Rivalry Renews as Gators and Bulldogs Square Off in Jacksonville

Once again, Georgia and Florida will meet in Jacksonville to play one of the most important games of the SEC schedule.

Author:
Jason Hamby
Publish date:
Oct 29, 2021 2:54 PM EDT

JACKSONVILLE - Saturday’s game will be the ninety-ninth edition of one of college football’s deepest rivalries, as Florida and Georgia play in Jacksonville.

This year’s edition features No. 1 Georgia, and a Florida team that has just fallen out of the rankings after a 49-42 loss at LSU.

“This game’s not about rankings. It’s never been about rankings. It’s a rival game,” said Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart in his press conference Tuesday.

Florida was ranked No. 13 coming into the year, fresh off an SEC Championship appearance, but has lost three games, each by one possession. Compared to last year, Florida’s offense couldn’t be any more different, but unfortunately for them, the defense has been more of the same.

Last year, the Gators were electric on offense, an absolute air raid. Led by Kyle Trask, Kadarius Toney and Kyle Pitts, they averaged 39.8 points per game.

They did all this with what was statistically an uncharacteristically bad run game. The Gators were No. 96 in college football in rushing offense, running for just 131 yards per game. But then again, they were never forced to lean on the running game because of Trask’s effectiveness.

Now after the departure of Trask, Toney and Pitts, the Gators have had to fix their run game, and they have done more than just fix it. They have the fourth best rushing offense in college football, averaging more than double the rushing yards per game last year, at 263 yards per game.

The Gators feature a three-headed monster at the running back position, with Malik Davis, Dameon Pierce and Nay’Quan Wright. But surprisingly, their two leading rushers are their quarterbacks.

Junior Emory Jones leads the team in attempts and yards, 88 for 495, but redshirt freshman Anthony Richardson has the best average, running for 12.4 yards per carry.

Anthony Richardson, Quarterback, Florida
Matt Pendleton/Special to Sun

The quarterback position has been, at times, a debacle for Florida this year. Florida Head Coach Dan Mullen has been under constant criticism for how little Richardson has played. The freshman has shown flashes of elite athleticism and playmaking ability in limited time. However, Jones is in his fourth year in the program, and was in Mullen’s first recruiting class as the new Head Coach.

Mullen has been questioned if he’s stuck with Jones simply because he wants to be loyal. After all, Jones has sat for three years waiting for an opportunity to be the full-time starter. Mullen has started Jones in every game but Richardson has received more and more snaps as the season has progressed. Last week against LSU, the two played almost equally.

They both had 19 passing attempts, and both threw two interceptions. Richardson threw for three touchdowns and Jones threw for one. On the ground, Richardson had a lot more success than Jones, running it seven times for 37 yards, compared to Jones’ 10 times for just 16 yards. Richardson also ran for a touchdown.

Mullen was asked if there would be any changes to the quarterback situation in his press conference Monday.

“Not really. We’re going to keep playing them in the same way, we plan on playing both of the guys like we have,” Mullen said.

Preparing for two different quarterbacks is rarely easy, but Georgia certainly has the defense to contain it.

Florida is running the football for 254.2 yards per game. Georgia is only allowing 63.4 rushing yards per game. Something must give.

Georgia’s defense has only given up one rushing touchdown all year, and four offensive touchdowns in total, from seven games.

The Georgia defense is led by 6’6”, 340pound defensive tackle Jordan Davis, who might just be the best pure player in all of college football when one considers everything from raw talent, effort, technique, and of course, sheer size.

Florida will be forced to throw with Davis manning the middle of an intimidating Georgia front seven, and although possesses talent on the outside at wide receiver, it does not compare to last year.

At receiver, Florida’s led by Jacob Copeland, who has 423 yards and 4 touchdowns. Copeland will have a tough matchup against Georgia’s Derion Kendrick. Opposing quarterbacks have a quarterback rating of 27.3 when throwing his way.

Now, Georgia’s front seven and their ability to get pressure on the quarterback has much to do with that, but Kendrick has been locking down receivers all year.

“(The secondary) has been the beneficiary of (a) good (pass) rush, and they’ve made some plays when we've gotten opportunities,” Smart said.

Florida will have to continue to run the football efficiently if they hope to be in this game. The ground game is where this one will be decided. With Florida’s offense against Georgia’s defense, it’s strength versus strength.

However, on the other side of the football, Georgia’s offense and Florida’s defense, it’s strength versus glaring weakness.

The LSU Tigers went into the Florida game with the No. 127 rushing offense in college football, out of 130 teams. The Tigers’ offense was truly one-dimensional, completely revolving around the passing game because they could not run. They then proceeded to run for 321 yards on the Gators, for an average of 7.1 yards per carry. They were led by junior Tyrion Davis-Price who had 287 yards and three touchdowns.

If a rushing offense that had been as bad as LSU’s could do that against Florida, it might get ugly against the Bulldogs’ rushing attack.

Georgia’s offense revolves around the run, as it seemingly always has, and they average just over 192 yards per game.

Georgia’s primary running back is Zamir “Zeus” White, who has averaged 4.8 yards per each of his 83 attempts and has seven touchdowns. After White, the Bulldogs use three other running backs, senior James Cook (47 attempts), sophomore Kendall Milton (49 attempts) and junior Kenny McIntosh (29 attempts). All four of the backs run for at least 4.4 yards per carry.

This Saturday, the Bulldogs will be without Milton, who suffered an MCL injury last week in practice, and will be out a couple weeks.

At quarterback, senior Stetson Bennett has been the starting quarterback for the Bulldogs, as previous starter JT Daniels has been plagued by a nagging injury for the better part of the season.

Stetson Bennett, Quarterback, Georgia
John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Bennett has been reliable all year, and although his job has been made easy thanks to the defense and running game, he’s still made plays when given the opportunity. Bennett has thrown for 12 touchdowns and just one interception.

His play has even brought up the question of if he might remain the starter even when Daniels is fully healthy.

“I’m really ok with the best guy who gives us the best chance to win is,” Smart said. “That’s based on practice and health, and it’ll continue to be that way the rest of the year.”

Coach Smart said Wednesday that Daniels is much further along than he has been in previous weeks, and that he’s liked what he’s seen from Daniels in recent practices.

“He’s done a good job,” Smart said. “It doesn’t seem like there’s been limitations in terms of what he can and can’t do.”

Regardless of who is in at quarterback for the Bulldogs, they’ll look to power the football with the run and take shots down the field in play-action.

For Florida, outscoring Georgia is not an option, Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham has to force quick possessions and turnovers, something he’s been largely unable to do for the past two seasons.

Mullen said that his team has plenty of motivation heading into Saturday.

“It’s the second time we’re going to play the number one team in the same season,” Mullen said. “It’ll be a pretty big game for our guys, the Florida Georgia game is always a big game.”

Prediction

Florida will fare better offensively than any of Georgia’s opponents have so far this season, but that still won’t be saying much. The Gators will put up more than 13 points, which would be the most Georgia has given up, but it won’t be enough.

Florida’s running game certainly will not put up the 270 yards it’s used to accumulating against former opponents, but they will have enough success to move the ball down the field for field goals on a couple possessions. It will be a one score game at half, largely due to the fact that both teams will chew up the clock running the football.

In the second half, the Georgia defense will force a turnover and seal it in the third quarter. This game may feel like Georgia’s in full control even if the score does not suggest it.

Georgia 30 Florida 16

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