The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is finally here, and it’s gonna be another year of heartache for the Florida Gators. This Florida Gators team has come out of the gates HOT this year. Starting out 6-1 while taking down both Mississippi State and LSU as underdogs. Humble brag, but I knew that Florida would take down the Tigers in Gainesville earlier this season. It was an ultimate trap game for Coach O and it showed on the field. After Georgia got their ass handed to them by LSU, the Tigers have woken that Bulldog…and Kirby Smart won’t let his foot off the gas this weekend.
The Bulldogs Have Awoken
Does anyone remember how the Georgia Bulldogs responded after getting blown out against Auburn last season? For their next three games, the dawgs won by an average of 27 points. They managed to score 108 points while only allowing 27. This included Auburn in the SEC Championship game as they trounced the Tigers 28-7.
Fully aware that they also were given two cupcake games in Kentucky and Georgia Tech, but their numbers were impressive nonetheless. Kirby Smart and his staff understand the talent and potential that this team possesses. Ranking Georgia at #7 this weekend is nothing but rocket fuel for Smart and company. As LSU’s game at Florida was a trap game, UGA suffered from one at LSU. After watching the game tape on Georgia throughout the season, it’s hard to imagine them not mollywhopping the Gators this Saturday.
Playmakers Win Ball Games
Coming off an abysmal performance in Baton Rouge, Jake Fromm is itching at the opportunity for redemption. As it stands right now, Fromm is 6th in the country in yards per attempt (9.5) and has 13 touchdowns on the year. Florida relies on turnovers and have excelled throughout the season in getting the ball back in their offense’s hands. As we saw against Vanderbilt, the Gators can turn a game completely around in a matter of minutes. However, Fromm is averaging 0.6 interceptions per game and the Bulldogs are giving up 1.0 TPG. With 13 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, Fromm secures the ball and will not allow the Gators to continue their pass defense dominance.
Elijah Holyfield has been an absolute workhorse in the backfield leading the SEC with 7.5 yards per attempt. Against a Gator rush defense that gives up 164.3 yards per game, don’t expect that to stop anytime soon. Holyfield has 488 rushing yards on a mere 65 attempts thus far. Even though it was a blowout against LSU, he managed to rush for nine yards per carry in that contest. Expect Georgia to rely on Holyfield to make big plays in a running back by committee offense that will wear on the Gators all game.
While Florida has won six games this season, they still have no identity on the offensive side of the football. Their defense continues to bail them out of situations time and time again. Would you rather have Felipe Franks or Jake Fromm at the helm to lead your team? Exactly. Florida lacks any big playmaker that they can rely on to make big plays. Maybe Freddie Swain, big shoutout to Ocala. As a one touchdown underdog, I imagine that they can’t be too worried for what is about to come their way in Jacksonville this Saturday.
Bad Stats Matchup
Passing
It’s no secret that the Florida Gators struggle with gaining passing yards down the field. They’re currently ranked 92nd in the country by only gaining 211.0 passing yards per game. This weekend, Franks and company will be squaring off against the #14 passing defense in the country that is only allowing 174.3 yards per game.
Total Offensive Production
Even after their embarrassingly bad performance against LSU, Georgia has maintained to allow opponents to only 310.6 total yards per game. This currently sits right behind Alabama at 17th in the country. Florida has been exceptionally better than years past, however, they have only managed to muster 408.0 yards per game on offense. This stacks up with the rest of the FBS at 68th which puts them in the bottom 50%. The Bulldogs have a keen memory of what happened two weekends ago and don’t plan on letting it happen again.
Rush Defense
As Georgia continues with their running back by committee approach, they’re gaining 226.3 rushing yards per game. This stat alone ranks them at #3 in the SEC and 23rd in the nation overall. The Gators, on the other hand, have allowed opponents to rush 164.3 YPG which puts them at 73rd in the country, 11th in the SEC. If we look at Florida’s one loss against Kentucky, you will see that the Wildcats lead the SEC in rushing yards per game. This disparity is one that will make this game to be a blowout for the ages, and I can’t wait.