Kentucky using 2021 Georgia matchup to prepare

Just over a year ago, Kentucky was in a similar situation when it came to their game against Georgia. A Wildcat team led by Mark Stoops and Will Levis went down to Athens in mid-October to face off against the No. 1 Bulldogs in the SEC game on CBS. Now, in mid-November, a different Wildcat team will host the top-ranked Dawgs in the same time slot on the same network in 2022.

With some similarities between last year’s Georgia game and this latest version, Stoops did say during his press conference on Monday that his team is analyzing the tape from a season ago. However, considering Kentucky lost by double digits, he also said they can only buy into so much of it.

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“You always look at last year’s game as a piece of what you look at,” said Stoops. “All of us grow and evolve and you have to adjust. So it’s just a piece. We don’t take any solace in thinking that was good enough. It’s not good enough to win and we understand what a real challenge that is.”

At that point, Kentucky played last season’s national champions as well as anyone had. Their run game was nullified but Levis and their offense had some success moving the ball. All in all, the 17-point margin didn’t reflect the game’s competitiveness. A loss is still a loss, though, regardless of the lens you see it through.

Kentucky’s only problem this time around is they’re the difference in the game. Georgia is still the best in the country and the Wildcat even gets to play at home in Lexington. However, this is not the same 11th-ranked UK team from a year ago. This is barely even the Top-25 UK team Stoops even had earlier this season after their latest 2-4 stretch highlighted by last week’s home loss to Vanderbilt. With that in mind, he and Kentucky will need much more than last season’s footage in order to find a way to knock off the Bulldogs.