The World’s Largest Cocktail Party goes down this Saturday as the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs (4-1, 4-1) take on the No. 8 Florida Gators (3-1, 3-1) in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Dawgs have dominated the series as of late, winning the past three matchups. The overall series also belongs to Georgia with a record of 52-43-2.
Florida will be without key defensive linemen Zachary Carter and Antwuan Powell for the first half of the game due to suspensions from their actions in the Florida-Missouri brawl that took place last week. Georgia will likely be without defensive back Richard LeCounte, who was injured in a motorbiking accident last Saturday night. LeCounte is expected to make a full recovery soon as he suffered bruised ribs, a concussion and a minor shoulder injury.
Tyler Nettuno from Gators Wire gave us some scoop on how the game might play out and how the Dawgs could leave Jacksonville on top of the SEC East.
“If the Bulldogs pull off their fourth-straight win in the series on Saturday, it will be because they controlled the tempo of the game.” said Nettuno on how the Dawgs can win. “Georgia’s focus on ball control has thrown the Gators for a loop in the last three games in this series. Especially when you look back at last year’s game, UGA completely neutralized quarterback Kyle Trask and the UF offense with consistent pressure and strong third-down defense. The Gators have a pretty special offense this year, and it’s hard to imagine Georgia could win a shootout against this team. But if UGA controls the pace of the game and forces Florida into a low-scoring game, it has a pretty good chance of pulling out the win.”
And Nettuno isn’t kidding about that special Gators offense. In one game less than Georgia, Kyle Trask has thrown for 1,341 yards, 18 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions. This, in comparison to Stetson Bennett’s 1,089 yards, 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, definitely gives Florida the edge in the passing game.
“I think that heading into the season, most Gators fans felt like 2020 was the year for the team to potentially pull ahead of Georgia in the SEC pecking order.” Nettuno said. “After the defensive struggles at the beginning of the season, that confidence was tempered quite a bit. But even without three starters in the secondary against Missouri, the defense held the Tigers to just 248 yards. Given that performance, plus UGA’s sloppy win over Kentucky on Saturday, I think Florida fans are definitely much more confident than they were a few weeks ago. But they felt the same way last year and got burned, so I think the fanbase is generally approaching this game with much more uncertainty than it has in the past.”
Richard LeCounte being out for Georgia could be a problem come Saturday. Florida features one of the toughest matchups in all of college football with junior tight end Kyle Pitts.
Pitts stands at 6-foot-6, 250 pounds and leads all Florida receivers with 355 yards and 7 touchdowns. No LeCounte means Kirby Smart and the Georgia defense are going to have to get creative with how to contain the red-hot Pitts.
“An already struggling defense being shorthanded is bad news for Florida, but the Bulldogs will also be without a number of key players on defense, including safety of Richard LeCounte.” said Nettuno when asked about the matchup issues Pitts presents. “These absences will make it even more difficult for Georgia to contain UF’s targets in the passing game, such as 6-foot-6 tight end Kyle Pitts, who presents a matchup problem for essentially every defense in the country, as is.”
Nettuno also touched on the fact that the Florida offense has had a pretty big void from players on the COVID-19 list. Florida had to reschedule two games due to positive tests being discovered on the team.
“We know that starting defensive lineman Zach Carter will miss the first half of the game for his role in the halftime brawl against Missouri last week. Beyond that, it’s a bit murky. Florida has been pretty quiet about who has tested positive for COVID-19, but 15 players were inactive against the Tigers, including starting cornerback Marco Wilson, starting safeties Donovan Stiner and Shawn Davis, as well as starting kicker Evan McPherson. It’s unclear how far along those players were into their mandatory 14-day quarantines, so for now we don’t know whether they will be available against Georgia. But it’s very likely that some of those 15 players won’t be cleared by the game.”
This game really could go either way. Florida most definitely has an edge on the offensive side of the ball, more so the passing game, while Georgia has the edge defensively. Nettuno gave his outlook of how the game will finish and who he thinks will win.
“If you had asked me two weeks ago, I probably would have told you the Bulldogs would win a game that played out very similarly to how the last two contests have. But Florida’s defense really looked like it took a major step forward against an improving Missouri offense, and Georgia’s offense hasn’t looked particularly threatening to this point. The Bulldogs still have a talent advantage, especially in the trenches, and Florida’s offensive line (which has been just solid) will be tested more than it has been to this point. But I doubt Georgia can pull this one off if they allow a big day from the Gators’ offense. A slow, physical affair benefits the Bulldogs, but if Florida can score 30+ points, I don’t think quarterback Stetson Bennett and the UGA offense are capable of matching it. I told myself I wouldn’t make this same mistake this year, but I think Dan Mullen has finally gotten Florida to a spot where it’s talented enough to beat Georgia. Florida takes it 35-27.”
Saturday’s matchup is scheduled to kickoff in Jacksonville at 3:30 P.M. ET on CBS.