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

Gone Bowling: University of Georgia vs. Michigan State University

Free Bloomin' Onions for everyone!

by Dub

Throughout the coming weeks, B&A will be going through some of the SEC bowl game match-ups and giving you, the fans, a little bit of background for both the teams playing. I don't know about you, but when bowl season starts, I usually try to catch a little bit of each one, and would like to know a little more about key players on each team, and some of the background of the two teams playing. That being said, let's get started with our first Gone Bowling Match-up: UGA vs MSU.

For our first match-up, we have what look like two very good but not elite football teams. Both are 10-3 and played in their respective conference championship games. The difference between these two teams is that Georgia is the fourth best team in the SEC (first almost anywhere else), and MSU is the second best in the Big 10. What really gets a lot of MSU fans is that Michigan (a 10-2 team that did NOT play in its conference championship game and was beaten head to head by MSU) is going to a BCS bowl, simply for the fact that they did not lose an extra game to Wisconsin.

Georgia is excited to be going to the Outback Bowl, because they have a young team who will likely finish in the top 15 this year, and have a load of returning players, namely Aaron Murray (QB), Isaiah Crowell (RB), and Malcolm Mitchell (WR) who all lead the team in their respective categories. Michigan State is losing both their #1 quarterback and #1 wide receiver, and will likely not be this talented of a football team when Bowl Selection rolls around next December. The point here is that Georgia is a fiery, scrappy team who still has a lot of time left to improve, and is chomping at the bit to get into the bowl, and Michigan State is a team who feels like they were cheated out of "real competition". Now the issue is that when you think the opponent you're facing against isn't up to your level, often times, you let him run right up to you and punch you straight in the face.

Georgia is a team loaded with talent, and the only reason they aren't playing for a BCS bowl is that three other teams in the SEC could all win a national title, playing against anyone else in the nation. This season, Georgia had a front-loaded, painful schedule against two top 12 opponents, which set them back 0-2 right off the bat. They reeled off 10 straight on their way to Atlanta to face eventual SEC Champion LSU. The issue with Georgia isn't the players they have or the schemes they run. The issue is youth, and with youth comes inexperience. LSU was built for the long haul from day 1; when a player went down, another took his place, and played at an All American level. Georgia was decimated by injuries by the time they locked horns with LSU, and it showed.

Michigan State is a team that lost a head scratcher to Notre Dame in September by three scores. Then again, one might look at a schedule from the past couple of years and realize that MSU has lost a game to an unranked opponent early in the season for three out of the last four years. When you don't play in a hyperconference where everyone and their mother is ranked in the top 25, you don't have the strength of wins to be a two loss team and skyrocket through the BCS rankings to play in a big time bowl. Michigan State was blown out by Nebraska by three touchdowns, got it back together, and then lost by a field goal to Big 10 Champion Wisconsin. However, MSU did have big regular season wins over #6 Wisconsin and #11 Michigan. Michigan State doesn't have issues with talent, but with consistency, and unfortunately, they play consistently bad during bowl season against SEC teams.

Now we'll go through and look at three players to look at as these teams meet in January.


Georgia

• Jarvis Jones #29 LB: His 13.5 sacks are good enough for 2nd in the nation, and he is an absolute monster at disrupting the comfort and poise of the opposing QB. Fast getoff, great balance and technique, and a speed rush that could leave even the best offensive lineman dizzy.
• Bacarri Rambo #18 S: An absolute ballhawk who rarely let a big play develop. His 7 picks this year are, like Jones, good enough for 2nd in the nation. He's got a nose for the ball, and he takes advantage of QB mistakes.
• Aaron Murray #11 QB: Passed for 2861 yards and 33 touchdowns, which broke the UGA single season mark of 25 set by Matt Stafford in 2008. Murray is an undersized quarterback who plays a lot like Drew Brees, making up for lack of size in arm strength and timing. Look for him to utilize his tight ends, Charles and Bennett.

Michigan State

• Kirk Cousins #8 QB: Cousins is as good a quarterback as there is in the Big 10 and holds the MSU career passing touchdown record at 62. He's got good arm strength and good anticipation, which leads to a number of good plays against lazy defenses. Look for him to work the pro sets he has in this game, and to be rolling out of the pocket, as he'll be feeling the pressure of UGA's pass rush. The good news is that he is as deadly on the rollout as he is in the pocket.
• Denicos Allen #28 LB: This season, Allen has 10 sacks, and plays a similar style to Jarvis Jones, a speed rushing outside linebacker who disrupts the backfield. He is very athletic, and makes plays that force his opponents to account for him on every down. If you want to see how much of a pure athlete he is, go here.
• BJ Cunningham #3 WR: Cunningham is a big bodied, big play machine. He has 72 catches for 1200+ yards and 12 touchdowns this year, and looks to improve upon those numbers against Georgia's smallish cornerbacks. In order for him and Cousins to have a good game, MSU will need to implement short, quick routes to keep the defense honest and allow the field to open up.

Ultimately, both of these teams are very similar in play style and in ability. Georgia has a bit more of an undersized speedy defense, whereas MSU has a bigger albeit slower defense that relies on sound gap protection to minimize big runs. Both teams are ranked in the top 10 nationally in total defense, and are both top 20 in scoring defense. The series between these two teams is tipped in Georgia's favor, winning 34-27 in the 1989 Gator Bowl and 24-12 in the 2009 Capital One Bowl.

For Georgia to win, they must control the line of scrimmage and force Michigan State to beat them through the air. If one of Georgia's (many) hurt running backs is back for this game, I think UGA wins, propelling themselves into next season with high hopes and a very talented football team.

For Michigan State to win, they must run the ball well against Georgia's very talented front 7. Look for Michigan State to use screen packages and quick pass plays to force Georgia to play off the ball a little bit and give themselves room to run. Michigan State can not win if they cannot establish a run game.

Dub's Prediction: Georgia 37 Michigan State 24