Coming off their first defeat this season, the Georgia Bulldogs get back to action this Saturday at home against Kentucky. On paper, the Wildcats don’t possess the same challenge as Auburn, which routed UGA 40-17 last week. But Kentucky does some things well, and has some things in common with Auburn — if nothing else, UK’s 7-3 record should convince the Bulldogs that they have a serious task on their hands against a program that they have beaten in seven consecutive meetings and 18 of the past 20.

So if the Bulldogs don’t want a losing streak on their hands, they need to focus on the Wildcats. There are five things that Kentucky does, or can do, that should look familiar to Georgia as a carryover from last week:

Rushing the quarterback

This should be one of the keys to Saturday’s game. Auburn sacked Georgia’s Jake Fromm four times, running the Tigers’ season sack total to 30. Kentucky is not far behind, with 27 sacks. At 2.7 sacks per game, the Wildcats are tied for 23rd in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and with 201 sack yards they trail Alabama by just 2 yards for the SEC lead.

Auburn’s Jeff Holland increased his league-leading total to nine on the season with a sack against Georgia. That’s all the more reason for the Bulldogs, who are young on the offensive line, to be wary of Kentucky linebacker Josh Allen and defensive end Denzil Ware. Those two have seven sacks apiece in 2017, tied for fifth in the SEC.

Among the eight SEC players with at least seven sacks, Allen is tops in solo tackles with 26 and total tackles with 52, so he’s not just a pass-rushing specialist.

Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia started a true freshman, a redshirt freshman, two juniors and a senior on the offensive line against Auburn. The Bulldogs, who had dominated on the ground all season, had just 46 yards rushing. That brings up another trait which Kentucky, much like Auburn, does well.

Stopping the run

Georgia faced an Auburn team that, after Saturday’s performance, is ranked 16th in the nation in rushing defense at 118.4 yards allowed per game. Kentucky is on the same statistical level.

The Wildcats are 19th in FBS, allowing 121.9 yards on the ground per game. They have allowed 100 yards or fewer on the ground six times in 10 games — though it should be noted, three opponents (Missouri, Mississippi State and Tennessee) rushed for more than 200 yards on UK. And Georgia is the only school with two running backs among the SEC’s top 10 rushers, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.

But if Kentucky can find a way to even slow Georgia’s ground attack, the Wildcats might force Fromm, a true freshman, to beat them by throwing. And if he has another off day, the next category could well come into play.

Creating takeaways

Mike Edwards has four INTs, tied for the SEC lead. A Wildcat last led the SEC in 1984, when Paul Calhoun had seven.

Kentucky has forced 17 turnovers this season, just one fewer than SEC leader South Carolina. The Wildcats have 10 interceptions, third in the conference behind Alabama (12) and Florida (11).

The Wildcats are also good at protecting the ball. Their plus-5 turnover margin is fourth in the SEC behind Alabama (plus-11) and just one behind South Carolina and Texas A&M (each plus-6).

Wildcats safety Mike Edwards has four interceptions, tied for the SEC lead with three others.

Auburn only forced one turnover against Georgia, but it led to a touchdown which gave the Tigers a 23-7 lead early in the third quarter.

Teams can often get a jump on a favored opponent by forcing a couple of turnovers early. If the Wildcats do that, and keep possession behind running back Benny Snell Jr., they could give themselves a solid chance against the Bulldogs.

Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

Staying disciplined

Kentucky is 29th in the FBS in penalty yardage against at 44.5 per game. Georgia is 70th at 55.6 yards a game. This is another thing Auburn also does well; the Tigers are seventh in the nation at 35.6 ypg. The topic should come up in Georgia’s team meetings this week after the Bulldogs committed seven penalties for 75 yards against Auburn, compared to five penalties for just 29 yards for the Tigers.

Kentucky can not only keep the ball with its ground game, but it also might catch a favor or two if Georgia penalties extend Wildcat drives.

Fighting for history

We won’t pretend that Georgia-Kentucky is as big as Georgia-Auburn, the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. But there is an intangible in the air heading into Saturday: Kentucky is 4-3 in the SEC heading into its conference finale.

This website has covered UK’s quest for a winning conference record in football in some detail but, suffice it to say, the Wildcats have the nation’s longest streak of non-winning conference seasons in the Power 5. By a wide margin. Since 1977, in fact.

The Wildcats have gone .500 in the conference seven times since 1977, but never over .500 in a season. At 4-3. they have already clinched a .500 record in league play. But finally getting over that hump for the first time in a generation plus would truly set the 2017 team apart. It has also been 40 years since Kentucky had a 10-win season, which it would pull of if it upsets Georgia then wins over state rival Louisville and its bowl opponent.

It is a tall task but it’s a goal for the Kentucky players to aim at, and that is perhaps the biggest reason that Georgia needs to come prepared on Saturday.