Kentucky football: Mark Stoops discusses South Carolina loss
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops says everybody from top to bottom shares blame for South Carolina loss.
LEXINGTON — That Georgia enters Saturday night’s game as a heavy favorite against Kentucky football is not exactly an earth-shattering revelation.
The top-ranked Bulldogs have won 48 of their past 50 games, after all. They’ve won 41 straight regular-season contests since their last setback in 2020. And they boast 14 consecutive victories over the Wildcats, encompassing all 11 meetings since Mark Stoops became Kentucky’s coach.
A recruiting juggernaut under coach Kirby Smart, UGA will — hypothetically — own an edge over UK at most positions when the teams line up across from each other at Kroger Field.
But just how large is the gap?
The 247Sports Team Talent Composite rankings, as well as recruiting ratings for each player at various spots for both squads, help tell the story.
The position breakdown involves each Kentucky player listed as a starter on this week’s depth chart. Two games into its season, Georgia has yet to release a depth chart; for the Bulldogs, we’ll go by players who have started in their first two outings.
247Sports’ Composite rankings are used for this analysis except for specialists, which draws on Kohl’s Professional Camp ratings. Kohl’s trains kickers, punters and long snappers year-round.
(Note: If a player joined a program as a transfer, that star rating is used instead of his ranking as a high school prospect. Those moves will be reflected and cited below.)
247Sports defines its Team Talent Composite rankings as “a metric that examines and ranks every FBS team … based on how their players were rated in high school.”
And, by that measure — no surprise — the Bulldogs own one of the most talented rosters in the sport. UGA’s 1,008.21 points rank second nationally, trailing only SEC rival Alabama (1,018.28). They are the only two programs with a point total exceeding 1,000; Ohio State is next at 998.62.
Kentucky is 24th in the rankings with 788.36 points. Even slotting in among the top 25 in the country, UK still ranks 13th in the 16-team SEC, behind the aforementioned Alabama and Georgia as well as Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, LSU, Florida, Tennessee, Auburn, Missouri, Ole Miss and South Carolina.
There are two five-stars on the Wildcats’ roster: quarterback Brock Vandagriff and defensive lineman Keeshawn Silver.
However …
Those were Silver and Vandagriff’s star ratings as they graduated from high school.
Per 247Sports, Silver and Vandagriff were four-star recruits as transfers after departing from North Carolina and Georgia, respectively.
The Bulldogs’ roster features 14 five-star prospects. That’s tied with Ohio State for second most in the FBS; Alabama is first with 17.
All 14 of Georgia’s five-star recruits signed with the program out of high school. Strikingly, 13 of the Bulldogs’ 14 five-stars play defense.
That group (position listed as high school prospect, not necessarily position they now play at UGA):
Per 247Sports, Kentucky has 79 commits, which includes two five-stars, 29 four-stars and 48 three-stars. UK’s commits have an average rating of 88.63.
In 247Sports’ ratings, Georgia has 85 commits, highlighted by 14 five-stars, 55 four-stars and 16 three-stars. UGA’s commits have an average rating of 92.85.
Kentucky: Brock Vandagriff — Four stars (transfer rating; began college career at Georgia)Georgia: Carson Beck — Four starsKentucky: Demie Sumo-Karngbaye — Four stars (transfer rating; began college career at N.C. State)Georgia: Trevor Etienne — Four stars (transfer rating; began college career at Florida)
UK’s depth chart lists three receivers. Georgia has begun both games with two receivers on the field, but three different players have accounted for the starts. All three are included below.
Kentucky lists two starting tight ends on its depth chart, while Georgia has started two tight ends in both games so far.
Left tackleLeft guardCenterRight guardKentucky: Jalen Farmer — Three stars (transfer rating; began college career at Northern Illinois)Georgia: Tate Ratledge — Four starsRight tackleKentucky: Gerald Mincey — Three stars (transfer rating; previously played for Tennessee as well as Florida)Georgia: Xavier Truss — Four stars
Georgia has started four different defensive linemen in its first two games. Kentucky has had the same trio through two weeks.
Kentucky: Tre’vonn Rybka at defensive end — Three stars; Keeshawn Silver at nose guard — Four stars (transfer rating; began college career at North Carolina); Deone Walker at defensive tackle — Four starsGeorgia: Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins at defensive end — Four stars; Christen Miller at defensive line — Four stars; Nazir Stackhouse at nose guard — Four stars; Mykel Williams at defensive end — Five stars
Kentucky sophomore Ty Bryant started at nickel in the season-opening win over Southern Miss.
Georgia has had two different players in the lineup at STAR, a hybrid linebacker-defensive back position: Joenel Aguero and JaCorey Thomas.
Kentucky: Ty Bryant at nickel — Three stars; Zion Childress at strong safety — Star rating N/A (started college career at Texas State); Maxwell Hairston at cornerback — Three stars; Jonquis “JQ” Hardaway — Four stars (transfer rating; began college career at Ohio State); Jordan Lovett at free safety — Three starsGeorgia: Joenel Aguero at STAR — Five stars; Daylan Everette at cornerback — Five stars; Julian Humphrey at cornerback — Four stars; Dan Jackson at safety — Star rating N/A; Malaki Starks at safety — Five stars; JaCorey Thomas at STAR — Four starsKentucky: Wilson Berry at punter — Star rating N/A; Alex Raynor at placekicker — Star rating N/A (started college career at Georgia Southern)Georgia: Brett Thorson — Star rating N/A; Peyton Woodring at placekicker — Five stars
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66e3593e32b24a3b9fb9fded89e7f323&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fcollege%2Fkentucky%2F2024%2F09%2F12%2Fkentucky-football-georgia-roster-rankings-recruiting-sec-standings%2F75114255007%2F&c=17396938540628255495&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-09-11 12:59:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
