Keys To Today’s Florida vs. No. 5 Georgia Game
On the banks of the St. Johns River stands EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, where for the 104th time, Florida and Georgia will meet for the annual border war at 3:30 p.m. today. Both teams come into this one fresh off the bye week, but going in separate directions as programs.
Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) is gearing up for the November push to the playoffs. Standing in its way are the Florida Gators (3-4, 2-2) in the process of conducting a head coaching search after firing Billy Napier two weeks ago and searching for wins in three of their next five to achieve bowl eligibility. Georgia has had the Gators’ number for the better part of a decade now — winning 10 of the last 14 and riding in on a four-game winning streak.
For the fifth time this season, the Gators are facing a top-10 team. UF is 1-3 in those matchups, with the average margin of defeat being 15 points. During this losing streak to Georgia, Florida has lost every game by double-digits and failed to score more than 20 points in any of them.
Last season, Florida held a 10-3 lead against the Bulldogs before quarterback DJ Lagway exited the game after suffering a left-hamstring injury. From that point, Georgia outscored Florida 31-10 and won 34-20.
“I’ve been waiting for this game for a long time, and I’m excited to get out there,” Lagway said.
In order for Florida to pull off a stunner here are the biggest keys.
Keep Emotions in check
In a rivalry game, emotions run high for both sides in an atmosphere that is what college football is all about. However, the key is to stay poised and keep the emotions in check to avoid any extracurricular activities to impact the game.
“We got to make sure our players understand that,” UF interim coach Billy Gonzales said. “And, again, that comes back to us. We got to make sure we talked to them about making sure that we’re focused and the ability to eliminate distractions, and that means on and off the field.”
The last thing Florida needs is to come out hot-headed and start picking fights that could draw penalties. Florida needs to be able to stay ahead of the schedule and not take self-inflicted wounds due to bad after-the-play penalties. The Gators have been dreadful this season on third downs, ranked 127th in the nation, so it will be important to stay level-headed.
Give Lagway time to throw
When Lagway has had time to throw this season, the results have been positive. The Texas game is a prime example of this — Lagway faced little pressure and went 21-of-28 for 298 yards and two touchdowns. However, when he faces pressure, it is a different story; Lagway’s internal clock speeds up, making him rush with sloppy mechanics and either misses receivers or turns the ball over.
Florida’s pass protection has been poor for most of the year, but it should be able to get right in this one. Georgia ranks 130th in sack percentage (2.39%) and has only brought the quarterback down eight times.
Despite not having Vernell Brown III or Aidan Mizell available in this one, the Gators still have plenty of talent on the outside with J.Michael Sturdivant and Dallas Wilson leading the charge.
“They do a really good job of getting their wideouts involved in that,” UGA coach Kirby Smart said. “Shift motion to get them open, but they’re talented. They’ve got young and old, and they’ve got good players.”
The story of this game will be that battle in the trenches between Florida’s offensive line vs Georgia’s defensive line. The only real way Florida has a chance in this game is to give Lagway time to deliver the ball down the field and put pressure on a UGA pass defense ranked 71st. If Georgia finds any success, especially on the left side of the line where Austin Barber is at tackle, look out.
Stay consistent with the run
Georgia shows flaws in the passing game, no doubt, but it does a great job stopping the run. Against the run, the Bulldogs are giving up just 91 yards a game (12th in FBS), which puts pressure on opposing offenses to either keep trying to run it or start passing it around and become one-dimensional.
“They’ve done a great job, they’re big, they’re strong,” Gonzales said of the Georgia D-line. “Looking at their depth up front, you’ve got 6-3, 311, 6-4, 260, 6-43, 320, 6-4, 255, 270. They’re big, they’re strong.”
Call it whatever you want, but Florida’s rushing attack has been disappointing this season. Sitting 102nd in the country at running the football, the Gators have to make an effort to stay balanced. UF is down to three running backs again for this game, making Jaden Baugh the feature man, and he needs a big day. Baugh has 611 yards rushing this season, averaging 5.2 yards a carry, yet he seems not to get the workload a back of his caliber should be getting, toting the rock just 16 times a game.
Baugh is an Atlanta native and someone Georgia recruited hard to come over to Athens, so there is familiarity with him and this UGA coaching staff.
“He’s a tremendous talent. Met him in ninth grade. He worked, doubled as a safety and played a lot of DB early in his career and just kept getting better and better and better,” Smart said. “His senior year, he had a great year at running back, and really played well, carried their team and some really electric runs. He’s carried that over in his time at Florida. Really good back.”
Make Gunner Stockton Uncomfortable
People had their doubts about UGA quarterback Gunner Stockton coming into this season. But seven games into the year, Stockton has stood out — throwing for 1,553 yards, completing 70.5% of his passes, a 10-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, along with 279 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.
“He does a great job of making great decisions,” Gonzales said. “And when you have a high completion percentage, you’re going to put yourself in and give yourself an opportunity to win those games.”
Florida has struggled at times this season against dual-threat quarterbacks, making it important to rally to the football and not allow Stockton to find his playmakers down the field. The Gators have also struggled to create consistent pressure on the quarterback, but need to do their best at attacking the young signal-caller and forcing him into making mistakes. The Gators did a good job in last season’s meeting at getting after Carson Beck, who turned the ball over three times.
Category: College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football
