How Kentucky could (hypothetically) beat Georgia between the hedges

Let’s face it: morale is low in Big Blue Nation as Kentucky heads to Athens to face Georgia between the hedges. Expectations for the Wildcats might be even lower. If you polled the fan base, you’d struggle to find anyone predicting a Kentucky win on Saturday. Still, part of being a fan is believing in your team when no one else does—no matter the odds, which, in this case, has Georgia as a three-touchdown favorite.

Just last week, the Dawgs’ 33-game home winning streak was snapped with a 24-21 loss to Alabama, finally showing Georgia is mortal at home. That game exposed some cracks in Georgia’s armor, and while Kentucky isn’t anywhere close to Alabama’s level, here are five ways the Wildcats could hypothetically crack Georgia on Saturday. It’s as easy as doing what Alabama did.

Protect the QB

Georgia has recorded only five sacks so far in 2025, placing them near the bottom of the list of all FBS teams. Only Florida, with three, is worse in the SEC. That lack of disruption up front gives quarterbacks extra time to throw, which Kentucky’s Cutter Boley could certainly use in his second road start. Alabama’s Ty Simpson had clean pockets last Saturday.

Win on third down

Not only does Georgia’s defense struggle to get to the quarterback, but it also couldn’t get off the field last Saturday. Alabama’s offense faced 19 third downs and converted 12 of them, a 63 percent success rate for the visiting team under the lights in Sanford Stadium.

The third-down conversions began early in the game. On Alabama’s first series alone, the Crimson Tide picked up a 3rd-and-8, a 3rd-and-10, a 3rd-and-5, and a 3rd-and-Goal, part of a 14-play, 74-yard, touchdown-scoring drive. Alabama converted four more third downs on its second series, which also resulted in a touchdown, putting the Tide up 14-0 in Athens.

Win the penalty battle

A championship football program like Georgia’s doesn’t beat itself often, but when it does, you’d better cash in. Against Alabama, the Bulldogs committed costly penalties that extended drives and stalled their own momentum, including a critical personal foul late in the fourth quarter. Georgia was penalized six times for 68 yards in the game, while Alabama had 16 penalty yards.

Kentucky, on the other hand, has been plagued by self-inflicted mistakes all season. You’ve seen the burned timeouts, false starts, and delay-of-game flags. If the Cats want to hang around in Athens, they’ll need discipline for four quarters and hope Georgia slips up again. The Bulldogs were mostly under control until their loss to Alabama, leading the SEC as the least penalized team in the conference.

Hit explosive plays

Telling Kentucky to create explosive plays is a lot to ask of Bush Hamdan’s offense at the moment. But to beat Georgia, they’ll have to find a way to get the chunk yardage. Alabama was able to generate big-time plays as Georgia’s defense bent under pressure. The Crimson Tide had two runs of 10+ yards on third down, plus another explosive run to the goal line late in the first half. The Crimson Tide also threw eight passes for at least 17 yards each.

Can Kentucky hit on some big plays? Seth McGowan has shown he has big-play potential, but he’ll need others to step up around him, too.

Steal a possession

Turnovers weren’t the story of Alabama’s upset, but against a team as talented as Georgia, they can be the equalizer. It’s hard to imagine Kentucky can do much worse than four in one quarter, like in last week’s loss at South Carolina.

The Bulldogs haven’t thrown an interception this season with Gunner Stockton at quarterback, but fumbles, tipped passes, or a special teams miscue could flip the script. Kentucky’s offense will need all the help it can get, so stealing one possession, ideally on a short field, might be the only realistic path to a touchdown drive.

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Easy enough, right? Just protect the QB, win on third down, play clean, hit some bombs, and steal a turnover in Athens. Do those things, and Kentucky is in it. Who knows, maybe Kentucky wins it.

We could soon be talking about one of the biggest upsets in school history. If not, well, at least we had a plan for one of the biggest upsets in school history here on KentuckySportsRadio.com. Go Cats.