JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Over 100,000 fans are expected to descend upon downtown Jacksonville Saturday for the annual Florida-Georgia rivalry at the sold-out EverBank Stadium.
Both teams will be well rested as they both are coming off a bye week. Florida (5-2, 3-1) will be the home team Saturday, hosting No. 1 Georgia (7-0, 4-0) at 3:30 p.m. The Bulldogs are a 14.5-point favorite in the game.
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“I know our guys will be excited to play in Jacksonville, an incredible stadium and atmosphere,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “I know our players love playing in the neutral site game. It’s just kind of different in terms of start, the fans, the split crowd. It seems to be a momentum-flow type game, because the team that has momentum is really at home for that moment.”
The two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs are on a two-game winning streak against Florida and have won five of the past seven since head coach Kirby Smart took over the program in 2016. ating back to 1990, Florida has a 22-11 advantage against Georgia.gs totaled 555 yards of total offense, which was the most-ever against their rival in history.
“Ton of respect for Georgia,” Florida head coach Billy Napier said. “It’s going to require our best.”
The two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs are on a two-game winning streak against Florida and have won five of the past seven since head coach Kirby Smart took over the program in 2016. Dating back to 1990, Florida has a 22-11 advantage against Georgia.
“This is old-fashioned hate,” Georgia defensive back Javon Bullard said. “Georgia vs. Florida is one of the biggest rivalries ever. It was that way before I got here, and it’s going to continue to be that way after I leave. If this game doesn’t get you amped up to play football, I don’t know what will. It’s special. We have a lot of Florida guys on our team. I know it’s special for them as well. Me being a Georgia boy, it’s damn sure special for me. We have to do whatever we can to come out with the victory.”
There is a bit of disparity between the two programs reporting the entire series history. According to Georgia, this will be the 102nd time playing in the rivalry with a 55-44-2 winning record, while Florida reports this will be the 101st time and that the Bulldogs have won one less game, reporting a 54-44-2 series record.
It will be a clash of SEC East opponents. Georgia is atop the SEC East, while Florida is third behind Missouri.
Georgia starting quarterback Carson Beck, who is a Mandarin High School alum will be returning home. This is the first time Beck is leading the Bulldogs offense in the rivalry match up. On the other side of the ball, Florida starting quarterback Graham Mertz will be playing in his first Florida-Georgia Rivalry. He is third in the country in completion percentage, 76%. The passing attack will have to be a strength in the game for the underdogs to pull off an upset.
“I think playing well at quarterback is certainly a big part of the puzzle, right, if you’re going to put this thing together,’’ Napier. “I think the key is going to be that we play well around the quarterback. I think at each position group, there’s unique challenges relative to the plan that will be really, really important.”
Third downs will be key for both teams. In order to keep Beck and Co. off the field, Mertz and Co. will need to convert third and fourth downs, but it won’t be easy. Georgia leads the nation in third-down stops only allowing 24% conversion of chances. That will be on top of the Gators only converting 33% of third downs this season.
All week long, festivities will lead to the Florida-Georgia rivalry on Saturday.