Breakdown: Kentucky at UGA

Five keys to a Georgia victory

1. Keep running wild

With A.J. Green out with a shoulder injury, the Bulldogs must be able to continue to move the ball on the ground. The Bulldogs have averaged 191.8 yards per game over the last four games. Sure, they piled on 304 against Tennessee Tech, but they also rushed for 169 against Auburn and 173 against Vanderbilt. Kentucky ranks 98th in the nation in rushing at 177.6 yards per game allowed.

"Most people that have hurt them running the ball have hurt them with the option game," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "The more traditional zone, power, sprint draw, the things that we do most, they've been much more tougher and physical against those types of runs. It makes you want to put some option in, doesn't it?"

Except Alabama doesn't exactly fit that mold and they rushed for 204 yards against Kentucky.

2. Make it two in a row

We're talking about two in a row in winning the turnover battle. Georgia finally broke through last week in game No. 10 in taking away more than they gave away. The result? A 31-24 win against Auburn. Georgia had a pair of interceptions from Reshad Jones and Brandon Boykin and did not commit a turnover. Georgia still ranks 118th in the nation in turnover margin at minus-14. Kentucky is 66th at minus-four. The Wildcats are third in the SEC with 13 interceptions but have thrown 11.

3. Shut down the run

Georgia rightly has been singing the praises of receiver/quarterback Randall Cobb this week, but don't sleep on running back Derrick Locke, fifth in the SEC at 82.3 yards per game and is coming off a 144-yard performance at Vanderbilt, his third 100-yard game this season. Senior Alfonso Smith rushed for 60 yards last year against Georgia. The Wildcats are averaging 203.5 yards per game behind a veteran offensive line. Georgia hasn't had a 100-yard rusher against it this season.

4.Be wary of the big returns

Kentucky ranks in the top 30 in both punt and kickoff returns. Georgia's kickoff coverage is now 118th out of 120 FBS teams, allowing 26.95 yards per return. Auburn had a 99-yard kickoff return for touchdown last week. Kentucky's Derrick Locke has a 100-yard kickoff return for touchdown this year. Randall Cobb has a 73-yard punt return for touchdown this year. Georgia kicker Blair Walsh is tied for 11th in the nation in touchbacks with 14.

5. Hit a big play or two in the passing game

Even without their big play receiver, Georgia should still take its shots downfield like it did last week. After Green left the game injured in the second quarter, Joe Cox hit Israel Troupe on a 50-yard touchdown and later found Tavarres King for a 47-yard pickup. Cox has 23 pass plays this season that went for 25 or more yards, according to cfbstats.com. Kentucky is ninth in the nation in pass defense (165.6 ypg), but has given up 12 touchdown passes, fourth most in the SEC.

Matchups

Offense Edge: Georgia

Kentucky is 17th in the nation in rushing offense at 203.5 yards per game after piling up 308 against Vanderbilt last week. Their rushing average is their best since the 1995 team ran for 210.5 yards. Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke are a big reason why. So is an offensive line that is the second most experienced in the SEC. It includes seniors Zipp Duncan, Christian Johnson, Jorge Gonzalez and Justin Jeffries. Morgan Newton will start his sixth straight game at quarterback. Kentucky is 4-1 with Newton as quarterback, but the Wildcats are just 112th in the nation in passing. Newton has completed 59 percent of his passes for 402 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions with a long of 28. Georgia running back Washaun Ealey has led the Bulldogs in rushing in each of the past four games, including 98 yards against Auburn on 18 carries. Caleb King rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns last week and a had a monster block on a pass play to Israel Troupe. After throwing an interception in each of the first eight games, Joe Cox hasn't thrown one the past two while tossing three touchdown passes.

Defense Edge: Kentucky

Kentucky held Vanderbilt to 31 total yards and one first down in the second half last Saturday in a 24-13 Wildcats win. The Commodores mustered only 209 yards of total offense, the lowest by an SEC opponent against Kentucky since 1996. The Wildcats are giving up an average of 27.5 points and 370.8 yards in SEC games compared to 31.1 and 396.4 for Georgia. Kentucky ranks last in the SEC in sacks with 15. Georgia is fourth with 25. Cornerback Trevard Lindley missed four games with injury, but is back and is part of a defense that has intercepted a pass in six straight games including multiple interceptions in three of the last four. They are tied for 19th in the nation in interceptions. Lindley has 10 career interceptions and 40 pass breakups. Linebacker Sam Maxwell leads the Wildcats with four interceptions this year. Georgia defensive end Cornelius Washington has a sack each of the past two games to give him four for the year.

Special Teams Edge: Even

Both teams have standouts on special teams. Derrick Locke leads the SEC and is sixth in the nation in kickoff returns at 30.9 yards per return. Randall Cobb is third in the SEC and 15th in the nation on punt returns at 13.2 yards per return. Georgia sophomore Blair Walsh is tied for fourth in the nation in field goal percentage at 93.3 (14 of 15). Redshirt sophomore Drew Butler is the top in punting average at 49.0. Kentucky's Ryan Tydlacka is 10th in the SEC at 40.3 yards per punt. The Wildcats had a punt blocked by Florida's Chris Rainey, who recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. Kicker Lones Seiber is the Wildcats all-time scoring leader with 288 career points. He is 8 of 12 this season on field goals with a long of 49.

Coaching Edge: Georgia

Georgia coach Mark Richt's team has won three of four games since a 45-19 loss at Tennessee. A 6-4 record doesn't sit well with anybody around the program, but wins this week over Kentucky and especially next week over Georgia Tech can ease the pain. Richt is 88-26 in nine seasons. Kentucky's Rich Brooks has the Wildcats bowl eligible for the fourth straight season. He is 129-154-4 in 25 seasons as head coach and 1-5 against Georgia. The Wildcats won 4, 2 and 3 games in Brooks first three seasons in Lexington, but followed with 8, 8 and 7 win seasons and are now 6-4 this season.

Intangibles Edge: Georgia

Both teams nailed down bowl eligibility last week. Now it's a matter of jockeying for position in the SEC's pecking order. Kentucky won the Liberty Bowl last season and the Music City Bowl the two seasons before that. Georgia would like to stay in contention for an Outback Bowl bid with a win today. Kentucky is seeking its third straight SEC road win after winning at Auburn 21-14 and at Vanderbilt 24-13, but the Wildcats have lost 15 straight in Athens since a win in 1977. Georgia is 4-0 in night games this season.

Overall Edge: Georgia

Georgia is 4-1 at home this season with the only loss coming against LSU, 20-13, Oct. 3 in a game that ended with controversy thanks to an excessive celebration penalty that the SEC said shouldn't have been called. There should be added emotion for the seniors' last home game. Kentucky's ability to move the ball on the ground could make things scary for the Bulldogs, but Georgia has been committed to the run, itself, down the stretch and the thinking here is they will continue to have success behind a reshuffled offensive line. Look for Georgia to go to 7-4.

Fast Facts

Georgia

Georgia's 2009 senior class owns a 36-13 career mark including 3-0 in bowl games. The group includes 13 players that were recruited on scholarship: Geno Atkins, Rod Battle, Joe Cox, Ricardo Crawford, Darius Dewberry, Bryan Evans, Prince Miller, Mike Moore, Kevin Perez, Jeff Owens, Vince Vance, Marcus Washington and Kade Weston.

The Bulldogs' 31-24 win over Auburn last week was the 18th victory in Mark Richt's nine seasons in which the Bulldogs won when trailing or tied at the start of the fourth quarter. The Auburn game was tied 24-24 early in the fourth. Georgia rallied from down 17-14 at the start of the fourth to beat Arizona State 20-17 on Sept. 26.

Kentucky

Kentucky running back Derrick Locke is the 31st player in Wildcats history to reach 1,000 rushing yards. The junior has 1,565 in his career and needs 45 to pass Steve Campassi at No. 14 on the program's career list. Senior Alfonso Smith needs 45 yards to reach 1,000.

The Wildcats have 16 players on its roster from Georgia, most of any state except Kentucky. They include Trevard Lindley (Hiram), Sam Maxwell and Shane McCord (Hart County), Randall Burden (LaGrange) and Trevino Woods, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman from Clarke Central in Athens

Matchup to watch

Kentucky WR/QB Randall Cobb vs. Georgia defense

Rodney Garner, who coaches players whose job it is to shut down the run, isn't a big fan of the Wildcat formation.

"The Wildcat is very tough," said Garner, who coaches Georgia's defensive tackles. "Obviously we've got to account for the quarterback as a runner. It puts a lot of stress on defenses. You can see what it's done in the NFL. No one likes that. That's not playing by the rules of football."

He was kidding about that. We think.

Stopping the Wildcat when it's run by Kentucky's Randall Cobb is no easy chore.

Cobb is Kentucky's leading receiver and ninth in the SEC with 32 catches for 384 yards.

He also can run when taking a shotgun snap in Kentucky's WildCobb.

"He's going to be a guy we've got to keep an eye on and trying to figure out where he is and what to do about it when we get there," Georgia coach Mark Richt said.

The 5-foot-11, 188-pound sophomore is Kentucky's No. 2 rusher with 396 yards.

Cobb took a direct snap for 61 yards against Auburn. Then he took another and scored on a 4-yard touchdown run with 3:17 left for what turned out be the game-winning score in a 21-14 win, the Wildcats' first at Auburn in 43 years.

The wild card in the WildCobb this week is the availability of Cobb.

Kentucky coach Rich Brooks called Cobb "questionable" at midweek with a bruised shoulder.

"It takes one of our most prolific playmakers out of the equation," Brooks said of the impact if Cobb can't go.

Let Brooks list the ways.

"Kickoff return, punt return, holder on punts and field goals, the WildCobb formation guy and leading receiver."

"So," Brooks said with a laugh, "other than that, it doesn't make it look much different at all."

Cobb ranks in the top 10 in six SEC statistical categories and has scored 12 of Kentucky's 35 touchdowns.

"Very special player," Richt said. "He's doing all of those things and more. You definitely got to know where he is. ...I know what he did last year. He was just amazing."

Cobb started at quarterback last year against Georgia and rushed for 82 yards and three touchdowns while completing 12 of 20 passes for 105 yards with an interception in a 42-38 Bulldogs win.

"It's something that gives me a little motivation going into this week knowing that we were in a very good chance to have a chance to win that game," Cobb said.