Death, taxes and the Georgia Bulldogs hardly ever looking the part vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide. While it has been mostly good throughout the last decade for the Dawgs, the ongoing Alabama conundrum continues to baffle the rest of college football. The good news is that game is over with and done. Even better, a team that Georgia has regularly beaten like a drum is heading into Athens.
That is right. The Dawgs will welcome the Kentucky Wildcats Between the Hedges for a noon kick on Saturday in The Classic City. With Georgia laying a whopping 20.5 points at home, the Dawgs just need to win by one to improve to 4-1 on the season and 2-1 in SEC play. Furthermore, Georgia has owned Kentucky more than pretty much any opponent in the SEC of late. They have won 15 straight.
The last time Georgia lost to Kentucky was during the infamous Joe Cox game in 2009. That game was at Sanford Stadium. It was proof that you cannot have any good soldier starting for this team in conference play. Every so often, a team with a better quarterback will get you. People tend to forget how good Andre Woodson was for the 'Cats back in the day. I bet they still wish he was playing at UK.
In reality, anything other than a Week 6 victory over the Wildcats will raise a major cause for concern.
Georgia gets what it needs by way of a favorable Kentucky matchup
While anything and everything can happen in the context of an SEC football game, ESPN's matchup predictor has the Bulldogs as a massive Week 6 favorite over the Wildcats. We are looking at Georgia winning this game 90.3 percent of the time in most simulations, with Kentucky only winning in 9.7 percent of those instances. Georgia needs a get right game in the worst way imaginable. It got one!
Overall, the reason Georgia has been able to completely own Kentucky for the better part of two decades now is the combination of defensive prowess and timely offensive outputs. Kentucky has had several excellent teams since 2010, but none have been able to sneak one past their annual foe. Much of this has to do with Mark Stoops and Joker Phillips not exactly thriving as offensive minds.
Ultimately, needs to put in the work and not take its Week 6 home opponent lightly. After that comes a tough two-game stretch heading into their second annual bye ahead of The Cocktail Party. Georgia has to travel to Auburn in two weeks before hosting Ole Miss Between the Hedges in three. Weird stuff happens at Jordan-Hare. Ole Miss looks like the SEC's best team, one that beat UGA last year.
For now, Georgia needs to assert its dominance and play with some confidence vs. an easy SEC foe.