Licking their chops, or licking their wounds?

Looking forward to the Kentucky game (finally!), I do think the major issue for Georgia is whether the coaches can get the players’ heads on straight after last week’s debacle (in that respect, give Rich Brooks a little credit for getting his charges focused enough to win an SEC road game after getting destroyed by Florida the week before).

Statistically speaking, looking at the SEC numbers, a few things jump out:

• Don’t expect to see a lot of sacks out of Georgia.  The Dawgs have fallen to ninth in the conference in that category.  Meanwhile, UK leads the conference in fewest sacks allowed.
• I don’t know how this plays out:  Believe it or not, Georgia is considerably better in red zone offense (82.9%) than is Kentucky (65.5%); however, the ‘Cats are better when it comes to red zone defense (70%) than are the Dawgs (80.6%).
• Kentucky has only one player listed in the top ten of any individual offensive category – Lonas Seiber, who checks in at #10 in kicker scoring.
• Don’t expect a happy story on the penalty front.  Georgia remains last in the conference; Kentucky is a more than respectable third.  Moreover, Kentucky’s opponents lead the conference in most penalty yards racked up per game.
• The schools are just about even in total defense, but Georgia is significantly better in total offense.
• Turnover margin favors UK (+6) over Georgia (-1).

Keep in mind that all of this is compiled against the background of Sagarin’s fifth toughest schedule (Georgia’s) versus his seventieth (Kentucky’s).

On paper, I’d expect a Georgia win, most likely along the lines of what we’ve seen against Vandy and Tennessee – a significant advantage in yardage and time of possession not completely reflected on the scoreboard.  But you have to wonder about the degree to which their psyches remain damaged in the wake of the blowout in Jacksonville.  The whining from the fanbase – and hasn’t the AJ-C done a terrific job this week of egging that on? – can’t help, either.

What I’d love to see is some sort of blow out, a chance to exorcise the demons and get this team’s confidence level building again towards a good finish.  As I said yesterday, there’s still a lot to play for, including setting a new mark in consecutive wins in the series with Georgia Tech.  It’s time for these Dawgs to GATA.

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UPDATE: Well, gee whiz.

— Get the Picture gives some thoughts on this week’s game against Kentucky, saying he hopes for a blowout. Talking to Jeremy Lomax this week, I wouldn’t tell Blutarski to hold his breath. “They’re going to be hungry,” Lomax said. “I’m going to tell you now, it’s not going to be a blowout.”

I guess I’ve been warned.  Is there some reason Lomax and his teammates can’t be hungry, too?