Zero Looking Ahead!

FIVE KEYS PG. 20 | DAWG BONES PG. 22 | A VIEW FROM ... JACKSONVILLE PG. 24
SPORTS
912er STETSON BENNETT
KNOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF
BEATING THE GATORS!
PHOTO BY: ROB SAYE
GEORGIA VS FLORIDA
GAME TIME: 3:30 PM EST
CHANNEL: CBS
GEORGIA VS FLORIDA
BY: JEFF DANTZLER
The stage is set for another colossal showdown between
old rivals, as Georgia and Florida renew one of college
football’s grand rivalries Saturday from the banks of the
mighty St. Johns River in Jacksonville.
Both teams, as usual, are coming off open dates.
Georgia is riding high. The reigning national champions
head into the game with a perfect 7-0 record, and 4-0 mark
in Southeastern Conference play. Since losing to the Gators
in 2020, Georgia has won 25 of its last 26 games.
Last time out, the Bulldogs rolled over Vanderbilt 55-0 at
Sanford Stadium. It was a second straight impressive margin
- Georgia defeated Auburn 42-10 in Athens the week prior
- since Georgia survived a bona fide upset scare, escaping
with a 26-22 win over Missouri.
Georgia navigated the first half of the schedule unscathed.
The Bulldogs have done so while suffering through a slew
of injuries to several top flight players, who have missed
significant action. With the open date, the Bulldogs are
hopeful of getting some of those injured players back for
the clash with Florida, which begins a true gauntlet of major
tests for the defending champs.
Florida is 4-3 on the season, 1-3 in SEC play, in Billy Napier’s
first season as the Gators head coach. The Gators are coming
off a 45-35 shootout loss to LSU in the swamp. One week
earlier, that same Missouri team that nearly upset the
Bulldogs, fell to Florida 24-17 in Gainesville. That win over
the Mizzou Tigers broke a string of six straight SEC losses
dating back to last season. That includes a 34-7 Georgia
victory over Dan Mullen’s Gators in Jacksonville.
Under Kirby Smart’s watch, Georgia has won four of the last
five meetings against Florida. In each of those four years that
the Bulldogs won in Jacksonville, Smart’s Dogs advanced
to the Southeastern Conference Championship Game. The
last team to have such a run of success out of the SEC East
was Florida under Steve Spurrier’s watch in the 1990s. The
legendary Gators Heisman Trophy winner and Hall of Fame
Coach guided Florida to the first five SEC Championship
Games from 1992-1996.
Napier will be the third different Florida coach to square
off against Smart’s Bulldogs. They coached together as
assistants for Nick Saban at Alabama, including the Crimson
Tide’s 2015 national title team.
Georgia is still in the thick of everything, once again
dreaming big, while Florida will try to play spoiler, jumpstart
the second half of the season and get a signature SEC upset
win. This is the most talented SEC opponent the Bulldogs
have faced this season. Though Florida’s record isn’t what
the Gainesville faithful had hoped for thus far in Napier’s first
year, funny things happen in Jacksonville, so Smart knows
his Bulldogs will have to be at their best to secure a victory
over this long time nemesis.
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 15 ISSUE TEN • FLORIDA