• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Fifth Quarter
  • Discord
  • Forum
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
  • Log In
Fifth Quarter

Fifth Quarter

The Best Online College Football Community!

  • The American
    • Cincinnati
    • ECU
    • Houston
    • Memphis
    • Navy
    • SMU
    • South Florida
    • Tulsa
    • Temple
    • Tulane
    • UCF
  • ACC
    • Boston College
    • Clemson
    • Duke
    • FSU
    • Georgia Tech
    • Louisville
    • Miami (FL)
    • North Carolina
    • NC State
    • Pittsburgh
    • Syracuse
    • Virginia
    • Virginia Tech
    • Wake Forest
  • Big 12
    • Baylor
    • Iowa State
    • Kansas
    • Kansas State
    • Oklahoma
    • Oklahoma State
    • TCU
    • Texas
    • Texas Tech
    • West Virginia
  • Big Ten
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Maryland
    • Michigan
    • Michigan State
    • Minnesota
    • Nebraska
    • Northwestern
    • Ohio State
    • Penn State
    • Purdue
    • Rutgers
    • Wisconsin
  • C-USA
    • Charlotte
    • FAU
    • Florida International
    • Jacksonville St
    • Louisiana Tech
    • Middle Tennessee
    • North Texas
    • Rice
    • Sam Houston
    • UAB
    • UTEP
    • UTSA
    • Western Kentucky
  • Independents
    • Army
    • BYU
    • Liberty
    • New Mexico State
    • Notre Dame
    • UConn
    • UMass
  • MAC
    • Akron
    • Ball State
    • Bowling Green
    • Buffalo
    • Central Michigan
    • Eastern Michigan
    • Kent State
    • Miami University
    • Northern Illinois
    • Ohio
    • Toledo
    • Western Michigan
  • MW
    • Air Force
    • Boise State
    • Colorado St
    • Fresno State
    • Hawaii
    • Nevada
    • New Mexico
    • San Diego State
    • San Jose State
    • UNLV
    • Utah State
    • Wyoming
  • Pac-12
    • Arizona
    • Arizona State
    • California
    • Colorado
    • Oregon
    • Oregon State
    • Stanford
    • UCLA
    • USC
    • Utah
    • Washington
    • Washington State
  • SEC
    • Alabama
    • Arkansas
    • Auburn
    • Georgia
    • Florida
    • Kentucky
    • LSU
    • Mississippi State
    • Missouri
    • Ole Miss
    • South Carolina
    • Tennessee
    • Texas A&M
    • Vanderbilt
  • Sun Belt
    • Arkansas State
    • Appalachian State
    • Coastal Carolina
    • Georgia Southern
    • Georgia State
    • James Madison
    • Louisiana
    • Louisiana-Monroe
    • Marshall
    • Old Dominion
    • South Alabama
    • Southern Mississippi
    • Texas State
    • Troy
SEC Game of the Week: Georgia and Kentucky Battle for SEC East Supremacy

SEC Game of the Week: Georgia and Kentucky Battle for SEC East Supremacy

October 15, 2021 by Connor Jackson

Photo credit: Mark Cornelison/Georgia athletics

In 2017, Georgia and Kentucky squared off in a contest that ultimately decided the SEC East. Four years later, they will do it again.

The top-ranked Bulldogs have been rolling, but so have the No. 11 Wildcats. Both will arrive at Sanford Stadium on Saturday with perfect 6-0 records. It will mark the first time that SEC East opponents have met with perfect records this late in the season.

Something has to give.

The teams will meet on Saturday in Athens at 3:30 p.m. ET. The contest will air on CBS.

All-Time Series

This has been a series dominated by the Dawgs, as one would expect. Georgia holds a 60-12 series lead over the Wildcats, and has won 11 straight dating back to 2010. That last win for Kentucky came in 2009, when the Wildcats prevailed, 34-27.

Head coach Mark Stoops has made the Kentucky football program more competitive than it has been since Bear Bryant was roaming the sidelines, but the Bulldogs have looked untouchable at the midway point in the season.

Stoops came close to beating Georgia in 2016 with a 27-24 loss, but is still winless against Georgia in his eight prior years at Kentucky. In fact, every other game during his tenure has been decided by at least two possessions.

Key Headlines

Georgia

A 34-10 win over Auburn and an Alabama loss gave Georgia the unanimous No. 1 spot in the polls this week, where most believed it belonged.

Still, there is more work to be done. This week, the Bulldogs could essentially put the SEC East away with a win over their biggest competitor in the division.

The Georgia defense has been allowing just 5.5 points per game. The offense has been rolling, even with injuries to guys like JT Daniels, Jermaine Burton, and George Pickens.

Each week, Georgia has been playing with something to prove. With a win this week, it would be hard to imagine Georgia not making the trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship.

Kentucky

Many are overlooking the fact that Kentucky is one of the two unbeaten teams in the SEC. At this point in the Stoops era, the Wildcats look as strong as ever before.

They overcame near-upset losses to Chattanooga and South Carolina by upsetting Florida and blowing out LSU. Just like that, Kentucky is back on the right track.

Running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. leads the league in rushing, but quarterback Will Levis has been the x-factor for the Wildcats. Levis has been able to give Kentucky something it has not seen in a while — the ability to push the ball vertically.

Kentucky will have its work cut out, but what coordinator Liam Coen has done with this offense is impressive, regardless of the result this Saturday.

Keys to Victory

Georgia

For Georgia, it’s hard to legitimately find an area where it needs to improve.

Kentucky can attack a defense in many ways, but let’s face it: the Georgia defense is unlike anything that the Wildcats have or will see this season. Now, it is up to the Georgia offense to execute and put the ball in the end zone.

Players like Stetson Bennett and Ladd McConkey have stepped up in a big way for the Dawgs in the absence of guys like Daniels and Pickens. As the Bulldogs get healthier each week, their offense should only get stronger.

As long as Georgia does not shoot itself in the foot, it should be able to come out with another big win.

Kentucky

This is the most complete team that Stoops has fielded up to this point of his tenure, but he unfortunately will run into the buzz-saw that is No. 1 Georgia.

Georgia is playing its best football at this point of the season, but so are the Wildcats.

If Kentucky is going to win this game, it is going to need some momentum-changing moments. Whether it is a blocked punt or a trick play touchdown, the Wildcats are going to need a lot of those plays to create momentum and get the crowd out of the game.

If they can not do those things, winning will be more of a daunting task than it already is.

Prediction

Right now, Georgia is a well-oiled machine. The Bulldogs have already faced good competition in Arkansas and Auburn and were unfazed.

Kentucky does have versatility on offense, so maybe it can keep the Georgia defense honest enough to make some plays. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, it’s hard to see them making enough over the course of 60 minutes.

The Dawgs have run through everyone they have played. Kentucky will likely be next.

Stoops has things rolling in Lexington, but Georgia will send the Kentucky program crashing back down to earth.

Final: Georgia 37, Kentucky 13

Other Predictions from Around the SEC

Auburn 34, Arkansas 27

Florida 28, LSU 17

Texas A&M 31, Missouri 23

South Carolina 34, Vanderbilt 7

Alabama 41, Mississippi State 20

Tennessee 42, Ole Miss 38

Filed Under: Georgia, Kentucky, SEC Tagged With: chris rodriguez, Georgia, Kentucky, SEC East, stetson bennett, will levis

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

ACC

FSU Football: Deuce is Loose

A Look Back on Top-5 ACC Matchups

Big Ten

Power 5 Teams To Never Play in Conference Title Game Entering 2022

Ranking the Top 10 QBs Entering the 2022 College Football Season — Part V (Nos. 1-2)

Big 12

Power 5 Teams To Never Play in Conference Title Game Entering 2022

2022 Preseason Football Win Totals: Big 12, Part 2

Pac 12

Power 5 Teams To Never Play in Conference Title Game Entering 2022

2022 Preseason Football Win Totals: Pac-12 South

SEC

Looking Back on the SEC East Teams to Defeat Alabama During the Saban Era

Surprise in 2021, South Carolina Looks to Take Next Step in 2022

Footer

Tags

ACC Alabama Arkansas Auburn Big 12 big ten Cincinnati Clemson Duke FAU Florida Florida Atlantic florida state FSU Georgia Georgia Tech Illinois Louisville LSU Miami miami dolphins Michigan michigan state NC State Nebraska NFL Draft North Carolina Notre Dame Ohio State Oklahoma Old Dominion Ole Miss Oregon Pac-12 Penn State Preview Recruiting SEC Tennessee Texas Texas A&M UCF USC Virginia Virginia Tech

Recent

  • NAIA Football: Week 0 Outlook
  • Looking Back on the SEC East Teams to Defeat Alabama During the Saban Era
  • FSU Football: Deuce is Loose
  • A Look Back on Top-5 ACC Matchups
  • FSU’s Norvell Confident Foundation Has Been Set

Search

Copyright © 2022 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in