By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
It’s been more than a decade since Kentucky has beaten Georgia and nine years since the Bulldogs have suffered back-to-back losses at home.
The Wildcats (2-3, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) will have their hands full Saturday in Athens against a Georgia team that is coming off a 24-21 loss to No. 10 Alabama last week. The 12th-ranked Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1) have recorded 15 straight victories against the Wildcats, the second-longest winning streak in school history.
“Our guys are fired up, got work done, and a bunch of them came in,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “I think when you see our guys, you realize how invested they are when they hurt (after the Alabama loss).”
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops isn’t expecting anything less from Smart’s squad, which hasn’t lost back-to-back games at home since the 2016 season.
“I’m sure they’ll be in a bad mood, like our players are (coming off a loss),” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said earlier this week. “We’re just looking forward to getting back out there today and trying to improve.”
Kentucky has lost two straight conference games this season, including a 35-13 loss at South Carolina last week. Amid the recent struggles in the SEC — 13 losses in the past 15 league games — the Wildcats have been competitive in a few of those setbacks, including a 13-12 loss to the Bulldogs last season at Kroger Field.
“We just try to be who we are,” Stoops said of the team’s recent close calls against the Bulldogs. “Through the years, we’ve always tried to be very tough and very physical and play the game the right way. They’ve been, certainly, on the right side of the wins and losses. They have a great team. They’ve beat a lot of people, and they’ve had a great program for a long time.”
Smart added that Kentucky gives his squad a fight in the trenches on both the offensive and defensive side.
“It’s always the most physical game when we play these guys,” Smart said. “I think because philosophically they believe in running the ball, we believe in running the ball. Those two things hit head-to-head when we play them. We’ve had head-to-head battles many times with these guys, and coach Stoops’ teams are always physical, so we know it’ll be physical.”
The Kentucky coach admitted the task won’t be easy, considering Georgia is coming off a loss and celebrating homecoming this weekend.
“It’s going to be a real challenge here,” Stoops said. “… It’s a typical Georgia team, very good in every area, very physical, and make things tough for us, offensively, defensively. Really playing at a high level.”
Defending Stoops
Smart, the second-longest tenured coach in the SEC, said Stoops is “one of my close friends.” and the two lean on each because of their standing as two of the longest tenured coaches in the league.
“We’ve grown because we’ve been in it the longest together, and he’s been in it longer than me,” Smart said. “I text him all the time.”
Smart added that Stoops has taken the Kentucky program to another level and is a supporter.
“It’s just really amazing what he’s done at Kentucky,” Smart said. “It’s one of those things that I hope they appreciate what he’s done because he’s done some incredible things. (They’ve) broken some records up there, been extremely competitive in our league, and that’s not necessarily by record. I mean, it is by record sometimes, but the games that he’s been in and the way they’ve played is incredible.”
Gametracker: Kentucky at Georgia, noon, Saturday. TV.Radio: ABC, UK Radio Network.