How Kentucky football and No. 12 Georgia match up — with a game prediction

How the Kentucky Wildcats (2-2, 0-2 SEC) and the No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1 SEC) match up at each position for Saturday’s college football matchup — with a game prediction:

Quarterbacks

• Kentucky redshirt freshman Cutter Boley had a rough go in his first college road start in UK’s 35-13 loss at South Carolina last week. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound redshirt freshman lost a scoop-and-score fumble, threw a pick six and another interception that set up a third Gamecocks touchdown. For the game, the former Lexington Christian Academy star completed 10 of 19 passes for 124 yards. “The nice thing about (Boley), he’s very resilient, and he has a strong belief in himself,” Mark Stoops said, “and the (other UK) players believe in him as well.”

• Georgia redshirt junior Gunner Stockton is off to a solid start in his first season as the Bulldogs starting QB. The 6-1, 215-pound product of Tiger, Georgia, is completing 69.7% of his passes and has thrown for 851 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Stockton can also hurt teams with his legs, as he’s run for 144 yards and three touchdowns in four games. In Georgia’s 24-21 upset loss to Alabama on Saturday, Stockton had his least impressive statistical performance of 2025, completing 13 of 20 throws for 130 yards and a TD.

Advantage: Georgia

Running backs

• Kentucky’s Seth McGowan has joined George Adams in 1984 as the two most recent UK backs to begin with at least 75 rushing yards and one touchdown in each of the Wildcats’ first four games. Of the 12 TDs UK has scored so far this season, McGowan has accounted for seven. The 6-1, 215-pound senior is 19th in the FBS in rushing yards a game (96.8), 31st in rushing yards (387) and tied for fifth in rushing touchdowns (seven). Nebraska transfer Dante Dowdell ran for a combined 185 yards in UK’s first two games but has had only 53 rushing yards combined in the past two. The Cats need to get the 6-2, 227-pound junior going again.

• Georgia benched starting running back Nate Frazier in the loss to Alabama after the sophomore from Compton, California, fumbled for a fifth time (with three lost) in his past 10 games. Taking advantage was redshirt freshman Chauncey Bowens, who led the Bulldogs in rushing (a career-high 119 yards on 12 carries) and receiving (four catches for 22 yards) in the loss to Bama.

Advantage: Even

Wide receivers

• Kentucky senior slot receiver Kendrick Law caught five passes for 41 yards in the loss at South Carolina. The 6-foot, 205-pound senior transfer from Alabama leads the Wildcats with 13 receptions overall. Mark Stoops expressed hope that sophomore Hardley Gilmore (six catches, 97 yards this season) will emerge as UK’s stretch-the-field threat. “He can definitely make some contested catches for us,” Stoops said.

• Georgia features a trio of capable wideouts. Senior Colbie Young, who played his first two seasons for Miami, leads the Dawgs in receptions (17) and receiving yards (238). Young caught a 38-yard touchdown pass vs. Alabama. A transfer from USC, Zachariah Branch has 14 receptions for 216 yards and two TDs. London Humphreys, who began his career at Vanderbilt, has nine catches for 105 yards and two scores. In Georgia’s 44-41 overtime win at Tennessee, Humphreys caught a 28-yard TD pass with 2:38 left in regulation that (along with a successful two-point conversion), allowing the Bulldogs to send the game to OT.

Advantage: Georgia

Tight ends

• Kentucky sophomore Willie Rodriguez took a short Cutter Boley pass and turned it into a 53-yard catch and run vs. South Carolina. Rodriguez left Columbia with two catches for 66 yards. On the season, the 6-4, 252-pound sophomore from Covington Catholic now has seven receptions for a team-high 134 receiving yards. Senior Josh Kattus made eight catches combined in UK’s first three games but did not have a target at South Carolina.

• Georgia senior Oscar Delp has three catches for 51 yards this season. Last year, in the Bulldogs’ 13-12 escape over UK, Delp caught two passes for 12 yards. Two seasons ago, when Georgia strafed Kentucky 51-13 in Athens, Delp also caught two passes for 12 yards, including a 7-yard TD catch from Carson Beck. Junior Lawson Luckie has four receptions for 31 yards.

Advantage: Even

Offensive line

• Kentucky gave up six sacks and four quarterback hurries at South Carolina. UK starting tackles Shiyazh Pete (left) and Alex Wollschlaeger (right) appeared to have a tough go against the Gamecocks’ edge rushers. “We struggled at times, technique-wise. Assignment-wise, we were pretty good,” Mark Stoops said of Kentucky’s tackle play. “... Some guys were fighting it a bit, (were) a bit off, and can play better. And we need them to.”

• Due to injuries, Georgia has started a different offensive line unit in all four of its games. All the churn has been on the right side of the line, where Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs have started, in various combinations, three different people at both right guard and right tackle. Center Drew Bobo was named Outland Trophy National Player of the Week after recording five knockdown blocks and allowing no quarterback pressures or sacks at Tennessee.

Advantage: Georgia

Defensive line

• Kentucky redshirt sophomore tackle Tavion Gadson was a disruptive presence at South Carolina. The 6-5, 298-pound product of Savannah, Georgia, had four tackles and recorded both a sack and a hurry of Gamecocks QB LaNorris Sellers. “Definitely showed up in that game,” Mark Stoops said of Gadson. “He was very disruptive.”

• Georgia nose tackle Jordan Hall turned in a big effort vs. Alabama. The 6-4, 320-pound junior made four tackles and may have saved a touchdown on a Crimson Tide screen pass attempt. On the season, Hall, a Jacksonville, Florida, product, has made nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Advantage: Georgia

Linebackers

• Kentucky middle linebacker Daveren Rayner led the Wildcats in tackles at South Carolina with seven. The 6-2, 217-pound super-senior from Indianapolis is tied for third on the UK team in tackles with 24. OLB Sam Greene, the USC transfer, had four tackles vs. South Carolina.

• Inside linebackers CJ Allen (team-high 30 tackles, two pass breakups) and Raylen Wilson (29 tackles, 2.5 TFL, a sack and a hurry) anchor the Georgia defense. Allen had six tackles in the Bulldogs’ win vs. UK last season, while Wilson contributed five stops and a sack.

Advantage: Georgia

Defensive backs

• Kentucky free safety Jordan Lovett made six tackles at South Carolina and has made a combined 23 in UK’s last three games. Lovett made four stops last season against Georgia. With injuries thinning out Kentucky’s cornerback depth, true freshman Grant Grayton has seen action in the past two games. Given playing time, Grayton, a 6-3, 205-pound product of Laurel, Maryland, has made five tackles and successfully defended a pass.

• Georgia right cornerback Daylen Everette led the Bulldogs with six tackles in last season’s win at Kentucky. So far this season, Everette has 14 tackles and a pass breakup. Strong safety KJ Bolden leads Bulldogs DBs in tackles with 22 and has also broken up two passes and picked off one.

Advantage: Georgia

Special teams

• Kentucky redshirt freshman place-kicker Jacob Kauwe has started the season 8 of 8 on field goal attempts with a long make of 51 yards. Senior punter Aidan Laros is averaging 46.1 yards on 16 kicks and has pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line nine times.

• Georgia punter Brett Thorson is averaging 44.9 yards a kick and has stopped six of 11 punts inside the foe’s 20-yard line. Place-kicker Peyton Woodring is 4 of 4 on field goals with a long make of 48 yards. KJ Bolden blocked a punt in the Dawgs’ season-opening win over Marshall.

Advantage: Even

Prediction

Georgia 34, Kentucky 16

This story was originally published October 1, 2025 at 6:45 AM.

Mark Story

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-444-4731

Mark Story has worked in the Lexington Herald-Leader sports department since Aug. 27, 1990, and has been a Herald-Leader sports columnist since 2001. I have covered every Kentucky-Louisville football game since 1994, every UK-U of L basketball game but three since 1996-97 and every Kentucky Derby since 1994. Support my work with a digital subscription