Measuring the Importance of Today's Game
As the Georgia Bulldogs are ready to play the Florida Gators in Jacksonville, the latest edition of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party looks just a bit different this season.
While tailgating is now prohibited outside the stadium, and fans limited in numbers inside, there are some things that haven't changed.
How important is this game?
One of these two teams has represented the SEC East in the SEC Championship Game for five straight years, and this season's game will again likely decide which team will represent the division.
Georgia has won the last three games in Jacksonville, but this matchup could go either way. If anyone claims to have a definitive answer regarding the result, the reality is that it's still a massive guess.
What are the teams playing for?
Aside from obvious consequences, also at stake is the Okefenokee Oar, a 10-foot long oar made from the remains of a 1,000-year-old cypress tree that once grew in the Okefenokee Swamp, which straddles the Florida–Georgia border. The team that wins in Jacksonville earns the right take the Okefenokee Oar home for the year.
While players may think this is cool, they do not need any additional motivation. The rivalry dates to 1904 in a game that Georgia won 52-0.
Recent history
As noted, Georgia has won three straight games in Jacksonville and leads the series 53–43–2. However, from 1990-2010, Florida won 18 out of 21 games. Since 2010, Georgia has won six of the nine games played in Jacksonville.
Who wins Saturday?
The team that rushes for the most yards has won the last 14 games in the rivalry. At face value, that would mean Georgia should be favored in this game. However, just because that is what has happened in the past, it doesn't mean it will happen again.
Florida likes to throw the ball with quarterback Kyle Trask and tight end Kyle Pitts being their most dangerous combination. Trask has passed for 1,341 yards and 18 touchdowns in four games and is averaging 335 yards and 4.5 touchdowns per game.
Georgia is quite the opposite, throwing the ball only 42 percent of the time and that number would be even lower if the 40 pass attempts against Alabama were eliminated. Georgia is also coming off a game against Kentucky in which quarterback Stetson Bennett IV threw the ball 13 times and Georgia ran it 43 times. Sophomore running back Zamir White had a career game, carrying the ball 26 times and rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown.
As of the morning, it appears as if the rain will stop before kickoff. That would allow Florida to throw the ball more, but the wind is still expected to be between 10-20 mph during the game.
