The Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs will meet Saturday at Jacksonville’s EverBank Field in one of the Southeastern Conference’s greatest rivalries.
Florida has posted 18 wins in the 23 games played since 1990. The Bulldogs have won the last two years in a row in the game that is known as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” a moniker that the city of Jacksonville discourages.
Even each team enters the game with 4-3 overall records and identical 3-2 SEC marks, both teams got a lift in their dwindling hopes of an SEC championship after Missouri lost last weekend. But this game is much bigger for Florida coach Will Muschamp than it is for Georgia’s Mark Richt. Muschamp is 0-2 against the Bulldogs, and therein is the problem.
Florida fans take the rivalry seriously and after winning 18 of 21 games between 1990 and 2010 they are not happy about losing the past two years. Muschamp is 22-11 at Florida but has yet to beat Georgia or Miami, although he did get a win last year against Florida State — his record in the biggest Gator rivalry games is 1-4 — so it would be in Muschamp’s best interest to beat Georgia on Saturday. But he knows the Gators will be going against a Georgia team that will welcome tailback Todd Gurley back to the lineup after the stud tailback injured his ankle in the win over LSU.
“Georgia starts with Aaron Murray on offense, four-year starter, very experienced, very accurate with the football. He is having an outstanding year and outstanding career,” said Muschamp. “Todd Gurley’s an explosive runner; you appreciate competing against a guy like him the way he competes when he runs it. He runs it extremely hard.”
“Defensively, they’re young but again, I think they’re very talented. Garrison Smith I think is the only senior they have starting but he’s done a nice job for them inside. Ray Drew’s had a really good year for them at defensive end and you see both (Jordan) Jenkins and (Leonard) Floyd are both guys on the edges that can rush the passer and show a lot of athleticism. (Amarlo) Herrera and (Ramik) Wilson are two experienced backers and (Damien) Swann’s really they only experienced guy they had coming back in the secondary, he’s playing well for them but again a lot of talent on the back end.”
The Gators have had problems taking care of the football against Georgia in the past two meetings. That’s an area Muschamp hopes will improve down the stretch.
“Our last two trips to Jacksonville were minus four in the turnover margin, so you can cut it up however you want to, but we need to take care of the football,” said the Gators’ coach. “Two years ago we had two turnovers inside our 20-yard line that led to 14 points and last year we turned it over 6 times. It’s hard to win any games doing that. So we need to take better care of the football.
“We need to get our guys playing faster, need to get our guys playing with a little bit more confidence in what we’re trying to do. To me it all comes down to execution, we need to execute better in both phases.”
Muschamp has had to deal with injuries to star players such as quarterback Jeff Driskel, tailback Matt Jones, defensive tackle Dominique Easley, offensive tackle Chaz Green and wide receiver/kick returner Andre DeBose. The injuries have led to extensive playing time for rising stars such as quarterback Tyler Murphy and tailback Kelvin Taylor.
“He’s a very talented runner,” Muschamp said of Taylor. “He’s a guy that can certainly do some things in the run game; he’s got great vision and great instincts in the run game. We’ve got a lot of confidence in Kelvin and what he’s doing but again, he’s earned this opportunity.”
If Florida is going to end its two-year losing streak to Georgia, Muschamp realizes that he and his staff have to shake things up.
“I think what we’ve tried to do is just narrow some things down as far as communication is concerned – that’s been an issue with our front especially,” Muschamp said. “So, simply as far as that’s concerned, as far as communication at the line of scrimmage, being able to get to the line of scrimmage. And again, to our offensive staff and to me it all comes back to execution. Let’s go execute what we’re trying to do, there have been too many situations when we aren’t on the same page against Missouri and what we’re trying to do.”
Muschamp has downplayed the importance of winning the game for the sake of his job security instead of for the players and fans.
“For our players and for the Gator Nation, absolutely,” Muschamp said. “But I hate to give you the boring answer, but I don’t approach this one any different from the other ones. It’s a critical game for us obviously being a great rival of the University of Florida, and a great rivalry game, it’s one of the best college football games year in year out to be a part of.
“It’s exciting to be a part of it, but there’s no question where we are in our season. It’s an SEC East opponent and a great rival it’s an important game for us,” he said.