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Kentucky vs. Georgia: TV/Streaming Info, Keys to the Game, and Betting Odds/Predictions

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© Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

It’s hard to be optimistic about the rest of the Kentucky Wildcats’ football season after the debacle vs. South Carolina.

However, we are just now entering Week 3, meaning there is plenty of football to be played. Unfortunately, the next game on the schedule is against the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs, which is not exactly the ideal opponent to bounce back with.

The Bulldogs are arguably the best program in the country at the moment, having won two of the last three national championships. They have lost just two games in that span, both to Alabama.

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Pulling off the upset would be a tall task for the Wildcats, but playing well is not out of the question. Just a little over 10 points have decided the last four contests between these two SEC foes at Kroger Field.

In comparison, Kentucky has lost by an average of about four touchdowns in Athens.

What must the Wildcats do to keep the game close and instill some confidence into the season? Are they capable of beating the Dawgs, which would be Kentucky’s first victory in the series since 2009 and its first home win since 2006?

Let’s take a look at what needs to happen for the Cats to make this a game and keep hope alive for a shocking upset!

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Offensive Line Steps Up

If you watched last week’s contest, the most glaring weakness was the offensive line. While the Gamecocks have some impressive pass rushers, including true freshman Dylan Stewart, there were multiple times they could not protect Brock Vandagriff with a 5-3 advantage. Preseason All-SEC selection Marques Cox earned a 5.1 grade (out of 100) on pass blocking by Pro Football Focus, and he’s arguably Kentucky’s best offensive lineman.

One of college football’s most experienced offensive lines should and must be better throughout the rest of the season. Saturday is an opportunity to respond against one of the best defense fronts in the country in Georgia, which could be without potential No. 1 NFL Draft pick Mykel Williams.

How are they preparing to do that? Focusing on the fundamentals.

“When you look at when we had breakdowns, I think it starts with some very simple things,” offensive line coach Eric Wolford said Tuesday. “There’s a point to when you get on blocks, you gotta stick on blocks, finish, and play with tremendous strain.”

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Revive the Passing Game

Kentucky’s offense last weekend left much to be desired to say the least, completing just six forward passes for a grand total of thirty passing yards. Many compared the production to a team of the 1920s, including SEC shorts.

A large part of the issues in the passing game stemmed from the offensive line’s aforementioned poor play. However, Vandagriff’s lack of composure and Bush Hamdan’s play-calling did not help things.

The Wildcats did have some success running the ball, rushing for 180 non-sack yards. This week, they will likely play to that strength. However, threats like Barion Brown and Dane Key, who are able to make some explosive plays, need the ball in their hands to do so.

Give Fans Hope

As mentioned before, the Kentucky-Georgia games played at Kroger Field have been competitive, including 2022, when, following a home loss to Vanderbilt, the Wildcats held Georgia to just one touchdown and 16 total points.

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If Kentucky can keep the game within two scores and show better execution, some optimism can be salvaged for a seven or eight-win season (including a potential bowl victory).

Get blown out, and the fanbase might really begin to check out on the season before we even make it out of September.

Kentucky Wildcats (1-1) vs. No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs (2-0)

Game Time: 7:30 PM ET on September 14th
Location: Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky
TV Channel: ABC
Announcers: Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, and Molly McGrath
Online Stream: WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
Radio: Tom Leach and Jeff Piecoro have the radio call on the UK Sports Network.
Satellite Radio: XM Channel 203, Sirius Channel 98, Internet Channel 966
Replay: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).
Rosters: UK | UGA
Stats To Know: UK | UGA
Advanced Stats
Weather.com forecast

Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook has Kentucky as a 24.5-point underdog with an over/under of 45.5. ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Cats a 7.6% chance to pull off the upset

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PredictionsTeamRankings has Kentucky covering the spread but losing 34-11, while OddsShark has them losing 42—20. DRatings.com picks Georgia to win 35-15. I do believe Kentucky will respond after dropping the ball last week, but they will be no match for Georgia. I am taking Georgia to win 42-16.

How do you see this one playing out? Send us your score predictions in the comments section!

Also published on A Sea of Blue.

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Jamon Dumas-Johnson: A NFL Draft Steal

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Kentucky Wildcats linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson (2) makes the sign of the cross while taking a knee before the game.
Carter Skaggs | Imagn

Before he transferred to Kentucky, Jamon Dumas-Johnson was an All-American at Georgia, with waves to at least test the NFL draft after winning a National Championship. However, with the decision to play his last collegiate season as a Wildcat, Dumas-Johnson was a cornerstone piece for the Kentucky defense, finishing the season with 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks during his 11 starts for the team. 

His athleticism spoke volumes at Kentucky football’s NFL pro day, where current NFL draft boards now list the linebacker as one of the best athletes at the position and has earned himself a “top 10” feel ahead of the draft. Before pro day, publications such as Bleacher Report had him listed as No. 13 at his position. 

Dumas-Johnson proved himself with the highest vertical jump (37.5) and the longest broad jump (10.60) out of the Wildcats who competed in said events, and ran an impressive best 4.50 40-yard dash. At 245 pounds, he also managed to press 16 reps of 225, which could technically be “better” compared to NFL standards, but is impressive nonetheless in hindsight.

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At 23 years old, this linebacker exploits explosiveness, agility and can hawk down any playmaker on the field. Out the 31 NFL teams that attended the event (a Cleveland Browns representative did not attend), one will be getting a prize steal of the draft with Dumas-Johnson. 

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Alex Raynor: A Rare Gem In This Year’s NFL Draft

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Kentucky Wildcats place kicker Alex Raynor (16) lines up a kick.
Jordan Prather | Imagn

Alex Raynor had an illustrious season for Kentucky last year, being named to First-Team All-SEC, as a finalist for the Lou Groza award and as SEC Special Teams Player of the Year.

As the record holder for the longest field goal in program history, and arguably one of, if not the, most consistent kickers to ever be a Wildcat, Raynor now looks to the NFL Draft in the next chapter of his book. 

Recently, at Kentucky football’s NFL Pro Day on Tuesday, March 11, Raynor kicked off the event with his workout. 

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Although he would miss a routine kick for him inside of the 45, he would continue to move back, nailing a 55-yard kick and nearly making a 60-yard kick. 

The best moments of his workout came when Raynor would line up behind the UK logo inside of Nutter Field House and would nail a 65-yard field goal.

That, although it’s an indoor kick and is not faced with the NFL pressure, would be one of the longest field goals in NFL history. 

Historically, it’s extremely rare for kickers to be drafted any higher than the 6th, more commonly going in the late rounds on the third day. 

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However, Raynor would hold as one of the rare occasions to go higher than projected, due to his historic year as a Wildcat.

Wherever the young man from Georgia ends up in the pros, don’t be surprised if you hear his name every reoccurring Sunday.

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The State of Kentucky Football

Following their worst season in nearly a decade, Kentucky Football faces a steep rebuild and rising expectations.

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Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops has been linked to the Texas A&M job.
Chet White | UK Athletics

After charting a 4-8 record in the 2023-24 season, including a 1-7, second-to-last finish in the SEC, Kentucky Football looks lost for the first time in a long time.

It can be argued that the program never really broke through to the “higher echelon” of college football in the first place, but even then, they’ve been consistently better than they were historically known to be. Until now.

With that aforementioned .333 record, the Cats weren’t able to earn a bowl game. That marks the first time since the 2015 season that Kentucky Football won’t appear in postseason competition, and, excluding the 2020 season (for COVID-related reasons,) it’s also the only time the Wildcats have finished under .500 since then.

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What about the last time the team had less than five wins? 2013, in Stoops’ first season. The deeper you dig, the worse it appears.

Losing to Louisville in blowout fashion at the end of last month felt like the straw that broke the Cats’ back. It was clear that whatever would happen next wouldn’t be simply transitional, and thus far, the early offseason has evidenced that.

The Big Move

It began with an exodus. Star wideout Barion Brown elected to transfer to LSU for his senior season. His receiver running mate, Dane Key, left for Nebraska. In addition to the team’s two primary deep threats, Chip Trayanum, the promising back and former Buckeye who spent much of this year battling injuries, took his talents to Toledo.

In total, the Cats have lost nearly two dozen players to the transfer portal, and that’s not even counting the guys headed to the NFL draft (like Deone Walker and Maxwell Hairston,) as well as the graduates.

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To put it bluntly, next year’s team will share little more with the players from this past season than the blue and white on their jerseys. It’s a brutal overhaul, though one Coach Stoops and his staff are trying to get the jump on, to their credit.

Fresh Faces

Among a growing list of incoming transfers, a few names in particular stand out. Chief among them is Zach Calzada, a quarterback whose upcoming season at Kentucky will mark his fifth year playing football in his third different jersey.

The journeyman spent this past season at Incarnate Word, where he threw for 35 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. He completed 344 passes on the year, almost doubling that of his previous two. 

Before his two-year stint at IW, Calzada spent the beginnings of his college career at Texas A&M where, among a mixture of steadily improving statistics, he led the Aggies to an impressive home win over the still Saban-led Alabama Crimson Tide. Whether or not his recent success in the Southland Conference will translate back to the SEC is yet to be seen, but, at least on paper, this pickup makes sense for Kentucky following a year of unsparing QB play across the board.

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Along with Calzada, the Cats have hauled in J.J. Hester, a 6 ‘4 senior receiver from Oklahoma, Dante Dowdell, a power back coming off a 12-touchdown season for Nebraska, and Sam Greene, a defensive end transferring in from USC, among a handful of others. We’ll have a team. 

Though, even considering the roster turnover, that wasn’t the question. That still remains, “what will that team do?”

Potential vs. Progress

Kentucky is 18-25 in their last three seasons of football; a steady decline that has been made worse by the fact that the program’s outlier 10-3 finish in the 2021 season has since been disqualified by the NCAA due to a rule violation. All in all, the last half-decade has been, at best, barely getting by.

How long will this trend continue? The only thing we know for sure is that nobody is sure. Answering that question requires the analysis and knowing of many moving parts, not all of which are at widespread disposal.

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But this much is clear: the longtime variable nature of Kentucky Football came to a head this year, and the product we’re about to see is going to have to be radically different from the one we’ve just seen in order to right this ship.

For better or worse, the 2024-25 season will likely go down as the most important yet in the Stoops era at UK.

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