Tight end Jacob Tamme remembers the celebration well.
"I bawled (cried) on the field for about 15 minutes in front of everybody," Tamme said. "They are obviously going to be ready for us this year and certainly will want some revenge for what happened last year. They are a ton better, too. They were not a top 10 team last year, but they are now."
Defensive end Jeremy Jarmon is the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week after making 2.5 quarterback sacks for losses of 14 yards and getting one quarterback pressure in last week's win at Vanderbilt. He knows the atmosphere at Georgia is going to be far different than the one at where UK fans filled over half the stadium.
"It's going to be insane in Athens," Jarmon said. "Their fans know they have a legitimate SEC contender, and they definitely are not going to overlook us."
Kentucky (7-3, 3-3 SEC) can enhance its bowl position with another victory. It would also be special to the 22 Georgia natives on the UK roster.
"Georgia is kind of our second state now," Tamme said. "It has been great for our program to go into Georgia and get the kind of players we have. It is a special game for them, and would be a lot of fun to be part of beating Georgia again."
Respect from the Bulldogs
Scott insisted all victories "are nice to have" and that beating Georgia would not be more significant than any other win. However, he did acknowledge it was nice to get respect from Georgia fans and players he knew after UK beat the Bulldogs for the first time since 1996 last year.
"The players told me we had turned this program around. Getting respect from those guys meant a lot to me," Scott said.
Scott had a scholarship offer from Georgia. He made four visits to the campus. However, because UK offensive coordinator Joker Phillips promised him a chance to play tight end and his future wife was coming to Kentucky, he chose the Wildcats.
"Playing my last game against Georgia back at Georgia is special. Winning would be so much fun. I am not going to prepare any differently, but I know we are going to have to play a great game to win because those guys have told me how much they want to beat us this year," Scott said.
Tamme remembers how important last year's win over Georgia was for UK's psyche and how it led to a Music City Bowl win over Clemson as well as victories this year over Louisville, Arkansas and LSU.
"Any time you are doing something for the first time, it is difficult," Tamme said. "After that, you have confidence you can do it again. We got over the hump against Georgia and that allowed our program to keep making progress to the point where we feel like now we can go on the road and compete with a top 10 team like Georgia."
Brooks says last year's game "means nothing" for his team today.
"It might mean something to Georgia knowing we beat them last year, but that shouldn't be their big motivating thing because they are tied for the SEC East lead," Brooks said.
"Then if they beat us, they will root like crazy for us to beat Tennessee (so Georgia can win the SEC East). That's why we are at least a factor in the SEC race. We need to be a factor, and stay a factor in it."
