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Two hated rivals meet in Jacksonville on Saturday when the Georgia Bulldogs take on the Florida Gators. The two teams are virtually playing for their SEC East life, as a loss for either team will put them two games behind South Carolina in the loss column, all but eliminating the loser from the race.  More important than that, the loser would have to worry about winning two of their final games just to make a bowl game. It would be unfathomable for either school not to make a bowl game since Florida has made 19 straight bowl games and Georgia has made 13 straight, two of the four longest streaks in the country.  

Georgia is looking for their fourth consecutive win after suffering 4 continuous losses. They have turned their season around, but a win on Saturday would solidify their comeback. Meanwhile, Florida looks to end their own losing streak.  They have lost three in row and hope to find a signature win to build off of for the rest of the season. A loss on Saturday would give Florida their first four game losing streak since 1988. You know the Bulldogs would love to hand them that loss.

It is one of greatest rivalries in college football and there is nothing but pure hatred between the two schools.  A win in this game can be the silver lining in an awful season.  Fans would gladly say, “We had a bad year, but at least we beat Florida”. Right now the hatred is probably a little stronger for Georgia fans. Even though our series record is 47-39-2, we have lost 17 of the last 20 meetings. With both schools rebuilding right now, Georgia would love to reverse this trend and take back control of the rivalry.

(Sorry, I just realized I started saying “we” instead of Georgia. I tried to remain impartial, but just couldn’t do it. I love UGA too much.)

Georgia dancing after scoring a touchdown in 2007.

I don’t get why we always seem to choke against Florida, but I feel good about our chances this year.  Mark Right has this team fired up and it reminds me of 2007, when we danced on the field and beat Florida 42-30. Washaun Ealey is coming off of a Kentucky game where he had five touchdowns and Caleb King is coming back from his suspension. Aaron Murray has dramatically matured throughout the year and has turned into a quality quarterback. We have a had a positive turnover margin in the past three games with 9 takeaways and and only 1 turnover. That is a phenomenal turnover margin, especially considering we were -16 in the turnover department last year, which was 118th in the country.

All these facts are the reason why we are entering the game as the favorite, but we better be careful.  The Gators have had two weeks to prepare for this game and you know Urban Meyer will have his players ready.  Chris Rainey is will be back from his suspension, and the week off has helped Demps and Sturgis get healthier.  They will certainly be a different team than they have been the past three games.  Also, if our defense does not figure out its third-down woes, Urban Meyer could make it a bad day for Georgia fans.  

Nonetheless, it should be an exciting, well-fought game that goes down to the wire.  It definitely should be more exciting that the last two Georgia-Florida games. I feel like Jacksonville will be filled with Georgia fans celebrating a Bulldog victory on Saturday, but then again, I almost have to say that. We’ll see what happens on Saturday.

GO DAWGS!!!