How Kentucky Fares a Week After Playing Georgia

Kentucky RB Dante Dowdell gets tackled at Georgia, via Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Kirby Smart has created a monster in Athens. The former Georgia defensive back has brought his school three SEC Championships and two National Championships. After a rivalry win on The Plains, the Dawgs once again seemed poised to compete for both of those titles in 2025.

It’s not just that Georgia wins. Over the years, Kirby Smart’s teams have suffocated opponents with physicality. Even though this year’s defense isn’t of the same caliber as some of the previous NFL defenses, they still pack quite a punch.

Mark Stoops has a knack for getting his Kentucky football teams to rise to the level of competition against Georgia. Obviously, that wasn’t the case this year, but don’t let this distract you from the point I’m attempting to make.

Kentucky plays well against Georgia, but how much wind do the Dawgs take out of the Cats’ sails? Kentucky had a bye week to recover from the loss in Athens, but will it matter? Let’s take a closer look at how Kentucky has bounced back after falling to Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs.

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The Game After Kentucky Loses to Georgia

After escaping with a three-point win in 2016, thanks to a late field goal from Rodrigo Blankenship, Kirby Smart has never lost to Kentucky. The Wildcats’ last win in the series was in 2009, and they will not get a chance to snap that losing streak until 2027. Here’s how Kentucky has performed after falling to Georgia.

Year	Opponent	Result	Score	Cover?
2016	at Tennessee	Loss	49-36	Yes (+14)
2017	Louisville	Loss	44-17	No (+1)
2018	at Tennessee	Loss	24-7	No (-5)
2019	Missouri	Win	29-7	Yes (+10.5)
2020	Vanderbilt	Win	38-35	No (-18)
2021	at Mississippi State	Loss	31-17	No (-1)
2022	Louisville	Win	26-13	Yes (-3)
2023	Missouri	Loss	38-21	No (-2.5)
2024	Ohio	Win	41-6	Yes (-19.5)

Excluding last year’s win over a MAC team, Kentucky is just 3-5 a week after a loss to Georgia, and 3-5 Against the Spread. The most devastating defeat was in 2018. Kentucky went to Neyland Stadium to play one of the worst Tennessee teams in a generation and suffered a 24-7 loss.

Kentucky is in desperate need of a win. They won’t be getting any breaks when Texas comes to town. After a bumpy start to the season, the Horns got right with their first SEC win, defeating Oklahoma 23-6 in the Red River Rivalry.

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