By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kirby Smart has taken note of how the atmosphere has changed at Kentucky.
Although Georgia yanked out 27-24 victory over the Wildcats on a last-second field goal at Kroger Field last year, Smart praised Kentucky’s performance against his squad during his first season at the helm.
“The energy and enthusiasm of that game last year when we played up there was incredible to me,” Smart said. “It’s not really how I remembered when I was here before as a player. Their offensive staff does a great job. … The challenge is in front of us with a great Kentucky team rolling in here that I know they want nothing more than to come in here and try to prove they are the best team in the East.”
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops and the Wildcats are looking to snap a seven-game losing streak to Georgia Saturday when the two SEC East rivals meet in Athens. (UK Athletics Photo)
The Georgia coach said Kentucky’s physical nature stood out in last year’s encounter and is expecting a similar hard-nosed game in Saturday’s contest in Athens. The Bulldogs (9-1) have won seven straight over the Wildcats and Kentucky’s last win over Georgia was a 34-27 triumph eight years ago at Sanford Stadium.
“They are physical,” Smart said. “Our kids talked last year about that was the most physical game they played in from a defensive standpoint because it was so much grinding and hitting. They pride themselves on that, so it will be a great challenge for us. When we did not stop the run real well last week, we are getting an opportunity this week to play a team that is hell-bent on running the ball.”
The seventh-ranked Bulldogs won their first nine games, including their first six Southeastern Conference encounters before dropping a 40-17 setback at Auburn last week. Although Georgia is coming off a double-digit loss, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops isn’t worried about the Bulldogs’ state of mind but is instead focused on his team’s well-being going into the final two games of the regular season.
“I just know what I see on film and that’s a very good football team that’s very well-coached,” Stoops said. “I’m worried about us and continuing to sustain the good things we’ve done this week and the good things we’ve done all year and to improve on the areas we need to improve.”
Smart isn’t sure how his team will bounce back from their first defeat of the year, but knows the blame for last week’s showing against the Tigers “starts from the man in the mirror.”
“It starts with me, myself. It starts with each one of them and they have to look at themselves internally and say what can I do better to help this team moving forward,” he said. “That starts this week.”
In its last outing a week ago, Kentucky (7-3) bounced back from a 37-34 loss to Mississippi with a 44-21 rout of Vanderbilt in one of the team’s best offensive outputs of the year. Not the stature of the Commodores, Stoops, and his staff’s top priority will be stopping Georgia’s 1-2 punch of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel in the backfield.
“Nick Chubb and Sony Michel are both just monster running backs,” Stoops said. “They are two quality players and you have to respect them and the physicality of their team. They want to pound the football, they have a very talented young quarterback and they’re very explosive outside so they always put that stress on you. So those are always teams that are very difficult to defend. It starts with the physicality and unbelievably talented running backs and physical offensive line. And then you load up and they can hurt you outside. Those are tough teams to defend.”
Kentucky has won three of its four road games this season and the lone drawback was a 45-7 blowout loss at Mississippi State nearly a month ago in Starkville. Since then, the Wildcats have won two of their past three games and looking to elevate their bowl status during the next two weeks. Kentucky closes out the regular-season against rival Louisville at noon on Nov. 25 at Kroger Field.
Gametracker: Kentucky at Georgia, 3:30 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: CBS, 98.1 FM, WBUL, Lexington.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.
