One.

That’s the number of teams Georgia has beaten this year that still hold a winning record.

And who is that wise guy who has risen above Bulldog oppression to post a winning record despite losing to Georgia?

Wyoming.

Georgia’s win over the then-No. 6 LSU on Oct. 3 has proven to be less of a feat than its victory over Wyoming Sept. 19.

Tally it up, Georgia’s five victims in 1998, Kent (0-7), South Carolina (1-6), Wyoming (5-1), LSU (3-3) and Vanderbilt (0-6), currently hold a combined 9-23 record.

Are you ready for the list of those nine victims? Ball State, Montana State, Louisiana Tech, Utah, SMU, UNLV, Arkansas State, Auburn and Idaho. They combine for a 24-33 record. Are you ready for the record of their opponents? Somebody better stop me, I’m too dizzy to continue.

In case you got lost in that maze, let’s regroup with a huddle. The fact of the matter is, not only have the teams that Georgia has beaten won few games, but against garbage teams.

According to the Sagarin Pocket Protector Computer Whiz Rankings, Georgia’s schedule strength to this point ranks 93rd in the nation. Just slightly worse than Miami-Ohio at No. 92. Only Ole Miss (99) and Mississippi State (114) rank lower in the SEC.

Consider, though, that each team Georgia beat this season hadn’t lost until playing the Bulldogs. That is, of course, with the exception of Vanderbilt. But why should the Commodores interfere with this argument?

When Georgia handed LSU its first lost of the year, it virtually demolished the Tigers, which are a meager 5-5 in their last 10 home games at once-feared Death Valley.

That makes Georgia’s win there seem, well, just average.

Now that we’ve uncovered that ugliness, the optimist in me can’t be suppressed a second longer.

The uneasy, unspoken fear many Georgia fans have had all season about Saturday’s date at Kentucky must be shed.

Georgia will outlast Kentucky.

Not because of Jasper Sanks. Not because of Champ Bailey or Quincy Carter.

Kentucky will lose by mere inexperience.

The kind of inexperience that has allowed the Wildcat defense to surrender 30 points per game. The kind of inexperience that has seen them post a negative eight turnover margin this season.

The kind of inexperience that comes when you have 16 freshman.

Or maybe Kentucky’s achilles heel will come from getting flagged all afternoon. The Wildcats average 98.6 penalty yards per game. Last week at LSU, the Wildcat team bus got penalized for illegal procedure before the game.

Kentucky has all the tools to entertain fans, but none of the grit, know-how or big-game poise to win consistently against quality opponents.

After all the big games Georgia has been through in the last two years, it seemingly has a larger advantage. That tough, bullish swagger that an older brother has over his younger brother is what Georgia holds over Kentucky.

So when Georgia exhausts a feisty Kentucky team Saturday, the more imperative question is this: Will Kentucky, then, go on to lose the rest of its games?

If so, at least Wyoming will still have a winning record.

– Brandon Zimmerman is the sports editor for The Red & Black