Kentucky faces monumental challenge when top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs visit Lexington Saturday

By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today

Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops knows the Wildcats will face a huge task Saturday against top-ranked Georgia.

Stoops considers Georgia and Southeastern Conference newcomer Texas among the two top teams in the nation and is still seeking his first win against the Bulldogs.

“I guess you could flip a coin between (Georgia and) Texas, they both look like they are awfully impressive,” Stoops said. “We get the opportunity to play four of the top six in the coming weeks.”

It starts with the Bulldogs, who have won 14 straight over the Wildcats. Georgia rolled to a 51-13 win over Kentucky a year ago in Athens and is off to a 2-0 start this season. The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 82-6 and carry an SEC record 27 straight regular-season victories into their conference opener.

“It’s a great opportunity and I mean that,” Stoops said. I have great respect for Kirby (Smart), Georgia and their staff. Mike Bobo has been there forever, off and on, played there with Kirby and those guys do a great job.’

For Kentucky, the Wildcats (1-1) will be looking to improve on last week’s dismal performance against South Carolina. Kentucky managed just 183 yards and two field goals against the Gamecocks. Stoops expects his squad to produce a better showing during the third week of the season.

“We have to get better and we have a great opportunity to do that this week against one of the very best teams in the country,” Stoops said. “We will be up for that challenge. I do expect our team to respond.”

Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said the team’s struggles against South Carolina “just came down to the one-on-one battles.”

“We came into the game and put a lot of emphasis on protecting those edges and those pass rushers, but there were some things on the interior side that hurt us as well,” Hamdan said earlier this week. “I thought we ran the ball well at times during the game and I think that’s a huge plus. From a protection standpoint, we know what we’ve got to do to take the next step there.”

Georgia will be led by veteran quarterback Carson Beck, who is 15-1 as the team’s starting signal-caller. He threw for a career-high five touchdowns in a win over Tennessee Tech last week and needs 53 yards to eclipse the 5,000 mark for his career. In two games this season, Beck has thrown for 520 yards and seven touchdowns.

“Carson Beck, just a remarkable player, hitting on all cylinders right now, and just a very good, tough player,” Stoops said. “He throws it in rhythm, he throws it very precisely, but he is awfully tough as well. He’ll pull it down, scramble, buy time, run with his feet, lower his shoulder. You name it, he does it.”

Kentucky’s main focus will be making strides on both sides of the ball on Saturday and making significant improvements from last week’s loss to South Carolina.

“The focus is about us Saturday — getting (done) what we need to get done,” Hamdan said. “It’s us getting back to work, getting the reps. And we will continue to work on those things in practice. Everybody has a job to do, a role to do.”

Gametracker : Georgia at Kentucky, 7:30 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ABC, UK Radio Network.

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