GEORGIA-KENTUCKY PREVIEW
What: Georgia (6-3, 3-3) at Kentucky (4-4, 2-3) Where: Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington, Ky When: Saturday, November 4, 2006, 1:00 p.m. TV: No Live TV, CSS Replay (Matt Stewart, Buck Belue)
The Bulldogs travel north to Lexington hoping to put a rough 1-3 October behind them. Georgia will look to get their offense on track against the SEC's worst defense. The Kentucky Wildcats are hoping to win two more games this season to become bowl eligible.
Here is how the two teams matchup on both sides of the ball.
GEORGIA OFFENSE vs. KENTUCKY DEFENSE
The Georgia offense has been very inconsistent this season and is ranked 90th in the nation in total offense averaging 307 yards per game.
Freshman quarterback Matthew Stafford (1000 yards passing 3 tds, 9 ints) will try to get the Georgia offense going against the 118th defense in Division I-A.
Kentucky's pass defense gave up 411 passing yards to Central Michigan and 384 to Mississippi State already this season. The are 115th in the nation in pass defense and give up an average of 269.7 yards per game.
Georgia's two leading receivers Mohamed Massaquoi (17 rec, 236 yards, 1 td) and Martrez Milner (17 rec 232 yards, 2 tds) have both been benched for the Kentucky game after dropping several passing against Florida last week. Both players have struggled with drops throughout the entire 2006 season.
Sophomores Demiko Goodman (12 rec, 158 yards) and Tripp Chandler (2 rec, 37 yards, 1 td) will start in place of Massaquoi and Milner respectively.
Starting flanker A.J. Bryant (11 rec, 167 yards) has been hampered by a groin injury and Kenneth Harris (11 rec, 214 yards) and Mikey Henderson (7 rec, 44 yards) may see more playing time this week.
The leader in the Kentucky secondary is free safety Marcus McClinton who has three interceptions this season and 34 total tackles.
Junior tailback Kregg Lumpkin leads Georgia's rushing attack with 518 yards and four touchdowns this season. The Bulldogs are 77th in Division I-A is rushing this season averaging 123.9 yards per game. In their last two games, Georgia has managed only 103 yards rushing against Mississippi State and 64 yards rushing against Florida.
Junior tailback Danny Ware (210 rush yards, 139 rec yards) will also see time in the backfield as well as handling the kick return duties this week for Georgia.
Fullback Brannan Southerland has been the Bulldogs' most consistent offensive weapon this season leading the team in touchdowns with seven. Southerland is the third leading receiver (13 rec, 130 yards) and fourth leading rusher (81 yards) for Georgia this year.
Kentucky's rush defense is 109th in Division I-A giving up 185.9 yards per game and 14 touchdowns this season.
Leading the Wildcats' rush defense are linebackers Wesley Woodyard (71 total tackles) and Braxton Kelley (49 total tackles) who are first and second on the team in tackles.
Georgia will be short handed on the offensive line without guard Chester Adams, but the Georgia offensive line is undefeated this season when missing one of their top six linemen. OT/OG Michael Turner will start in place of Adams. The Georgia offensive line has given up only 13 sacks this season.
The leading pass rusher for the Wildcats is defensive tackle Myron Pryor who has four sacks. Starting defensive ends Durrell White and Dominic Lewis each have two sacks this season.
GEORGIA DEFENSE vs. KENTUCKY OFFENSE
The Georgia defense rebounded after several tough games to hold a potent Florida offense to only 14 points last week. The Bulldog defense ranks 14th in the nation in total defense and they held opponents to only 17 points per game this season.
Leading the Georgia defensive is senior linebacker Tony Taylor. Taylor leads the team in total tackles (63), solo tackles (42), interceptions (4), and is tied for first with Charles Johnson in forced fumbles (2).
Kentucky's offense averages 331.8 yards per game and they are led by junior quarterback Andre' Woodson. Woodson has 1921 yards passing, 18 touchdowns, and just 5 interceptions this season. The Wildcats have only turned the ball over ten times this season compared to Georgia's 22 turnovers.
Wide receivers Keenan Burton (39 rec, 605 yards, 5 tds) and Dicky Lyons (31 rec, 524 yards, 8 tds) are a solid receiving duo for Woodson to throw to.
Georgia cornerbacks Paul Oliver and Ramarcus Brown will aim to shut down the Wildcat passing attack following a strong performance in Jacksonville last week.
The Wildcats lost their leading rusher Rafael Little (286 yards) and have turned to redshirt freshman Alfonso Smith (140 yards) who ran for 91 yards on 17 carries last week against Mississippi State.
Looking to stop the rushing attack will be linebacker Jarvis Jackson (47 total tackles) and safeties Tra Battle (45 total tackles) and Kelin Johnson (49 total tackles). Georgia has held opponents to only 3 yards per carry rushing this season and is 25th in the nation in rush defense.
Upfront the Wildcats have three solid senior offensive linemen anchoring their line in center Matt McCutchan, guard Hayden Lane, and tackle Michael Aitcheson.
Georgia has two highly regarded defensive ends in senior Quentin Moses (3 sacks, 21 quarterback pressures) and junior Charles Johnson (4.5 sacks, 13 tackles for a loss, 7 batted balls, 1 safety). Georgia will start their third different defensive tackle this season opposite Jeff Owens (19 total tackles) in senior Dale Dixson (9 total tackles).
SYNOPSIS: Georgia may have turned the corner on their season when they almost beat a very good Florida team on the road last week. Kentucky's defense is awful, but they have a good passing game and Georgia will need a strong offensive performance to build confidence before they play Auburn next week and Georgia Tech in three weeks.
PREDICTION: Georgia has the advantage at almost every position on the field and Kentucky has not beat Georgia in nine years. The Kentucky game will be Stafford's first big day as Georgia quarterback and the Bulldogs will thump Kentucky on the road 38-10.
| RECORD | Overall | SEC | | | 6-3 | 3-3 |
| SCORING | Pts. Scored | Pts. Allowed | | | 224 | 154 |
| NET YARDS | Plays | Rush | Pass | Tot | Avg | | Team | 523 | 1,151 | 1,648 | 2,763 | 5.3 | | Avg. | | 123.9 | 183.1 | 307.0 | |
| RUSHING | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | | Team | 280 | 1,151 | 4.0 | 14 |
| PASSING | PC-PA | Pct | Yds | Int | TD | Yds/A | | Team | 129-243 | 53.1 | 1,648 | 12 | 8 | 6.1 |
| PUNTING | No | Yds | Avg | | Team | 38 | 1,479 | 41.1 |
| KICKING | XP | FG | Pts | | Team | 24 | 12 | 60 |
| OTHER | Pen | 2-XP | Saf | Avg TOP | | Team | 56-438 | 0 | 1 | 28:14 |
| | | RECORD | Overall | SEC | | | 4-4 | 2-3 |
| SCORING | Pts. Scored | Pts. Allowed | | | 203 | 246 |
| NET YARDS | Plays | Rush | Pass | Tot | Avg | | Team | 491 | 662 | 1,993 | 2,655 | 5.4 | | Avg. | | 82.8 | 249.1 | 331.9 | |
| RUSHING | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | | Team | 233 | 662 | 2.8 | 8 |
| PASSING | PC-PA | Pct | Yds | Int | TD | Yds/A | | Team | 149-258 | 57.8 | 1,993 | 5 | 18 | 7.7 |
| PUNTING | No | Yds | Avg | | Team | 43 | 1678 | 39.3 |
| KICKING | XP | FG | Pts | | Team | 26 | 5 | 41 |
| OTHER | Pen | 2-XP | Saf | Avg TOP | | Team | 55-447 | 0 | 0 | 29:57 |
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