Can Kentucky really challenge Georgia in the SEC East? Only if it beats Florida first.
READ MORE
Preview: No. 20 Kentucky at No. 12 Florida
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Florida football game at 7 p.m. at Gainesville, Fla.
Expand All
Mark Stoops and his Kentucky football players were not shy about their lofty goals for the 2022 season this summer.
Simply reaching bowl games was not enough anymore. It was time to mount a challenge to Georgia in the SEC East and reach the league title game in Atlanta.
After watching Georgia embarrass a ranked Oregon team 49-3 in its opener, the gap between the Bulldogs and rest of the division still appears large, but if Kentucky is serious about contending in the East, the path starts with a win at No. 12 Florida on Saturday.
“Really, this game right here, you hate to say it, but it’s going to be the tell of the season,” super senior linebacker Jacquez Jones said. “Winning the second game, on the road, SEC game, it’s going to give us some real momentum. We’ve just got to go in and take care of business.”
Stoops is like most football coaches. The biggest game is the next one, he constantly reminds his players. Looking ahead is always dangerous.
But with only the season opener against Mid-American Conference squad Miami (Ohio) between the offseason and UK’s trip to Florida, it was easy to at least consider the importance of the second game all summer. Even offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello has been game planning for Florida for weeks, UK quarterback Will Levis revealed after the 37-13 win over Miami.
With the goal of reaching the SEC championship game clear, players were constantly asked about how they could close the gap with Georgia in the leadup to the opener.
“I think it’s just consistency,” Levis said on the first day of preseason camp. “I think we showed flashes of being able to put drives together and put sequences in place together against them. But we can’t really focus on just them.
“We’ve got to take care of business and trust our development as a team, be as physical as possible, knowing a team like them is always going to punch you in the mouth. But if you punch them in the mouth back, that’s how you gain respect and that’s how you keep the edge on your side.”
The defending national champion lost a record 15 NFL draft picks from last season but still boasts a roster built around five consecutive recruiting classes ranked in the top five nationally, including the No. 1-ranked 2020 class now entering its third year on campus.
Meanwhile, Kentucky signed its highest-ranked class in the recruiting website era last year. That group was ranked 14th nationally. Georgia has not signed a class ranked outside the top 10 nationally since 2012.
The blowout of then No. 11 Oregon dropped the Ducks all the way out of the Associated Press Top 25 and leapfrogged Georgia over Ohio State to No. 2 in the poll.
Kentucky was picked to finish second in the East by reporters at SEC Media Days this summer. The Wildcats have finished in that position twice in the last four years but have yet to beat Georgia in Stoops’ nine seasons as coach.
The average margin of defeat in those games is 21.8 points per game. After losing by a combined 98 points in the first three meetings with Georgia of the Stoops era, Kentucky has lost by 17 points or less in three of the last four games.
Two of those losses came with first place in the SEC East on the line. Kentucky did play Georgia closer in a 30-13 loss last season than any other team in the regular season, but six of Kentucky’s points came on a touchdown with four seconds remaining after the outcome had long been decided.
“When we started at 14th (in the SEC), worked our way up,” Stoops said at SEC Media Days in July. “Last year we were fortunate enough to finish second in the East. However, we all know there was a large gap between Georgia and No. 2. We’re all trying to close that gap.”
Kentucky’s schedule suddenly looks more difficult with East rivals Florida and Tennessee both moving into the top 25 after week one wins. Now three of Kentucky’s four SEC road games are scheduled against teams currently ranked in the top 25.
Counting on Georgia to stumble elsewhere is a dangerous strategy if Kentucky wants to be a legitimate contender in the East. A loss in Gainesville would put Kentucky’s division hopes on life support.
Even without the East race implications, Kentucky versus Florida looks like one of the biggest games for the Wildcats in decades.
It is just Kentucky’s ninth regular season matchup between teams ranked in the AP poll since 1978. Kentucky has not won one of those games since upsetting No. 1 LSU in 2007.
The motivation increased this week when SEC Network analyst Roman Harper predicted an easy win for the Gators, saying he felt Kentucky was “softer” up front in its opener. Recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow was quick to respond to that assessment on Twitter and made sure that Kentucky players have been made aware of the quote.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff to prove,” Jones said. “We’ve just got to keep that in, and when it’s on Saturday be ready to ball out.”
Of course, Stoops is not ready to call Florida a must-win. He certainly is not ready to talk about where Kentucky stands in the SEC East race.
But for a team with big goals it is impossible to refute the importance of the matchup with Florida.
“Should I pack it in after this one?” Stoops said with a laugh when asked about the game’s importance this week. “What would y’all do? Win or lose, it’s one game. Yeah, in the SEC, every SEC game is important.
“... It’s a big game, yeah, but this is the next one. We’re gonna have quite a few big games and we always embrace that — you better. You better embrace the challenges that are in front of you, and this is certainly one of them.”
Saturday
No. 20 Kentucky at No. 12 Florida
When: 7 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Records: UK 1-0, Florida 1-0
Series: Florida leads 53-19
Last meeting: UK won 20-13 on Oct. 2, 2021, in Lexington
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 10:58 AM.
