Saturday Morning 'Dawg Bites.

It's a fall Saturday in the South and you've got football to watch. But first, let's take a look at what's newsworthy in Bulldog Nation this morning.

Smith, Macon County win Region 4-AA title | High School Sports | Macon.com
I said a while back that I thought Roquan Smith was the best big athlete in the state of Georgia and last night he put that ability on display, taking over Macon County's contest with Lamar County to clinch a region title. Georgia is the odds on favorite to land Smith's commitment, but they'll have to hold off every major program in the southeast to do it. Florida in particular has been stubbornly pursuing the Montezuman. Speaking of recruiting . . .

Georgia Bulldogs Inching Up The Recruiting Rankings
Rashad Roundtree gave Georgia it's fifth Top100 commit in the class of 2015 on Friday. A steady accumulation of talented commits over the past twelve months now gives the Dawgs a great shot to finish No. 2, perhaps even No. 1 in the rankings come National Signing Day. I hear you, Mr. That Guy. Before you even say it, yes, recruiting top prospects doesn't guarantee you'll win national or SEC titles. Duly noted. But not recruiting top talent virtually guarantees that you won't. And the best part about Georgia's class is that it addresses major needs, especially on defense. The 'Dawgs may already have the best defensive line class of the Mark Richt era committed now, and are one or two big targets away from perhaps their best DL class since rankings have been kept.

Key storylines when Kentucky football hosts 17th-ranked Georgia
The Courier-Journal looks at key story lines for today's game in Lexington. I would add that it will be interesting to see which of these two teams channels their frustration from last week the best. Kentucky started the year 5-1 but now sits at 5-4 following an anemic performance in a 20-10 loss to Missouri. At some point you have to worry that the Wildcats will rediscover the confidence that led them to that fast start.

Bernie's Dawg Blawg: Two keys to a win over the Wildcats
Bernie's on target here. Georgia got dominated up front last week in Jacksonville. Not beaten. Dominated. That's no way to win football games.

Bottle up Towles and four other keys in Georgia’s game at Kentucky | DogBytes Online
Marc Weiszer isolates five keys to this one, which also make a lot of sense. Bottling up Patrick Towles in particular will be critical. As Towles goes so have the Wildcats this season. When he went for 450+ total yards against Mississippi State the 'Cats were in it late against the #1 team in the country. When he struggled they got handled easily by Missouri.

That should be enough to keep you occupied until kickoff. We'll be back with the usual compliment of open threads, recaps and analysis shortly. Until then, whether you're in Lexington, Athens or points in between, stay warm and . . .

Go 'Dawgs!!!