Vicky Graff Photo
When Mark Stoops looks at Georgia quarterback Carson Beck he sees a first-year starter on a two-time defending national championship team that is getting “more and more comfortable” every game going into Saturday night’s game against visiting Kentucky.
“Heck, he’s throwing, I want to say, 70 percent completion percentage. Their yards per attempt is high as well, it’s over nine. When you’re throwing it 70 percent and over nine yards (per) completion, he’s playing at a very good level,” the Kentucky coach said.
“And he’s just getting some guys back too. He’s getting his running backs back healthy. He’s getting (Ladd) McConkey back healthy. So, they’re getting better and better.”
Stoops has not seen a lot of difference in Georgia’s offense this year from what the Bulldogs did the last two years.
“They still are very creative. Is there some differences? Of course, but they’re still Georgia, right? They still have incredible players, their run game is a bit of everything. They run zone, the zone schemes. They run gap schemes, they run their toss plays, they’ve always run,” Stoops said.
“Very good with the play-action off of it. And how they get the ball to (tight end Brock) Bowers is very unique. They could get the ball to him many different ways. So, they’ve done a really good job.”
Kentucky’s defense has been one of the best in the SEC and stymied Florida last week until the Cats built a substantial lead. Kentucky has returned three interceptions for touchdowns this season.
“The variation they run, the defense they run is very unique. You don’t play a lot of teams just like them,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “They have a lot of overhangs, what I call depth in the defense.
“They have people at the second level all over the place. So there’s not a lot of free yards out there. They make you earn everything you get. They’re massive upfront. They have big people. They play three-four and four-three.
“And the teams that play odd front, as they call it, they do a really good job of stopping the run game. These guys are really good at stopping the run, they’re really physical and they have a good scheme. It’s not easy to mimic.”
