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Kentucky Wildcats (6-0) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (6-0)
- Game Time: 3:30 pm ET
- Location: Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.
- TV Channel: CBS will have today’s TV coverage.
- Announcers: Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson and Jamie Erdahl will call the action.
- National Radio: Westwood One
- SiriusXM Radio/Internet Channels: 81/81/81
- Live Online Stream: Stream the game online at CBSSports.com
- Replay: SEC Network (check local listings).
- Radio: UK Sports Network with Tom Leach, Jeff Piecoro and Dick Gabriel on the call.
- Tickets
- Digital Gameday Guide
- Stats to Know: UK | UGA
- Series History: Georgia leads the series 60-12-2 and is on an 11-game winning streak, the longest winning streak in the series after twice having 10-game win streaks.
- Rosters: UK | UGA
- Weather: 69 degrees and partly cloudy with a 15% chance of rain via Covers.com.
- Odds: Georgia is a 21.5-point favorite and the over/under is set at 44.5 The ESPN matchup predictor gives the home team a 95.4% chance of victory.
- Final Score Projection: TeamRankings is projecting a 35-10 win for Georgia. OddsShark projects a 47-14 win for the Dawgs. Go here for more predictions.
- Uniform:
The uni combo for @UKFootball #uniswag pic.twitter.com/kHkWyBEzLw
— UNISWAG (@UNISWAG) October 15, 2021
Only TWO undefeated SEC teams remain ...
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 16, 2021
6-0 @UKFootball vs. 6-0 @GeorgiaFootball pic.twitter.com/EVksfC9gY4
There’s no dancing around the reality that Saturday’s game vs. the Georgia Bulldogs is one of the biggest football games in program history for the University of Kentucky.
It’s been a wild few days just trying to slow down and think about it for a second — an undefeated Wildcats squad traveling to Athens to take on the No. 1 team in the nation for the top spot in the SEC — absolutely epic, not to mention historic.
Saturday in Athens will be historic.
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 13, 2021
6-0 @UKFootball
6-0 @GeorgiaFootball pic.twitter.com/4Absdbxuyr
Much of the college football world will be tuned in for a 3:30 pm ET kick-off that’s nationally televised on CBS.
All of us fine folks in the Commonwealth fully understand the unbelievable transformation that’s occurred for the Kentucky football program under head coach Mark Stoops.
However, the casual college football fan around the country likely still carries the same “meh” opinion about the Wildcats’ program, which is why Saturday carries a lot of implications both on and off the field.
I believe a competitive showing against the Dawgs would increase Kentucky’s recruiting efforts, as well as its national respect, to even greater heights.
As far as the actual game goes, I’ve found great humor this week in the fact that virtually no one has laid out a tangible roadmap to victory for Kentucky. The discussion has been solely focused on what a complete juggernaut Georgia is.
Let’s start with their completely unmatched defensive prowess.
The Dawgs grade out as the top defense in the country, and it really isn’t even close. A measly 201 yards per game is all they give up.
That’s 100 yards less per game than the next closest SEC opponent, Alabama, who surrenders just over 300 yards per game.
Last week, Georgia notched a 34-10 win at then-No. 18 Auburn. The Tigers actually took a 3-0 lead on their first possession before Georgia scored the game’s next 24 points en route to an easy win. The Dawgs finished with 432 yards of offense and held Auburn to 46 rushing yards on 29 carries.
Liam Coen and Will Levis are going to have their work cut out for them on Saturday afternoon in Athens. At minimum, flawless execution will be necessary to put up points against Dan Lanning’s elite defense.
I’ll take it a step further and say that putting points on the board will require some spectacular individual contribution, wherever that may come from.
Paging Wan’Dale Robinson….
I don’t consider UK’s defense to be facing quite the same monumental challenge as the offense. But that sure isn’t saying things will be easy for Brad White while game-planning to stifle a Georgia offense averaging just under 40 points per game.
After tuning up against Clemson in the first game of the season, Georgia went on to score 56, 40, 62, 37 and 34 points in their last five games. The last two being against top 20 opponents Arkansas and Alabama.
Take away the Clemson game, and Georgia is averaging an insane 46 points per contest.
The Dawgs are led by senior quarterback Stetson Bennett who is filling in for the typical starter, JT Daniels, who’s missed the last several games due to injury. Both are fully capable of running a Georgia offense littered with weapons.
Earlier this week Georgia head coach Kirby Smart provided an update on Daniels and what to expect from the Dawgs this week under center.
“I’m not going to get into any hypotheticals. We are trying to get JT back. He was much improved this last week. For the game, he was able to throw a lot more than he was last week,” Smart said. “He’s going to throw again today, even though today will be a much lighter game than even our normal Mondays are. But we will look at seeing how he is and where he is, but I’m not getting into that.”
In last week’s win over Auburn, Bennett completed 14/21 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns. He has completed 69.4% of his passes this season while throwing for 746 yards and eight scores vs. two interceptions.
Regardless of who Georgia’s signal-caller is. the Kentucky defense will have to play lights-out to slow down this explosive offense.
Last week, Georgia rushed for over 200 yards against Auburn, who ranks 24th nationally in rushing defense. Leading the Dawgs backfield is Zamir White, though backups James Cook and Kendall Milton get about 5-10 touches per game as well.
White had 16 carries for 68 yards and two touchdowns in a Week 5 win over Arkansas, followed by 18 runs for 79 yards and two scores at Auburn last week. He’s up to 71 runs for 354 yards (5.0 avg) and five touchdowns.
In Georgia’s Week 1 win over Clemson — who’s ranked 21st in rushing defense and eighth in yards per rush allowed (2.73) — White had a game-high 74 yards on just 13 carries (5.7 avg).
The Dawgs don’t typically throw much, as they enter Week 7 ranked 110th in pass attempts per game. When they do throw, tight end Brock Bowers (20 grabs/315 yards/4 scores) is the top option with Ladd McConkey (16/280/2), Jermaine Burton (13/224/2) and Adonai Mitchell (11/167/2) also making an impact.
Kentucky fans fully understand how difficult it is to win the SEC East and that it’ll take a complete game from every player to take a major step towards that on Saturday.
That being said, the Cats have never been this close, and you can almost taste it.
Follow A Sea of Blue for all of the coverage leading up to, during and after the game. It could be one of the most memorable moments in Kentucky football history.