The Tables Are Turning in the Florida-Georgia Rivalry

Entering the season, nerves were high regarding November 2nd's contest. Now, the tables are turning.

As the big SEC-East showdown between the Gators and the Bulldogs looms, it’s easy to get caught up in predicting what’s going to happen and what the future will hold for either team after any given result. 

However, what both of these teams have done already this season is equally as interesting as all of the picks and betting lines -- and actually, it might be even more important. 

I’ll be honest, heading into this season, I wasn’t sure if I should spend the money on Florida-Georgia tickets. Yet, admittedly, I’d never gone to Jacksonville for the big game before -- so I submitted to the little devil on my shoulder as my wallet gasped for air. 

But I'll tell ya what, there has been no buyer’s remorse from this girl. However, if it weren’t for the change in stock for both of these teams, I’m not sure I would be as eager as I am today. 

To put it bluntly, earlier this season this game had me writhing away at my neck. And when I look back, I’m just not sure why. Georgia ended their season last year with a loss to Texas -- though I took it with a grain of salt because the Bulldogs most definitely tanked that game after yet another disappointing performance against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.

But coming into the season, everyone was still high on Georgia.

I’m thinking I fell victim to the outside opinions of so-called “experts” and I formed the same opinion as them -- and I’ll be honest, this doesn’t happen to me often. 

But none of that matters. 

What does matter is the fact that the Georgia Bulldogs aren’t a team that makes me anxiously tick anymore. Frankly, I just don’t see it. 

In Georgia Bulldog fashion, they boast a great running back in D’Andre Swift and a really physical defense. But that’s typical.

But the Bulldogs’ offense, outside of Swift’s rather consistent performances, has a tendency to waver. As expected, I’ve honed in on that Georgia-South Carolina game. And I get it, every team across the country has games in which one of the cylinders in the engine is misfiring.

But against the Gamecocks, perhaps the most important part of the well-oiled machine was extremely faulty -- the quarterback. Jake Fromm’s performance against the Gamecocks was hard to watch. A three-interception day from Fromm is definitely out of character. However, he didn’t exactly bounce back in the next week at Kentucky. 

In a game that saw Fromm throw for just 35 yards, if I’m a Georgia fan, I’m sweating. 

Where’s the disconnect? 

On the other hand, you have the Gators, who faced some field-general adversity of their own at the start of the season. When Feleipe Franks went down with his gruesome injury, I was really questioning the Gators and any hopes they had in the 2019 season. 

However, since then, the Gators have been making stops each week to let people on the bandwagon. Those that were abnormally critical of the Gators at the start of the season are now picking them to win the SEC-East. 

How the tables have turned. 

With Kyle Trask at the helm, the Gators have fared just fine -- if anything, they’ve appeared much stronger than anyone could have imagined. 

Trask, who as we all know, started his first football game since his freshman year of high school against Tennessee earlier this season is turning heads week in and week out. 

Florida’s Texan under center posts stats that are eerily similar to Fromm’s. On the season, Trask has tallied 1,391 passing yards in comparison to Fromm’s 1,406 on a passing percentage of 67% and 71%, respectively. The kicker being Jake Fromm has played in seven full games versus just five full games for Trask. 

In all, Florida has seemingly started to put an end to their ground game woes as well as the offensive line has started to produce solid blocks. All the while, the Trask-led offense has been as electric as Gainesville has seen since the Urban Meyer era. 

Defensively, the Gators leave very few questions to be answered -- they’re good. 

While they have, indeed, seen lapses in coverage and maintaining gaps, when the Gators’ defense is healthy, they are a force to be reckoned with. 

The biggest story coming out of Todd Grantham’s side of the field is the fact that Jabari Zuniga and Jonathan Greenard are expected to return in Jacksonville. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, while Zuniga and Greenard look undoubtedly talented on the field, they appear to be even more talented when they’re off of the field. This defensive unit has missed their edge rushers -- and with everyone fired up to be back, Georgia might not be able to claim the most physical defense on the football field. 

We’ve had this one circled on our calendar for a long time. And for better or for worse, it’s finally here. 

And to much surprise, as the college football stock market has been in business for 11 weeks now, the Florida Gators are getting the nod from many while Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs have others eating their pre-season words one spoonful at a time.

Yet come Saturday afternoon, these tables could turn once again -- changing the stock value of either team -- for better or for worse.