georgia kentucky

ATHENS — Fans and media can speculate on future games all they want, but Georgia football players have ample motivation for Kentucky.

Coach Kirby Smart explained why following practice on Tuesday, referring to the past couple of meetings with the Wildcats as “bloodbaths” that have the attention of the veteran players.

Georgia is more than a three-touchdown favorite over Kentucky in the 3:30 p.m. game in Lexington, in part because the Wildcats suffered a 27-24 loss to Vanderbilt last Saturday.

“Our guys respect Kentucky, and I respect Coach (Mark) Stoops,” Smart said. “What they did last week has had no relevance to what they’ll do this week.”

The Wildcats took a sizable bite out of the Bulldogs two years in Lexington in a 14-3 loss.

Four Georgia players were knocked out of a slugfest, including Jordan Davis, Quay Walker and Lewis Cine, and Stetson Bennett threw two interceptions.

“That 14-3 game up there in 2020,” Smart said, “Man, we had guys dropping like flies, it was really physical.”

The pads could be heard popping well up into the press box in last year’s battle in Athens, too.

“There’s a major league respect for Kentucky in our program because the kids that have played against Kentucky, they’ve been bloodbaths, man,” Smart said.

“The game last year so physical, so tough and rugged, and they run a lot of physical runs, we run a lot of physical runs, and you end up clanging and you come out of the game really sore.”