LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Not long ago, Georgia and Kentucky were both unbeaten and seemingly on a collision course for SEC East supremacy.
The top-ranked Bulldogs (10-0, 7-0 SEC, No. 1 CFP) have lived up to expectations, rolling to another division title with an eye on clinching a second consecutive undefeated finish in league play. Not so much for the Wildcats (6-4, 3-4), who have lost four of six since a 4-0 start and No. 7 ranking, including last week’s embarrassing 24-21 defeat by last-place Vanderbilt.
Kentucky aims to regroup this afternoon on multiple levels, desperation that reminds Georgia to finish the job and not look ahead to next month’s meeting in Atlanta against No. 6 LSU (No. 6 CFP) for the SEC title and a berth in the College Football Playoff.
“We really haven’t talked about the SEC Championship Game,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “This is not our conversation. We keep our conversation relative to what’s one foot in front of us and it’s never been mentioned as a goal, nobody talks about that. We talk about Kentucky.”
Georgia is coming off a 45-19 rout at Mississippi State that squelched concern about a letdown after thumping then-No. 2 Tennessee. The Bulldogs rolled up 468 yards on offense in Starkville and held the “other” Bulldogs to 263 yards passing.
The ’Dawgs have won the last 12 against the Wildcats, who are eager to move on from arguably their worst performance under 10th-year coach Mark Stoops. Kentucky was flat in every phase against the Commodores and are now tied for third in the East.
Now comes the monumental task of stopping a Bulldogs squad that ranks no worse than third in most every SEC statistical category and boasts its No. 2 passer in quarterback Stetson Bennett.
“They are awfully impressive in every way, shape or form,” Stoops said. “They deserve to be where they’re at and we have a great challenge ahead for us.”
Georgia’s division title is its fifth in the last seven years under Smart, who’s compiled a record of 68-10 since going 8-5 in his first season as Bulldogs coach in 2016. Asked what it takes to keep playing at such a high level year after year, Smart cited consistency, commitment, physicality and maturity. But the Bulldogs barely acknowledged their latest division title.
Said Smart, “There’s a lot of things left out there for this team to do.”