Kentucky

Kentucky vs. Georgia: KSR Staff Predictions

Published

2 years ago

September 13, 2024

Kentucky vs. Georgia: KSR Staff Predictions

After a letdown loss to South Carolina in Week 2, Kentucky hosts No. 1 Georgia on Saturday at Kroger Field. The Wildcats need to show some resiliency after losing 31-6 to the Gamecocks, but the schedule was cruel, sending the top-ranked Bulldogs to Lexington. A 24-point betting favorite, Georgia has won 41 consecutive regular season games and the last 14 meetings with Kentucky. It’s the worst possible opponent for the Wildcats.

Before the game kicks off, the KSR office has its weekly round of pregame predictions, a Friday tradition around here. This week, everyone agrees that Kentucky is in for a long Saturday night.

Drew Franklin

I incorrectly predicted Kentucky over Georgia the last few years, hoping to speak an upset into existence. This year, though, I can’t find the optimism to make the unpopular pick again, not after how Kentucky played last week. So, I expect Kentucky will take its 15th straight loss to the Dawgs on Saturday, likely by a wide margin. I don’t see how Kentucky’s offense can score many points, if any, after the way the offense looked against South Carolina.

I have higher expectations for UK’s defense, which held Georgia to 16 and 14 points in Georgia’s last two trips to Lexington. Still, the programs are too far apart in 2024, so I predict Georgia will keep being Georgia. However, Kentucky covers.

Score: Georgia 30, Kentucky 10

Zack Geoghegan

2009 was the last time Kentucky beat Georgia on the gridiron. I don’t see that streak ending in 2024. The Bulldogs are primed to make another run to a national championship. Kirby Smart’s team hasn’t lost a regular season game since 2020! After what we saw from Kentucky last week, it’s tough to make a good argument in favor of the Wildcats.

What I do expect to see, however, is a better performance from Kentucky than whatever the hell happened last week. It’s almost required — anything close to a repeat of the South Carolina game would seriously result in a loss so bad I don’t want to think about the final score. Hand the ball to Demie Sumo-Karngbaye all game long and see if he can keep the ‘Cats alive. Is that a recipe for success? Probably not, but there aren’t many tasty ones out there right now.

Georgia will likely win, but Kentucky — as it usually does against the Bulldogs under Mark Stoops — will find a way to keep it “close” and cover the spread.

Score: Georgia 35, Kentucky 13

Nick Roush

This Kentucky football team has been unpredictable. That’s why I’m going to zig when everything else is telling me to zag.

Carson Beck should be able to carve up the Kentucky secondary. The Georgia defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown in its last three games and they’re facing a Kentucky offense that looked lifeless at times in week two.

Despite the obvious disadvantages, my gut tells me Kentucky will play an A- game and score early. A Georgia miscue will set up another great chance, but the Cats will miss the opportunity and be forced to kick a field goal. Given an inch, the Dawgs will take a mile and eventually run away with the game.

Score: Georgia 31, Kentucky 13

Adam Luckett

Kentucky is reeling and must find answers on offense after a disastrous performance against South Carolina. Coverage busts are still an issue for the secondary. The special teams unit also didn’t play well last week. The Wildcats are back to the drawing board after an embarrassing performance and must figure out a team identity that can allow them to win football games.

Georgia knows its team identity and will score points on anyone once they decide to turn Carson Beck and this passing game loose. Expect the Bulldogs to find an early lead and then likely sit on that lead with a game against Alabama on the horizon.

Kentucky’s run defense will allow them to hang around, but the offense prevents the home team from making a real run at an upset. The Bulldogs get a two-possession lead in the first half and keeps Kentucky at arm’s length before ultimately extending that lead in the second half.

Score: Georgia 30, Kentucky 7

Tyler Thompson

Score: Georgia 34, Kentucky 10

Jack Pilgrim

Kentucky is down to two scholarship backs with Chip Trayanum and Jason Patterson both out while the passing game is non-existent and the offensive line continues to be a trainwreck. The Cats couldn’t find the end zone against a mediocre South Carolina team, so what does that say about their chances to do so against the best team in college football? As Jerry Tipton once eloquently said time and time again, it doesn’t bode well, folks.

The defense needs to tighten up on the key downs, but showed some juice against South Carolina. You can see a scenario where Brad White’s unit mucks things up for the Bulldogs to keep things interesting early, only for the cream to rise to the top in the second half to solidify the blowout. I just can’t trust this offense right now, especially when considering the inevitable butterflies coming for Brock Vandagriff facing his former team. If the Gamecocks had him rattled, a defense that hasn’t given up a touchdown since the SEC Championship last December could have him seeing ghosts.

Show me, don’t tell me, Cats. I am a blind optimist no more.

Score: Georgia 35, Kentucky 3

Kentucky vs. Georgia: How to Watch

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Kentucky

Kentucky legislature passes bill shrinking JCPS board to 5 members

Published

11 hours ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

Kentucky legislature passes bill shrinking JCPS board to 5 members

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A revamped bill unveiled late on the final day to pass legislation in the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly with the ability to later override a veto would significantly alter the makeup of Louisville’s public school board.

The new Senate Bill 4 would cut the number of seats on the Jefferson County Board of Education from seven to five. It includes an emergency clause, meaning it would go into effect immediately if passed — Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, who introduced the new bill in the House, said the legislation includes new district maps to be used when voters head to the ballot box this year but added JCPS would be able to redraw its own maps after that.

The bill passed in the House on a 72-21 vote mostly along party lines, with three Republicans (Rep. Vanessa Grossl, R-Georgetown, Rep. Patrick Flannery, R-Olive Hill, and Rep. Kim Holloway, R-Mayfield) joining Democrats in opposition.

It quickly passed 25-7 in the Senate a few minutes later, with Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, and Sen. Robin Webb, R-Grayson, joining Democrats in voting no.

A copy of the bill was not immediately available.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, originally aimed to create a principal leadership and mentorship program. But after changes in the House, new provisions were added that would affect the makeup of boards for large school districts, including Jefferson County Public Schools and Fayette County Public Schools.

SB 4 is one of many education bills introduced this session, several of which have specifically targeted JCPS. Senate Bill 1, also passed on April 1, gives more power to JCPS’s superintendent while requiring the board to focus on long-term strategies.

The bills come as JCPS navigates an ongoing financial crisis, with a $188 million shortfall expected in the next budget. Prior to the revisions, the SB 4 would have required two new members with “expertise in finance” to be appointed by the state treasurer, Republican Mark Metcalf. That provision was removed during deliberations between the House and Senate.

In an interview after the votes, board Vice-Chair James Craig told The Courier Journal a five-member board “has made sense to me for a number of reasons.” It’s in line with every other district in the state, he said, and it can be difficult to find qualified candidates who have the bandwidth in their lives to devote enough effort to do the job right.

“I think given the realities of what the legislature could have done, how other districts are governed and the challenges that we’ve faced, Senate Bill 4 reflects a compromise that should be workable,” Craig said. “… But I have significant concerns about Senate Bill 1 and the way it interacts with Senate Bill 4.”

Lawmakers have listened to concerns he and other education advocates have raised, he said, removing some of the “problematic provisions” that had been floated as ones that could be included in SB 1. But the bill takes power from the elected board, he noted, and gives it to an unelected superintendent — in Louisville’s case, he added, someone who is “new to the city of Louisville in the last year.” JCPS Superintendent Brian Yearwood testified against SB 1 earlier this session in Frankfort.

“In my opinion, voters in the city of Louisville do not want a super-empowered superintendent. They want a democratically elected Board of Education that is accountable to them,” Craig added.

Board members will have a discussion with their attorney about potentially challenging SB 1 in court, he said. A similar bill passed in 2022 was struck down late last year by the state Supreme Court after previously being upheld by the high court.

JCPS leaders and board members have raised concerns about the earlier iteration of SB 4 and the removal of two board positions. Three members of JCPS board — Craig, Chair Corrie Shull and Linda Duncan — are scheduled to be up for reelection in November.

Craig does not plan to run again this year, he added.

“Eight years of intense, uncompensated public service have been fulfilling,” he wrote in a text message. “It is time for me to return to the full time practice of law.”

This story will be updated.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com. Reach reporter Keely Doll at kdoll@courierjournal.com or follow her on X at @keely_doll.

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Kentucky

Final gargoyle returned to its perch atop rehabbed Kentucky cathedral modeled after Notre Dame

Published

23 hours ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

Final gargoyle returned to its perch atop rehabbed Kentucky cathedral modeled after Notre Dame

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The last stone gargoyle has been returned to its perch as part of a two-year restoration of a Kentucky cathedral with a facade modeled after Notre Dame in Paris.

The rehab project at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption was sorely needed to repair deteriorated stone, metal and glass that adorns the limestone exterior. The project included 32 recreated gargoyles along with repairs of deteriorated finials, arches and balustrades.

The 125-year-old church, in Covington just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, offers the experience of a European gothic cathedral in the Midwest, said the Very Rev. Ryan Maher, the cathedral’s rector. The cathedral has an “intimate connection to what is really the most popular and most well-known cathedral outside of Rome itself,” he said.

“I think it’s very special and very unique,” said Maher, who watched from the sidewalk as the last gargoyle was raised to top of the facade on Monday.

The renovation price tag was nearly $8 million, and most came from donations, Maher said.

Brian Walter, CEO of Trisco Systems, the contractor, said the final gargoyle going in was “a symbol of the accomplishment of all our facade work.”

“That’s a big, monumental occasion for not only people here, but for us. That kind of symbolized the last stone we’re putting in,” Walter said.

Restoration plans grew out of Maher’s discovery in 2018 of a large piece of stone that fell from the exterior.

“We realized at that time that we needed to investigate not only the source of that one piece of stone that had fallen, but to take a look at the overall facade of the cathedral,” Maher said.

Workers will continue with smaller tasks around the facade, including the installation of chimeras that sit on the roofline, but the heavy lifting has been completed, Walter said.

“This is kind of a once or twice in a lifetime project,” Walter said.

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Kentucky

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear criticizes Gaza ‘genocide’ discourse | The Jerusalem Post

Published

1 day ago

March 31, 2026

Press Room

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear criticizes Gaza ‘genocide’ discourse | The Jerusalem Post

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declined to label Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” in an interview with Politico published Sunday, instead critiquing the question as a litmus test among Democrats.

“That’s becoming one of those new litmus tests that we said we would never do as a party again,” Beshear told Politico’s Dasha Burns after being asked if he agreed with the label. “It’s trying to throw out a word and, ‘Are you going to raise your hand or are you not going to?’”

Beshear is the Democratic governor of a solidly red state and a potential 2028 presidential contender. His remarks come as Democratic candidates increasingly grapple with their stances on Israel amid record-low support for Israel among their base.

While several lawmakers, including Vermont’s Jewish Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, have called Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide,” the label has not gained mainstream support in the Democratic Party. Last October, former Vice President Kamala Harris declined to use the “genocide” label, which Israel had long rejected, but said, “We should all step back and ask this question and be honest about it.”

Some Democrats have embraced the question, with a New York congressional candidate telling the leftist streamer Hasan Piker this week that she is “100%” comfortable with the issue serving as a litmus test in her party.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear visits ”The Sunday Briefing” with Peter Doocy at FOX News D.C. Bureau on February 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. (credit: PAUL MORIGI/GETTY IMAGES)

Others have acted as though the litmus test is already in place. In January, for example, California congressional candidate Scott Wiener announced that he believes Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute a genocide after drawing scrutiny for declining to answer the question during a debate.

Beshear critiques Trump, Netanyahu

While Beshear told Burns that Israel “has the right to exist as a democratic country, as a Jewish country,” he added that his feelings about President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct during the war in Gaza and ongoing war in Iran were “a different thing.”

“I believe the United States needs a strong Israel, but not one with decisions being made in the way that Netanyahu is making them,” Beshear said.

Beshear also critiqued President Donald Trump’s response to the crisis in Gaza.

“I believe that it could have been done without a lot of the suffering, but I put a lot of that blame also on Donald Trump,” he said. “If he’d said we are coming in and we are bringing food and aid and you are going to make sure that we’re safe, it would’ve happened.”

Last week, a spokesperson for Beshear told Politico that “AIPAC has never contributed to Governor Beshear and they’re never going to – ever,” a response that dovetailed with a host of other potential Democratic presidential candidates, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who are increasingly distancing themselves from the pro-Israel lobby.

“I think that’s up to each and every Democrat,” Beshear answered when asked whether he thought his fellow Democrats should take money from AIPAC.

“In the end, I think people need to be clear about their stance on these issues,” Beshear said. “And for me, it’s one where I believe that we need a future with an ally in Israel. But we need decision makers there that are not acting the way that Netanyahu is, and we need a president that will push when we are seeing humanitarian crises to actually do something about it.”

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