Vicky Graff Photo
Cole Cubelic knows there will still be a lot of “heavy lifting” for the Kentucky football team after it plays at Georgia in the sixth week of the season. However, the SEC Network/ESPN college football analyst thinks that game could offer a lot insight into what might happen after that when UK plays Alabama, Mississippi State and Missouri.
He listed the matchup between the Georgia offensive line and the Kentucky defensive front seven as one of his five key position group matchups in the 2023 SEC football season.
Cubelic says the game against two-time defending national champion Georgia is not a must-win for the Cats but could still be a trendsetter for the rest of the season even if the Cats lose because Alabama, Missouri and Mississippi State all have potentially good offensive elfins and run games that UK will have to face in the weeks ahead.
“Is Georgia knocking on the door where they have been or maybe for some reason have they fallen off and are not as good (in the offensive line),” Cubelic said on his podcast the Cube Show Pod.
He believes the Kentucky front seven is being “slept on” by many evaluating SEC defenses.
“Maybe the middle defense is not quite as good and this is a Georgia team that will be north and south in the run game this year,” Cubelic said. “I just want to see how Kentucky holds up.
“Deone Walker was great as a freshman last year. Off the ball Tevin Wallace has a chance to be a star at linebacker. He might be the next one to get drafted in the first round and people are like, ‘Who is that guy?’ because they just don’t pay attention to Kentucky.”
Cubelic expects the Georgia offensive line to be a “really good test” of the UK front seven, especially based on what lies ahead on the schedule.
“If they look good and still drop that game, we might be talking about that after the game saying watch out Bama, Mississippi State, Mizzou. This Kentucky front seven is for real,” Cubelic said.
“We know (UK defensive coordinator) Brad White does a damn good job with that defense. It’s an interesting matchup that will tell us a lot about those two teams.”
