GAMEDAY on KSR: Beat Georgia Edition

Up and at ’em, Big Blue Nation. It’s time for some football.

This evening, your Kentucky Wildcats (3-3, 1-3) are set to take on the No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs (5-1, 2-1) in Athens, GA. Slated for a 6 p.m. ET kickoff at Sanford Stadium, you can find the television broadcast live on ESPN.

But what do we need to know about the matchup?

It’s quite the spread…

After originally opening as 26-point underdogs, fans began betting on Kentucky to cover against the top-ten foe, with the line dropping to as “low” as UK +24 in recent days. Since then, money has come back in on the Bulldogs, with UGA now sitting firm as 25.5-point favorites on gameday.

Looking at OddsShark’s game analysis, they like the Bulldogs to pull off the victory by a whopping five scores, with a predicted score total of 47.1 to 16.2.

In other quick betting facts on both the Wildcats and the Bulldogs…

Kentucky

• Kentucky is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games.
• The total has gone OVER in 6 of Kentucky’s last 9 games.
• Kentucky is 13-6 SU in their last 19 games.
• Kentucky is 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games against Georgia.
• Kentucky is 0-9 SU in their last 9 games against Georgia.
• The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Kentucky’s last 7 games on the road.
• Kentucky is 1-11 SU in their last 12 games when playing on the road against Georgia.
• Kentucky are 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games this season.
• The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Kentucky’s last 12 games against an opponent in the Southeast conference.
• Kentucky is 8-2 SU in their last 10 games played in October.

Georgia

• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Georgia’s last 7 games.
• Georgia is 5-1 SU in their last 6 games.
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Georgia’s last 6 games against Kentucky.
• Georgia is 16-1 SU in their last 17 games at home.
• Georgia is 11-1 SU in their last 12 games when playing at home against Kentucky.
• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Georgia’s last 6 games this season.
• Georgia is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games against an opponent in the Southeast conference.
• The total has gone OVER in 6 of Georgia’s last 8 games played in October.
• Georgia is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games played in week 8.

In ESPN’s matchup predictor, they list Georgia as having a whopping 93.7% chance of pulling off the victory on Saturday evening under the lights in Athens, with Kentucky having just a 6.3% chance to win.

After covering in four consecutive games to start the season, Kentucky failed to do so in back-to-back matchups against Mississippi State (line closed at UK +5.5) and South Carolina (line closed at UK +3.5). They managed to break that streak against Arkansas last weekend, defeating the Razorbacks 24-20 (line closed at UK -3.5).

Scouting report

If there was ever a time to catch a perennial powerhouse sleeping at the wheel, this is not the week.

With the entire college football world watching, the Georgia Bulldogs fell 20-17 to the 2-3 South Carolina Gamecocks in double-overtime at home.

Junior quarterback Jake Fromm leads the Georgia offense, throwing for 1,371 yards on 70.4% overall to go with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. In the team’s first loss of the season last week, Fromm still threw for a smooth 295 yards, though he completed just 28 of his 51 passing attempts and turned the ball over four times (three picks, one fumble).

Junior running back and future NFL star D’Andre Swift is the star of the show in the backfield, rushing for 573 yards and five touchdowns through six games. Behind Swift is a pair of 240-plus yard rushers – Brian Herrien and Zamir White – who have combined for six scores on the year.

At wide receiver, four players have at least 200 yards and six players have at least 100 yards. Freshman wideout George Pickens leads the way with 283 yards on a ridiculous 14.9 yards per reception.

On defense, linebacker Monty Rice leads the team with 38 total tackles (16 solo), followed by defensive back J.R. Reed with 31 tackles (15 solo) and an interception. Linebacker Azeez Ojulari leads the team with 3.5 sacks, with four other players on the time totaling 1.5 sacks on the year. The Bulldogs have also picked off five balls in six games.

Superstar kicker Rodrigo Blankenship went into the South Carolina game last weekend a perfect 12-12 on field goal attempts, but missed his first two kicks of the year in the team’s losing effort. He now sits at 12 of 14 on the year overall and 27 of 27 on PATs.

They received their wake-up call last weekend. This week, Kentucky will likely get Georgia’s best shot.

To read the entire scouting report, check out Adam Luckett’s post on KSR from earlier in the week right here.

The Schedule

• 3:00 — The KSR Pregame Show
• 3:45 — The Cat Walk at Gate 5 on the train track’s side of Sanford Stadium
• 6:00 — Kickoff on ESPN

TV, Radio, Vegas

The Dogs are 25-point favorites in most sports books, with the over-under hovering around 46.5. Jason Benetti, Rod Gilmore and Quint Kessenich are on the call for ESPN. If you can’t watch, there are multiple ways to listen to The Voice of the Wildcats.

• AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
• FM: 98.1 WBUL
• Satellite: XM-387
• Online: iHeart Radio

What the Cats are Wearing

The Wildcats will be rolling with blue helmets, white jerseys, blue pants, and blue cleats on Saturday evening in Athens.

UK Won the Blue/White Game

See what I did there? Read “KSR’s Favorite Moments: Blue-White Game Edition” from last night to find out everything that happened, or just check out all of the highlights below:

Today’s College Football Schedule

• Noon: Purdue at #20 Iowa on ESPN2
• Noon: #3 Clemson at Louisville on ABC
• Noon: #9 Florida at South Carolina on ESPN
• Noon: #11 Auburn at Arkansas on SEC Network
• Noon: West Virginia at #5 Oklahoma on Fox
• 3:30: #2 LSU at Miss. State on CBS
• 3:30: #12 Oregon at #25 Washington on ABC
•  3:30: Temple at #19 SMU on ESPN2
• 4:00: #18 Baylor at Oklahoma State on Fox
• 4:00: #22 Missouri at Vanderbilt on SEC Network
• 7:30: #16 Michigan at #7 Penn State on ABC
• 9:00: Tennessee at #1 Alabama on ESPN
• 10:14: #14 Boise State at BYU on ESPN2

Friday Night Football Scores

The Big Dog was out and about last night, watching some of the best prospects around the state. He was spotted at Bowling Green High Schoo, watching four-star safety Vito Tisdale take on Christian County.

Bowling Green won 49-0. Other scores from around the state:

• Caldwell County 42, Murray 40
• Corbin 26, Lincoln County 21
• Daviess County 30, Henderson County 27 (OT)
• Cov Cath 13, Highlands 0
• East Carter 30, Greenup County 29
• Glasgow 31, Taylor County 28
• LCA 35, Somerset 34
• Male 34, Fern Creek 21
• Moore 31, Valley 27
• Ballard 41, Eastern 14
• South Warren 36, Greenwood 18

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