Cats, Dawgs, Birds and...More Dogs, Oh My!

Georgia at Kentucky- Derrick Locke is out for the game against the Bulldogs this Saturday in Lexington. Kentucky will again be missing it's best running back and it's second best utility next to Randall Cobb. Last week Donald Russell filled in for Locke carrying the ball 18 yards for 41 yards. The running game was not the key to last week's upset victory over the Gamecocks, it was a steady dose of Mike Hartline to a host of receivers. I expect to see more of that.

Back to UK in a moment, let's talk about the Dawgs. Georgia is at an un-Georgian record of 3-4 and had a 4 game losing streak to South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippt State and Colorado. Yes, they lost to Colorado at Colorado by 2. They have won the last two games against Tennessee and Vandy, two teams that are not the cream of the SEC crop. Georgia has been playing better due to the return of their top receiver and best player AJ Green. Since his return Georgia has put up over 40 in 2 straight games.

Georgia hasn't allowed a ton of points this season and had trouble scoring in a few games but, like I said, the return of Green has something to do with the new offensive production. The loss to the Buffaloes may have lit a new fire under them and made coach Mark Richt's seat a little hotter than it was. They now come into UK, a team they lost to at home last year, looking to try and get back into the SEC title race, which is as wide open as any in the country.

The Cats are coming off of a huge victory and cannot afford a letdown. The spotlight will be shining on Cobb for his play and for the comments he made via Twitter to some fair weather UK fans. I see Cobb answering the critics and coming up big. Hartline, Matthews and King will continue their amazing chemistry and the defense again steps up in a close game. The Cats have found a way to win and will be 5-3 heading into the stretch of conference play.
Georgia 30- Kentucky 35

Connecticutt at Louisville- The Cards lost a heartbreaker to Cincinatti last week at home on ESPN2. They lead most of the way only to let the Bearcats come in and reclaim the keg of nails for a 4th straight year. The Cards have an offensive Juggernaut in Bilal Powell and Froman seems to manage the game decent at times but makes some poor decisions when the game seems to be on the line. Silly interceptions at pivotal points have plagued them all year long.

UConn is, in a word, unspectacular as is the rest of the Big East. The Huskies were picked by some to win the conference but are looking like underachievers. UConn is 3-3 with losses to Michigan, Temple and Rutgers. They have lost their starting quarterback for the season due to off the field team violations that the coaching staff is not talking about. So it must be pretty bad. Like Tony Woods bad. Senior Zach Frazer will get the start and he has 2 TD's and 1 INT on the season. He has 553 yards and a QB rating of 107.8. He doesn't seem like a slouch.

The Cards are 3-4 and are looking to get back to .500. I see that happening with the Cards coming up big at home against a so-so UConn team as long as they start cutting out the stupid penalties that seem to be lingering from the Kragthorpe era or, could it be, that this is an indicator of undisciplined coaching. And Louisville please stop running the "Wildcard". You don't have a player like Randall Cobb or Cam Newton to do it. You looked silly in the second half last week running it and it contributed to the loss. Here's a hint of what you should do Charlie Strong: Run Powell and then run him some more.
UConn 14- Louisville 24

Last season at this point Louisville was 2-5 and UK was 4-3 going into this week. UofL is one game better but they still have a losing record and the Cats have the exact same record. Let's see how both teams respond to their new positions.

Sportsthat will be in Lexington this week for the game. Monster Mash keeps telling me about this "outfit" he is wearing. Sounds quite feminine to me. No offense to our lady readers.