Florida v. Georgia

by Arnaldo

The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, or how it's known today, politically correct, Florida-Georgia.  Is it really the largest cocktail party?  Who knows?  I certainly don't care, but it is quite the event.  The game has historically been played in Jacksonville, for reasons unknown (also, no one cares) other than two years when Jacksonville Municipal was under construction.  Tailgaters take a three day weekend and arrive from Gainesville and Athens on Thursday while the city of Jacksonville suspends their open container laws for the weekend.  Combine this with the following tidbit: SEC stadiums are prohibited from selling alcohol.  Jacksonville Municipal is not an SEC stadium.  The end result becomes what we know and love to be the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

When asked, some people would say that Florida State is Florida greatest rival, and these people are called idiots.  While it is a great rivalry which in the past has had huge National Championship implications, it's no longer the '90s.  Sure both programs are back on the rise, but Florida-Georgia has ALWAYS somehow determined the SEC East champion.  Florida and Georgia have been playing each other for 33 years before Florida ever consistently met Florida State.  The Bulldogs lead the series all-time 47-40-2, but the Gators have won 18 of the last 22 meetings. 

These guys...

The stakes in this game are high, but like I said, the stakes are always high in this game.  This particular match-up is starting to feel like the Cocktail Parties of the Urban Meyer era: top 10 meeting, SEC/National Championship implications, all that's missing is some bad blood and unfortunately, Will Muschamp (UGA alumnus) and Mark Richt seem to get along just fine.  If Florida wins, they clinch the SEC East to meet the ultimate victor between Alabama/Mississippi State/LSU, while if Georgia wins, they take control of the East and must win out their SEC schedule to make it to Atlanta.

Florida side.

Georgia side.

Okefenokee Oar - Trophies are a staple in any true rivalry game, but the Florida-Georgia game has never really had one.  Interestingly in 1986, the city of Jacksonville offered the goal posts to the winner of the game so the fans wouldn't storm the field and destroy them like the two years prior, but neither school was interested.  What do you do with extra goal posts as trophies anyway?  In 2009, an anonymous party donated the Okefenokee Oar to both student body presidents.  The trophy is still not an official trophy, because it does not belong to the match-up and athletic programs, but still, it beats nothing.  The Oar is supposedly carved from a 1000 year old cypress tree from the Okefenokee swamp, on the Florida/Georgia border.


The Match-Up


Defense and Special Teams -  There's absolutely no argument that will ever convince me that the Gators don't have the second or third best defense and the single best special teams in the country.  I've heard the argument that the special teams benefit from being made up of mostly starters, which is uncommon in college football, but last I checked, you play the game to win, and Florida's special teams had the biggest hand in beating a No. 7 South Carolina, handing the offense two turnovers and great field position.

Aaron Murray - He's second round NFL talent.  Florida has gone up against some elite SEC quarterbacks this season but it almost seems as if I've overestimated each of them.  Tyler Bray was a joke.  Johnny Manziel is talented, but his team was overwhelmed.  Murray is tied for third in the SEC in yards (1,914) with 16 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.  His favorite targets include Tavarres King, who has caught for 511 yards and 5 touchdowns, and Michael Bennett, who has accumulated 345 yards and 4 touchdowns.  The Bulldogs, however, run a very balanced offense, ranking 30th in the country in both passing and rushing yards per game (281.7 and 205.1 respectively) due in part to two very talented tailbacks, Todd Gurly (622 yards rushing and 9 touchdowns), and Keith Marshall (488 yards and 5 touchdowns).

Jarvis Jones - Jones is a beast.  At linebacker, he's another Jadeveon Clowney all over again.  While the Gators' tackles Xavior Nixon and Chaz Green kept South Carolina's Clowney in check last week, Jones has tallied 5.5 sacks in just five games coming off the blitz.  Jones is also recovering from an injury that forced him to sit the Kentucky game and isn't likely to be 100%.

Attacking the Line of Scrimmage - I feel like a broken record, I really do.  And yet here I am repeating that the Florida defensive front needs to continue rolling with their momentum.  I stand corrected from when I voiced my fears that this defense was just playing at their opponents in skill: they're absolutely for real.  As usual, expect one of the nation's best front four performances in defensive tackles Omar Hunter and Shariff Floyed, and ends Domique Easley and Lerente McCray.  Continue expecting stellar performances from back-ups in the most effective "next man up" defensive philosophy this side of Alabama, from freshman DE Dante Fowler Jr. or LB Antonio Morrison. 

Let's Diversify this Offense - The media couldn't shut up last week about how many points our offense scored against how many yards they gained.  It was almost as if they were trying to negate the production altogether.  South Carolina fields the 15th best defense in points against in the NCAA, and always remember these statistics have to stand against teams from joke conferences whose teams are easier to defend.  Still, the Jeff Driskel led passing game was not convincing.  Muschamp and Pease hide nothing about the offense's identity: we are a run first team, but they cannot be pleased with the lack of diversity the Gators are showing.  Florida hasn't broken over 100 yards passing since the Kentucky beatdown.  Yes, I'm preaching to the choir at this point, having mentioned it every week since then, but passing needs to improve, and so does the pass protection.  Remember, if the Gators win this weekend, they have their tickets stamped to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game against a very likely Alabama, and fewer than 100 passing yards will not beat Nick Saban.


Georgia v. Brent Pease - The Dawgs were victorious against the Gators last year but they didn't find such luck in the out-of-conference season opener against Boise St. and a Brent Pease led offense.  The Broncos put up 390 total yards in a 35-21 victory.  Pease optimistically said, "We are running the Boise State offense, other than probably Kellen Moore couldn’t do some of the runs that Jeff [Driskel] can."  While we haven't seen the prolific Boise St. offense at Florida quite yet, the skill level difference of SEC defenses is considerable.  Here's hoping, Brent.

Arnaldo's prediction:

Florida wins 34 - 17