Let’s talk about Kentucky’s strategy for a minute.

This is a very good point and something I wondered about off and on throughout the game.

Kentucky chose to have Bowden drop back as opposed to use RPO throws or screens to manage his targets. It didn't go well.

Run game was what it was last week: inside zone reads, veers, and keeper counters.

'twas the first shutout of the Mark Stoops Era. https://t.co/NVXPI8fBU1 pic.twitter.com/YhS6gg4NFd

— SEC StatCat (@SEC_StatCat) October 20, 2019

UK’s passing attack looked really disjointed on occasion, which is no surprise given the circumstances.  Georgia got more aggressive with its blitzes as the game went on, so I figured the ‘Cats would counter with easier stuff for Bowden to handle and blunt some of the pressure.  That never really came.

About the weather

C’mon, dog.  Let me reacquaint you with David Greene’s last game between the hedges.

David Greene saw the game slipping away. His left thumb was hurting, but he wanted to go back in.

Good thing for Georgia that he did.

After leading the Bulldogs (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) to an early lead over Georgia Tech, Greene returned at the end with a fractured thumb to make sure Georgia held on for a 19-13 victory Saturday…

With just over seven minutes remaining and the Bulldogs (9-2) struggling to preserve their fourth straight win over the Yellow Jackets, Greene trotted back on the field. He couldn’t make any deep throws, and he worked only out of the shotgun to lessen the pain when taking the snap.

But the mere presence of Greene — the winningest quarterback in major-college history — seemed to have a calming influence on the offense, which struggled through most of the second half with backup D.J. Shockley at the helm.

Greene completed a couple passes on a 40-yard drive that set up Brandon Coutu’s first career field goal, a 44-yarder with 2:22 left…

With temperatures in the 40s, a heavy rain fell through most of the first half, sending many of the fans home at halftime.

No, it wasn’t pretty, but I never heard Greene say anything remotely close to this ($$):

Fromm largely echoed that. Asked if he had any concerns about the passing game, he shrugged and said that of course they want to start faster, but then he mentioned the conditions, and said he was thankful to come out with a win.

“We knew what the conditions were going to be, we just didn’t know how bad they were going to be,” he said. “So those first couple drives, things were OK, things were kind of good. The Later and later it got, the rain never stopped, the ball kept getting wetter and wetter. And you had to say, ‘Hey Coach, some things just ain’t gonna fly,’ some things we felt comfortable with. We just had to go with that. A lot of the passing game kind of had to get scrapped there.”

But with this coming on the heels of the South Carolina debacle, the storyline is that Georgia’s offense is not doing what people expect.

Fromm, that sentiment put to him directly, was unbowed.

“We’re in a good position in a good part of our offense,” Fromm said. “We’re not worried about what the outside noise is saying. We’re worried about the guys on offense, and hey, what can we do to go out there and get better? I think at times we did that tonight. Maybe we wanted to start a little faster. But that was part of the game we were in, and we accepted that.”

With a bad thumb, Greene managed to throw more passes in one late drive than Fromm did the entire second half.  Greene did so because he needed to.

I’m not using the comparison to punk Jake.  He clearly played the hand his coach dealt him, and Smart shuffled that particular deck well before game day.

“I could have told you two days ago we weren’t going to go out there and throw it for 200 yards in those conditions,” Smart said. “We had to put a plan together to give us the best chance to be successful. I thought we did a good job.”

Yesterday’s weather wasn’t an excuse for the way Georgia’s offense played last night.  It was a justification for constructing a game plan that was totally in sync with Kirby’s natural tendencies.  That’s the real difference between those two rainy game wins.

Now, if Smart can only dial up a monsoon for Jacksonville…

So near, and yet so far.

Maybe it’s just a case of me expecting too much, but, really, seven weeks in and we’re still hearing this shit from Mr. Attention to Detail’s team?

VIDEO: "A lot of play in the first half will be 10 guys doing something right and one guy messing up…," Andrew Thomas Post-Georgia vs. Kentucky Game Interview – Saturday, October 19, 2019 – https://t.co/5K0YRsGiyp – Bulldawg Illustrated on YouTube pic.twitter.com/hxzUUYfg76

— Bulldawg Illustrated (@BD_illustrated) October 20, 2019

I don’t know if things are too complicated and need dumbing down, or if there’s still a focus issue, or what, but it sure would be nice to use the next two weeks to figure it out.

The weirdest stat from a rain-soaked night

I won’t say this is unbelievable, but it does indicate something about the kind of box Coley is making the offense play in:

Despite the fact that it had 41 fewer pass attempts and 260 fewer yards, the Bulldogs still had as many 20-yard plays as it did in the 20-17 double overtime loss to South Carolina.

And the head coach is cool with that.

“I’m not concerned.” Smart said when asked about the structure of his offense and Fromm being the triggerman. “I feel really good about what our offense does. I feel good about Jake. To judge it based on that game is just not very smart. It’s hard to judge anything in that game. You can’t evaluate that. What you’ve got to evaluate is what is your heart, what is your courage, what is your love of the game. Think about those wideouts in that game. That’s for the love of the game is what’s that for. George Pickens, Kearis Jackson, those guys going out there and block. That’s for the love of the game. You evaluate things based on what’s going on around them. What’s going on around them is a tough environment. I could have told you two days ago we weren’t going to go out there and throw it for 200 yards in those conditions. We had to put a plan together to give us the best chance to be successful. I thought we did a good job.”

The man loves the toughness more than having a functional offense.  We’ll see if that serves him well in Jacksonville.

Week 8 Mumme Poll ballot link

 Here ’tis.  Have at it.

As always, you have all day today and tomorrow to cast your ballot.

Oh, yeah, please take a sec to review your ballot before you finalize it, unless you really want to see Louisiana in the top 25 again.

Coaching ’em up

Jeremy Pruitt, master motivator.

I know you’re mad Jeremy Pruitt, but don’t do that. pic.twitter.com/knG3297Mar

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) October 20, 2019

That’s what happens when you realize Vandy’s tied you in the divisional standings again.

TFW you lose to Georgia Tech

Shot.

Manny Diaz: "You can see the promise of the future and the ugliness of the present. This is a rebuild."

— BrianTheBeastLondon❄️ (@MiamiRadioBeast) October 19, 2019

Chaser.

A team that won 10 games two years ago and had Top 12 recruiting classes in 2017 and 2018 is now a rebuild? https://t.co/ctnUtVqpuc

— Andrea Adelson (@aadelsonESPN) October 19, 2019

Man, when you’ve got Andrea Adelson dunking on you…

Dear Steve Shaw,

Is this holding?

I wonder if Florida was holding on that touchdown? pic.twitter.com/SaKZATO3vb

— Jordan Dajani (@JordanDajani) October 19, 2019

Asking for a friend.

Sincerely,

SB

Yee haw!

I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often.

Used to hate when this would happen during Oregon Trail #Boomer @OU_Football pic.twitter.com/tEuw6KxIvo

— Wes Blankenship (@Wes_nship) October 19, 2019

Good thing nobody was on the upfield side of that when it tipped over.

On Wisconsin!

Georgia now off the hook for the biggest upset for a top 10 team this year: Wisconsin was a 31-point favorite over Illinois. (Georgia was favored by 21 over South Carolina.)

— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) October 19, 2019

Thanks, fellas.