First Scouting Report: Kentucky must try to bounce back vs. SEC East giant Georgia
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Game day: Vanderbilt 24, Kentucky 21
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Vanderbilt football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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An early look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next football game:
The opponent
Kentucky (6-4, 3-4 SEC) will play host to No. 1 and defending national champion Georgia (9-0, 6-0 SEC) next Saturday (Nov. 19) at Kroger Field (capacity 61,000).
The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by CBS.
Coach Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs faced Mississippi State on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a game that was to be telecast by ESPN.
Series history
Georgia leads 61-12-2. The Bulldogs have won the past 12 meetings with Kentucky.
The Wildcats have not beaten the Dawgs since a 34-27 win in Athens in 2009. UK has not won over Georgia in Lexington since a 24-20 victory in 2006.
UK Coach Mark Stoops is 0-9 vs. Georgia.
Bulldogs head man Kirby Smart is 6-0 vs. Kentucky.
Most recent meeting
Stetson Bennett threw for three touchdowns and Georgia’s fearsome defensive front held Kentucky to 51 total rushing yards as the No. 1 Bulldogs whipped the No. 11 Wildcats 31-13 in a battle of unbeaten teams competing for the SEC East lead on Oct. 16, 2021, at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga.
Know your foe
1. One year after Georgia had five players taken in the first round of the NFL Draft off what is considered one of the greatest college defenses ever, there has been little drop-off. Going into Saturday’s play, Georgia ranked No. 2 in the FBS in points allowed (10.8 a game); No. 3 in red zone defense (64.7 percent, only five TDs surrendered in 17 drives inside the 20); No. 5 in total defense (265.6 yards a game); No. 6 in rush defense (86.4 yards a game) and No. 14 in pass defense (179.1 yards a game).
2. No one has to inform Kentucky how stout Georgia’s defense has been in the Kirby Smart coaching era. In the past five meetings between UK and the Dawgs, Kentucky has never scored more than two touchdowns in any game.
The Wildcats have not gone above 17 points vs. Georgia since Smart’s first season, 2016, when the Buldogs escaped Lexington with a 27-24 victory on a last-second field goal.
3. A season after defying a legion of skeptics by quarterbacking Georgia to the national title, former walk-on Stetson Bennett is thriving. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior entered Saturday’s play completing 67.8 percent of his throws and had thrown for 2,606 yards and 11 touchdowns with only three interceptions.
In last season’s showdown with Kentucky for the SEC East lead, Bennett completed 14 of 20 throws for 250 yards and three TDs and also hurt UK with his legs, carrying three times for 22 yards.
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 3:13 PM.
