Florida-georgia tilt a playoff precursor
Each one-loss team in top 10 — for now
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Dan Mullen remembered the outcomes, but he couldn’t quite recall the details.
So he went searching for the Florida-georgia box scores from his first stint (2005-08) with the Gators. It was an enjoyable refresher course.
Mullen went 3-1 against the Bulldogs as Florida’s offensive coordinator, including two wins that helped propel the team to Southeastern Conference and national championships.
The last one was his most memorable, a 49-10 victory that was essentially over early enough for Mullen to spend the final few minutes on the sideline instead of in the coaches’ booth.
“I didn’t always get to experience all that fun stuff on the field back then,” he said. “So to come down on the field for the last two minutes of the game was pretty cool.”
Mullen begins a new chapter in the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” when No. 9 Florida (6-1, 4-1 SEC) and seventh-ranked Georgia (6-1, 4-1) meet Saturday in Jacksonville, for the 83rd time in 86 years.
For Mullen, who returned to Gainesville after nearly a decade at Mississippi State, the rivalry hasn’t changed a bit. It has ultra-high stakes and title-game aspirations.
Florida and Georgia both enter the neutral-site game ranked inside the top 10 for the first time since 2008, and the winner likely will wind up close to the fourth spot in the first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings next week. The loser probably can forget about playing for a national championship or getting to Atlanta for the SEC title game.
“If you’re not amped up this game or you’re not excited, you’re screwed up in the head,” Florida guard Tyler Jordan said.
ESPN’S College Gameday as well as SEC Nation will broadcast live a few hundred yards apart, the first time they’ve been at the same venue on the same day during the regular season.
It’s also the first game in a twoweek span that will showcase the SEC’S top teams, with top-ranked Alabama visiting No. 4 LSU next Saturday night.
“It won’t be about what we say or how we say it,” third-year Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “It’ll be about who plays well on the field and who controls the line of scrimmage that will be the key to this game.
“It’s not waving a magic wand or some guy giving a speech in the locker room. It’s really just work.”
The Bulldogs got outworked at
LSU two weeks ago, falling behind 16-0 in the first half and losing 3616. The Tigers ran for 275 yards and took advantage of four turnovers.
Georgia has spent the last two weeks stewing over that performance.
“You kind of need things like sometimes to kind of humble you and put things in perspective, just to show how much more you have to work for,” defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter said. “You might have thought you were playing pretty well, doing everything the right way, but there’s always room for improvement. You’ve got to fix those areas.”
Florida has come a long way since losing to Kentucky in early September. The Gators have won five in a row while making strides on both sides of the ball.
The team also hasn’t forgotten last year’s 42-7 debacle in Jacksonville . Players spent the week dealing with fallout from then-coach Jim Mcelwain’s claims he’d received death threats and were told just before the game that Mcelwain likely would be gone after the game.
“Guys are still feeling that pain from last year,” Gators running back Lamical Perine said. “There’s a lot of fuel from that.”