The Kentucky Wildcats are the No. 20 team in the country and are undefeated. The Wildcats (5-0) defeated Florida, 33-14, in Week 5 thanks to a dominant performance from star running back Ray Davis.
Davis totaled 280 rushing yards and four touchdowns against Florida. Life does not get any easier for the Wildcats; they hit the road to face the Georgia Bulldogs in Week 6.
Buy Bulldogs TicketsKentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops has not won a game against Georgia in his career. Georgia has won 13 straight games against Kentucky dating to 2009.
That does not mean Kentucky is an easy opponent. The Wildcats and Bulldogs have played some low-scoring, physical games over the years.
What did Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops have to say ahead of the Georgia game?
Stoops on the challenge of facing Georgia
Mark Stoops has a great deal of respect for Georgia. The Bulldogs have stopped Kentucky from making the SEC championship a couple of times over the years.
It’s a challenge, obviously. It’s a real challenge playing those guys. As I mentioned, I think they’re just a very good team. They are obviously talented, that goes without saying. I think I mentioned a year ago postgame and throughout the year, I don’t think they get enough credit for how well they’re coached as well.
Previously, UAB coach Trent Dilfer described Georgia as team that is NFL coached.
Stoops on Brock Bowers
Mark Stoops is very complimentary of Georgia tight end Brock Bowers. Bowers has 413 receiving yards on 30 catches and four total touchdowns through four games.
Wow. Absolute freak. Absolute freak. And I mean that in the most complimentary way. What an incredible player. He’s selfless. You could tell he’s a complete player. He plays well without the football. He plays well with the football. He’s a team guy. You could tell that’s a great guy to work around right there.
Brock Bowers had a massive game with multiple touchdowns against Kentucky in 2021.
On Georgia quarterback Carson Beck
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck has 1,497 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns and two interceptions through five games. This is Beck’s first season as the starter, but he already has the No. 20 QBR in the country (79.2).
I see a very good player that’s getting more and more comfortable every game.
When you’re throwing it 70% and over nine yards (per) completion, he’s playing at a very good level. And he’s just getting some guys back too. He’s getting his running backs back healthy. He’s getting (Ladd) McConkey back healthy. So, they’re getting better and better.
Stoops on changes in UGA's offense
Mark Stoops had not seen many changes in Georgia’s offense under new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. Georgia’s previous offensive coordinator, Todd Monken, is now with the Baltimore Ravens.
Not a ton. They still are very creative. Is there some differences? Of course, but they’re still Georgia, right? They still have incredible players, their run game is a bit of everything. They run zone, the zone schemes. They run gap schemes, they run their toss plays, they’ve always run. Very good with the play-action off of it.
Stoops on the UGA program and its success
Recruiting and developing talent is the name of the game in college football. Mark Stoops thinks Georgia does as good of a job at those two things of any school in the country.
They recruit at a very high level, they obviously work extremely hard at recruiting, they can recruit, they have a good base, but they work hard at it. They do a good job of recruiting and evaluating talent. They develop their talent and they coach them really well. You put all of those things together and it’s a pretty good combination.
Stoops on the physicality of Georgia-Kentucky games
No Georgia or Kentucky team has scored over 30 points in the last four meetings between the two schools. Kentucky has 22 total points over those four games.
I think both teams they know — with us, we try to build around that. We have a long, physical defense and up front, we’ve always prided ourselves on being able to run the ball. It was nice to get back to that this past week, and hopefully we’ll be able to match their physicality because they certainly are big, long and athletic across the board.
Both Kentucky and Georgia have played two SEC games, so both teams are dealing with a significant amount of injuries entering the Georgia-Kentucky game.
I think we’ve gone through a tough stretch here where our guys are beat up a little bit but, you know, no rest for the weary. We got to get back out here today and have a great week of prep.
On how Kentucky will try to defend Brock Bowers
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops is worried about the Brock Bowers matchup. Bowers is too fast for most linebackers and too physical after the catch for most defensive backs.
Well, I mean, heck — he made back-to-back one-handed catches the other day. They had him covered pretty good, so I don’t think we could put any more than two on him at any one point in time. I think Brock is going to get his. He’s going to make plays. It’s kind of like going up against Michael Jordan or someone like that — you know they’re going to get theirs.
Kentucky actually did an excellent job of containing Brock Bowers in 2022. Passing yards were at a premium in last year’s Georgia-Kentucky game, but the Wildcats limited Bowers to only two catches for 10 yards.
We have to compete at a high level, we have to win our fair share of on one-on-ones as well. Because he’s going to make some plays.
On what Kentucky needs to do defensively against Georgia
Kentucky has allowed very few teams to score over 25 points recently. Georgia’s offense has struggled against Kentucky during recent games between the two SEC East foes.
Defensively, we need to continue to – we’re making big plays, we’re being very disruptive. The defensive line has been extremely disruptive, we’ve been very strong at the point of attack in the run game and also creating pressure. We’ve created some turnovers and we have to continue to that.
On what Kentucky has to do offensively against the Bulldogs
Kentucky is a run-first team without a mobile quarterback, so the Wildcats rely on their offensive line playing well. Kentucky has racked up some rushing yards on Georgia in recent seasons, but that has not translated to many points.
Offensively we have to have some continuity and improve some of the basics of the pass game, we’ve done it throughout the year. As a matter of fact, until this past game, we were throwing the ball much cleaner than running it, this week it was vise-versa.
We have to get back to being efficient throwing the football and we have to be balanced again. There was a stat I was looking at I know it’s ridiculous, it was something that you have to have some yards rushing or you don’t have a good chance of beating Georgia.
Kentucky has the No. 10 passing offense in the SEC (225.8 yards per game) and the No. 5 rushing offense in the SEC (171.0 yards per game).
