The no. 1 Georgia Bulldogs will look to avoid an upset in perhaps their biggest test of the season this week against the no. 11 Kentucky Wildcats. At home, the Bulldogs are favored by 21.5 points. The game also has an over/under of 44.5 points.
The Wildcats might be the biggest surprise in college football this season, but they’ve earned their no. 11 ranking. Kentucky is already halfway to a perfect record in SEC play with wins over Missouri, South Carolina, Florida, and LSU. But if they want to have any hope of winning the SEC East, they’ll have to pull off an upset of Georgia.
Obviously, that won’t be easy with the way the Bulldogs have dominated all of their opponents this season. Georgia opened the season with a tight 10-7 win over Clemson but has turned every other game into a blowout. Last week’s 24-point win over Auburn was Georgia’s closest game of the season outside of the opener against Clemson.
Dominating with Defense
The Bulldogs could be in the midst of a historically good season defensively. Through six games, they’ve allowed a total of 33 points, which amounts to just 5.5 points per game.
Even Auburn’s potent rushing attack and Arkansas dual-threat quarterback KJ Jefferson have been completely ineffective against the Bulldogs over the last two weeks.
That has taken a lot of pressure off the Georgia offense, which has played well despite missing starting quarterback JT Daniels in back-to-back weeks. Backup quarterback Stetson Bennett has proven to be a suitable replacement, even if the Bulldogs would prefer to get Daniels back as soon as possible.
Obviously, it helps that the Bulldogs have a stable rushing attack behind Zamir White that is averaging close to 200 yards per game.
Capable Cats
In some ways, Kentucky has been a poor man’s version of Georgia this season. The Wildcats are also one of the best defensive teams in the country, giving up 17.5 points per game. Obviously, the Kentucky defense isn’t as dominant as Georgia, but the Wildcats are winning at the line of scrimmage and have a great secondary that’s limiting big plays.
On the other side of the ball, it’s all about running the ball behind Chris Rodriguez, who is halfway to a 1,500-yard season and averaging 6.4 yards per carry. The problem is that the Cats aren’t that secure at quarterback.
Penn State transfer Will Levis already has six interceptions on the season and has been a little erratic this year despite playing his best game of the season last week against LSU.
Dominant Dawgs
The spread in this game looks big for a game between two top-15 teams that are both undefeated, but that’s a testament to how dominant Georgia has been this year. With Kentucky’s quarterback being unproven and the Wildcats being a little one-dimensional offensively, the Georgia defense isn’t likely to give up much in this game.
Even with a modest effort from the Georgia offense, the Bulldogs should be able to pull away in the second half of this game, ultimately covering the 21.5-point spread.
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