The Kentucky Bulldogs hope to rebound from a humiliating defeat when they welcome the Georgia Bulldogs to Kroger Field on Saturday.
Kentucky has lost 14 straight meetings against the Bulldogs, and its offense was abysmal this past weekend against the Gamecocks. Former Georgia quarterback Brock Vandagriff will hope to reverse that trend against a Bulldog defense that has been outstanding so far in 2024.
Read on to find out our early Georgia vs. Kentucky predictions and college football picks for Saturday, September 14!
Georgia vs Kentucky predictions
Early spread lean
Georgia -23.5 (-105 at BetMGM)
My analysis
Kentucky opened as 21.5-point underdogs, and the line quickly moved north of 24 points. While it’s settled back to Georgia -23.5 at BetMGM, I’m still leaning heavily towards the Bulldogs — and would likely do so up to 27 points.
The Wildcats rank 131st in PFF’s pass block ratings and had a lineman finish with a 5.1 rating against South Carolina. Brock Vandagriff was running for his life for much of the game and had just three completions through three quarters.
No defense in the country has a better knowledge of Vandagriff's strengths and weaknesses than Georgia, and it comes into this game allowing just 3.5 yards per play. That’s the 10th-best mark in the nation, and keep in mind what they did to Clemson in Week 1 (a 34-3 walloping).
Georgia ranks 14th in yards per completion allowed, and its defense has conceded just six points through two games. The Bulldogs have also caused havoc on 21.6% of their defensive snaps. They’re mean and nasty, and they’re going to get after Kentucky at the point of attack.
Kirby Smart and Mark Stoops are friends, and there’s been a history of Smart not blowing Stoops out. But that doesn’t matter if your players aren’t executing, and this game could get ugly in a heartbeat.
There’s also the matter of the fans. A College Gameday appearance was set for next weekend until Kentucky lost, and now a large portion of Big Blue Nation is calling for Stoops to do what he tried to do this offseason — find a new job.
Georgia will have to contend with a Kentucky defense that has performed well this season. But it gave up in the fourth quarter against South Carolina after repeatedly being asked to bail out a lifeless offense, and the same could happen here.
The Bulldogs are getting serious push out of their offensive line, and they’ll simply wear Kentucky’s front seven down as they repeatedly get put back on the field. As long as this spread stays where it is, I’m leaning heavily towards laying the points
Early Over/Under lean
Under 45.5 (-115 at BetMGM)
My analysis
The total for this game sits at 45.5, down two points from the opening number, and I am leaning on the Under down to 43 points.
This Kentucky defense features one of the best linemen in the country in Deone Walker, and the stop unit has created havoc on nearly one-third of its snaps and has performed admirably against the run.
On the other side of the ball, it’s hard to see Kentucky holding its end of the bargain when it comes to lighting up the scoreboard. Stoops questioned the Bush Hamdan's play calling and we could see a lot more of the ground game on Saturday. This will shorten the game but I’m not sure it’ll lead to points for the Wildcats.
Kentucky has often tried to do just that when playing Georgia, especially at home. In fact, the last two meetings at Kroger Field have seen a total of 39 points scored. Four of the last five meetings have seen 43 points or fewer, with the Wildcats averaging just seven points.
The Bulldogs have a bye next week, and then a big meeting with Alabama afterward. I see them getting ahead big and then pulling the starters, and winning easily while keeping the total low
Georgia vs Kentucky live odds
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