Before UK's trip to Athens, Cats Illustrated posted five keys to a potential Kentucky upset of the Bulldogs.
Here we're revisiting those game keys based on how each played out on the sloppy field in Athens.
The turnover battle ... Before the game we noted that it would be very helpful to Kentucky's upset chances if the Wildcats could win the turnover battle. South Carolina turned Georgia over four times and didn't give the ball away once. Even still, that game was close. Unfortunately for UK, the turnover battle went the other way on Saturday. Georgia forced a Lynn Bowden fumble and converted it to a touchdown to make the game 14-0, all but putting the game out of reach
Create negative yardage plays ... Tackling the Bulldogs behind the line of scrimmage seemed important because, in messy conditions and with UGA's pass game struggling, creating unfavorable down/distance situations could have really made things tough for Jake Fromm & Co. The Kentucky defense played very well Saturday, surrendering less than 300 yards on the day and shutting Georgia down for most of the game. However, UK only had two tackles for loss, so this turned out to not be so important - in part because the UGA passing game was truly non-existent.
UK's offensive line needs its game of the season ... UK's best team unit needing to have its best game seemed like an obvious game key in such an improbable upset situation. It's tough to say what Kentucky's best offensive line performance of the season was, but the line performed well Saturday. UK rushed for more yards against UGA than any other team this year, the 'Cats only surrendered one sack, and UGA had just one tackle for loss. The UK offensive line seemed to do its job against a very good Bulldog defense.
Some receiver must step up ... The thinking was that UK not only needed to run the ball well, but the Wildcats needed some big plays in the passing game. That didn't happen and the passing game's inability to produce explosiveness or even balance
Avoid a fourth straight disastrous start .... In three straight games Kentucky had gotten off to a terrible start. The Wildcats fell behind at least 7-0 in three straight contests - against Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Arkansas. That didn't happen against Georgia. Kentucky's defense put the clamps on UGA not only on the first drive, or the first two drives, but for the entire first half. The avoidance of disaster early is why UGA was on upset alert coming out of the locker room in the third quarter.