Georgia football must rebound, pick up convincing win over Kentucky

After a brutal home loss to South Carolina, Georgia football looks to return to their winning ways against the Kentucky Wildcats.

Things were looking up for a Georgia team with a win against a top 10 team in their pocket and the potential for more down the road, but their hopes for a playoff berth came to a screeching halt as Rodrigo Blankenship’s overtime kick sailed wide of the uprights. It was a game that didn’t feel right from the start, one that could ultimately be the difference between a playoff spot and consolation.

However, the time to dwell on that loss is over as the Bulldogs will need to be prepared for a Kentucky team looking to do damage after dropping three of their last four. Saturday’s matchup will mark the 72nd meeting between these two teams, a historic series in which the the Bulldogs have dominated over the last decade.

There’s plenty on the line for both of these teams, especially for a Georgia team that trails only Missouri and Florida in the battle for a spot in the SEC Championship. They’ll need a few things to go their way from this point forward, but it all starts with doing their part and taking down the Wildcats at home.

Here’s how to watch the Bulldogs as they attempt to rebound against Kentucky:

Date: Saturday, Oct. 19
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET
Location: Athens, Ga.
Venue: Sanford Stadium
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

If Georgia’s loss to South Carolina told us anything, it was that this Bulldogs team will only go as far as quarterback Jake Fromm can take them. D’Andre Swift rushed for 113 yards and a score, the defense limited the Gamecocks to under 300 total yards, and the team as a whole caught a couple of breaks in overtime. Regardless of all that, Georgia still couldn’t pull out a win.

Now, there’s a good chance that this entire conversation could have been moot if Blankenship makes that kick. As easy as it is to blame the kicker, the Bulldogs should’ve never been in that position in the first place. Fromm’s four turnovers did his team in, and there’s really no way around that.

We saw a completely different Fromm weeks earlier against Notre Dame, a more refined version on par with a handful of NFL quarterbacks. As long as Georgia gets a similar performance out of their quarterback, they’ll be victorious. Kentucky hasn’t exactly made a name for themselves this season, so there’s a good chance the Bulldogs pull this one out as long as we don’t get a repeat performance from Fromm.

Prediction

All things considered, Georgia is a heavy favorite for a reason. They check all of the boxes for a dominant football team and above average quarterback play often serves as no more than a bonus against teams that can be handled otherwise. We’ve seen some great things from Fromm during his career, so we’ll consider last week to be an outlier as we hope for better things against Kentucky.

Final Score: Kentucky 17, Georgia 30