Georgia and Kentucky are both hungry to bounce back from losses this past weekend, as the Bulldogs and Wildcats square off on Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium. The Bulldogs enter the game with a record of 3-1 and 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference. The Wildcats are 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the league.
The Dogs dropped a 24-21 heartbreaker to Alabama this Saturday, which brought to an end Georgia’s SEC record home winning streak at 33 games. Georgia last lost in Athens back in 2019 by three points to South Carolina in overtime. In fact, the only other three losses at Sanford Stadium during the incredible Kirby Smart era came in his first year – one-point setbacks to Vandy and Tech, and a three-point loss to Tennessee on the Hail Mary.
So now Georgia aims to begin a new streak, while extending a very impressive one against the tough and physical Wildcats. The Bulldogs have won 15 consecutive meetings against Kentucky, going back to 2010 and the Mark Richt era in Athens. Kentucky last beat the Bulldogs in 2009, a night game in Athens. Smart owns a perfect 9-0 record versus the Wildcats. Last year’s meeting was the toughest of all in the series during this streak. Georgia came back, got the lead and held on to win 13-12.
Smart’s tenure at Georgia is the second longest amongst head coaches in the SEC to Mark Stoops, who has been Kentucky’s head coach since the 2013 season.
Under Stoops’ watch, the Wildcats have chalked up numerous big wins, including losing streak breaking wins over both Florida and Tennessee. Now the Wildcats aim to end this stretch of losses against the Bulldogs.
Kentucky opened this season with a 24-16 win over Toledo, then fell at home to red hot Ole Miss 30-23. Speaking of big Stoops wins, he led Kentucky to victory in Oxford a year ago. The Wildcats beat Eastern Michigan 48-23, then dropped this past weekend’s matchup against South Carolina 35-13 in Columbia.
Smart will certainly be pushing for faster starts from his Bulldogs. Georgia fell behind Tennessee 21-7 in Knoxville in the first quarter of the thrilling 44-41 victory over the Volunteers in Knoxville. Last week, Alabama raced to a 14-0 lead in Athens. Even dating back to last year, the Bulldogs trailed the Yellow Jackets 17-0 at the end of the first half in the amazing 44-42 eight-overtime victory over Tech, and trailed both Texas in the SEC Championship Game and Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl at the half.
Under Smart’s watch, Georgia has finished in the top seven for eight consecutive seasons, highlighted by back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and three SEC titles. The Bulldogs have not lost more than two regular-season games since 2016. Georgia has not lost back-to-back games since the 2018 SEC Championship Game and 2019 Sugar Bowl.