1 Bottle Up Benny – This is the game right here. Kentucky’s Heisman Trophy candidate at tailback is the total package, a crafty, powerful runner with a burst who isn’t brought down by one tackler. Everything the Wildcats do on offense is based off of Benny Snell. His great uncle Matt Snell scored the Jets lone touchdown in Super Bowl III, and those genes sure show. Kentucky is a good football team that a special player has transformed into an outstanding title contender. If he runs wild, the Bulldogs will lose. He was running strong last season in Athens, then the Wildcats threw on a bizarre play call, with Georgia intercepting with a 28-13 lead.
2 Strong Bulldog Ground Attack – As good as Benny Snell is, Georgia has extremely talented backs and a strong ground game too. The Bulldogs must control the ground game. If Snell is rolling, and the Bulldogs go three and out with a couple of incompletions, that time of possession and the total plays will lean heavily the Wildcats way, and Georgia is in serious trouble. But if Georgia gets the ground game rolling, with the weapons the Bulldogs have in the passing game, then one of the SEC’s top defenses will get a big challenge from one of the league’s most talented offenses.
3 Downfield Strikes – For Georgia to put up the point against the Wildcats, hitting big plays downfield is a must. The aforementioned strong running attack provides the base. Kentucky’s defensive play has been outstanding this season, one of the big surprises in the Southeastern Conference. The Wildcats are tough and physical, and they are always big. Georgia’s fleet corps of receivers and tight ends will have to shine and make the plays with the Bulldogs outstanding quarterbacks showing the way.
4 Out kick Kentucky – Georgia has had its moments in the kicking game here in Lexington. Rex Robinson in 1978, Jimmy Harrell in 1984 and Rodrigo Blankenship in 2016 are a few that jump to mind. “Hot Rod” will have to be on his game, and it could be windy and chilly, while the Bulldogs coverage units and return specialists should have the chance to make a play. Georgia has been inconsistent in the punting game. Meanwhile, Cats’ punter Max Duffy has been one of the league’s best this season. Turnovers and the kicking game always have such a big hand in who wins, and the Dogs need to come up big Saturday.
5 Embrace the Road – The Wildcat faithful have fallen in love with this SEC title contending Kentucky football team, and they’ll be rocking and rolling with the defending conference champion Bulldogs rolling into Lexington for one of the biggest games in Lexington in a long time. It may not be Williams-Brice or Baton Rouge, but it will be extremely loud and energetic. Embracing this atmosphere and the challenge, that’s at the top of the to-do list. This is the time of year, when good and great teams separate themselves. Great teams go on the road and win games like this.