fans see a generic direct-snap formation, the Georgia head coach sees a new puzzle to solve.

Kentucky’s offensive coaches have done a good job of making plays that look mundane a headache for their opponent, Smart said this week.

“Eddie (Gran) does a really good job of each week having a different presentation of what people label ‘wildcat,’” Smart said of the type of play that caused the seventh-ranked Bulldogs problems in a 40-17 loss to Auburn last weekend.

The Tigers ran for 237 yards against Georgia, doing much of their damage out of the wildcat formation behind Kerryon Johnson.

That same package created some issues for Georgia last season when the Bulldogs needed a last-second field goal to beat Kentucky 27-24.

“They had a couple of drives last year, particularly one at the end, they ran almost the whole series in the wildcat,” Smart said of UK, which ran for 186 yards and three touchdowns against the Bulldogs in Lexington. “They are good at it. They are physical.

“Our kids talked last year about (how) that was the most physical game they played in from a defensive standpoint because it was so much grinding and hitting. They pride themselves on that, so it will be a great challenge for us.”

It’s been fun for Gran and his staff to keep that wildcat package — and the offensive schemes — fresh.

Kentucky has used less wildcat than it did at times last season, but it adds something new to the package every week, the offensive coordinator said. Sometimes it’s a formation, sometimes a motion or a different player in a different spot in the formation.

“Mark (Stoops) challenged all of us as a staff to make sure we’re being creative and we’re switching it up,” Gran said on Tuesday as UK prepared to face a Georgia defense that is top five nationally in scoring (14.5 points per game).

The Bulldogs have given up just five rushing touchdowns all season and are allowing just 103.8 yards per game.

So the Cats no doubt will have to get creative to get yards, especially on the ground, where they’ve averaged 246.7 yards in the past three games.

Kentucky’s 12 rushing touchdowns in the last three games are three more than it managed in the first seven games combined.

“It’s been fun to add to the wildcat package,” Gran said. “It’s fun to be able to do that. It’s a lot more fun when it works.”

Defending that direct-snap formation is not exactly fun for a defense, two Bulldogs seniors said.

“The Wildcat is always challenging, because you never know where the ball is going,” nose tackle John Atkins said. “You also have to be more patient.”

Noting Auburn’s big-yardage plays in that formation will probably only encourage Gran to use more wildcat, Atkins said: “Every time a team has success in an area, another team is going to try to do the same.”

Kentucky has tried to be more creative in its attack in general, including the run-pass option, Gran said.

Stout play from the offensive line and improved accuracy from quarterback Stephen Johnson has made it easier to draw up play options like the one early in the third quarter against Vanderbilt last week that Sihiem King used to score his 7-yard touchdown.

“They took the — I call it eye candy — on the fake reverse part of it,” Gran said of that score. “A couple of them, you know, they took the eye candy, and so that was really good. And our offensive line came off the darn football and got after it.”

The Cats have tried to offer multiple looks in the run game, like a three-tight end set in recent weeks utilizing C.J. Conrad, Greg Hart and Justin Rigg.

That, again, came from a suggestion from UK’s defense-centric head coach.

“It creates extra gaps for the defense,” Gran said of that play. “That’s probably the biggest thing. ... I get a lot of that from (Stoops). As Mark comes in and he’s talking and he tells us, ‘Hey, this bothers us. We have an issue with this stuff.’

“So, a lot of that comes from Coach Stoops and being a defensive guy and what bothers him. That’s how we try to attack it.”

Kentucky’s offense will need all of the suggestions it can get against a Georgia defense that is, as Gran sees it, “as good as there is in the country. That front seven, they’re the real deal.”

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Georgia has a feeling it might see lots of wildcat from the Wildcats this weekend."