Georgia Football: How the Bulldogs Can Avoid Another Upset vs. Kentucky
The Georgia Bulldogs are in a position they never wanted to be in, and thatโs playing the chasing game in the SEC East.
The loss to Florida put the Bulldogs one game behind Missouri for the SEC East lead, but the one good thing about that is the Bulldogs have the tiebreaker over the Tigers because they won the head-to-head battle.
However, before the Bulldogs can worry about winning the SEC East, they will need to get past their next opponent.
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The Kentucky Wildcats are much improved from what they were last season, with a 5-4 (2-4 in SEC) record. They have a lot of talent, especially on the offensive side, but they have lost their last threeย SEC games.
That includes a lackluster 20-10 performance against Missouri last week.
Faced with a team like the Wildcats, hungry for their third SEC win of the year, how do the Bulldogs avoid the upset?
The first thing the Bulldogs need to do is not let Patrick Towles get into any kind of rhythm. In the two SEC games the Wildcats won, Towles threw for two touchdowns, one interception and his quarterback rating was over 130.
In the four SEC games the Wildcats lost this year, he has thrown six touchdowns, four interceptions and his quarterback rating was an average of 114.6
"Jesse "Nostradamus" Palmer, now predicting Patrick Towles "when it's all said done" will become greatest QB in UK history.
โ Steve Moss (@smosswkyt) November 1, 2014"
Towles is not very accurate. He has only completed 59 percent of his passes, and heโs not going to pick apart a defense because he has only thrown for 13 touchdowns this season.
However,ย Towles is a tough player, and he feeds off the rest of the offense. The Bulldogs need to be persistent and put pressure on Towles just like they did to Maty Mauk in the Missouri game.
On the flip side, the Bulldogs need to contain defensive end Alvin Dupree, who has emerged as one of the better defensive linemen in the conference.
Dupree has 5.5 sacks on the year, which puts him in eighth place in the conference. He also has 8.5 tackles for loss, which also puts him in the top 15 in the SEC.
Dupree can get after the quarterback, make plays in the backfield and move sideline-to-sideline. He has tallied 50 tackles on the year.
This is where offensive tackles John Theus and Kolton Houston come in.
Both players need to make sure to locate where he is any time heโs out on the field. Also, the Bulldogs will need to continue to pound the football with Nick Chubb.
A great way to counter a guy like Dupree is to either run the ball at him or use draw and screen plays to get him up the field.
The most important thing the Bulldogs need to do in order to avoid another upset is to punch Kentucky right in the mouth and continue to do it all game long. The Wildcats have lost three consecutive conference games, so the goal of reaching the SEC title game is done. However, they still need to win in order to become bowl eligible.
Florida punched Georgia in the mouth. The Bulldogs never responded. Kentucky will look to do the same thing because winning against a ranked Georgia team would be a signature win for Mark Stoops and his crew.
The Bulldogs need to jump out to an early lead and continue to put pressure on the Wildcats. That will get their morale down, and the Bulldogs should come away with a win in Lexington.
