Uh, what? Was that game against a Nebraska just a nightmare? "The Gators, who are actually second in the most recent installment of the BCS rankings, have jumped out to a 7-0 start for the sixth time in school history, and the fourth time since 1995 when they won the first of back-to-back national championships."
> (3) Florida (7-0) vs. (12) Georgia (6-1) (ET) > > BY THE SPORTS NETWORK > GAME NOTES: The third-ranked Florida Gators can clinch a spot in the SEC > Championship Game this Saturday if they are able to knock off the 12th-ranked > Georgia Bulldogs when the two long-time rivals meet at EverBank Stadium in > Jacksonville. > > The Gators, who are actually second in the most recent installment of the BCS > rankings, have jumped out to a 7-0 start for the sixth time in school > history, and the fourth time since 1995 when they won the first of > back-to-back national championships. This game represents UF's fourth against > a ranked opponent this season, as it took out No. 23 Tennessee (37-20), No. 3 > LSU (14-6) and No. 8 South Carolina (44-11), not to mention a 20-17 triumph > over now-ranked Texas A&M early on. > > As for the Bulldogs, they are 6-1 on the season despite not facing the same > daunting schedule as has Florida. Georgia's biggest wins have been over > league foes Missouri (41-20) and Tennessee (51-44), and the team is coming > off a less-than-inspired 29-24 victory at Kentucky. UGA's one loss was a 35-7 > verdict at South Carolina on Oct. 6, meaning a win in this game is an > absolute must if it has any chance of reaching the SEC title tilt for the > second straight year. > > Georgia owns a 48-40-2 advantage in the all-time series with Florida, which > includes a 24-20 win in last year's tussle. The Bulldogs haven't won two > straight over the Gators since taking three-in-a-row from 1987-89. Prior to > last year's encounter, Florida had won three straight and 18 of the previous > 22 meetings. > > The Gators have outscored their six SEC foes by a 184-71 margin, including > 57-8 in the third quarter and 51-13 in the fourth. Last week against South > Carolina, the Florida offense certainly wasn't firing on all cylinders as the > unit generated a mere 183 total yards (89 rushing, 94 passing), but QB Jeff > Driskel threw four TD passes, with a pair going to Jordan Reed. All 21 of the > Gators' points in the first half came off turnovers, the Gamecocks committing > four giveaways on the day. Conversely, Florida did not have a single turnover. > > The UF defense was on point as well, allowing USC a meager 191 total yards, > which included just 36 yards on the ground. In addition to coming up with the > four takeways, the Gators logged four sacks and got 11 tackles from Reginald > Bowens. > > Driskell has been an efficient, if unspectacular, game manager for coach Will > Muschamp's squad this season, completing 66.9 percent of his pass with eight > TDs and only one interception, but he averages just 132.7 ypg. The UF run > game however, has been rather potent, with Mike Gillislee picking up 652 > yards and scoring seven TDs, helping the team churn out 212.7 ypg on the > ground and account for 16 of its 24 offensive scores. > > Florida is averaging 30.1 ppg while allowing just 12.1 ppg, the defensive > yield currently ranking the team fourth in the country. The unit has been > especially tough against the run, as foes are averaging just 3.1 ypc and only > 97.3 ypg. As for their effort against the pass, the Gators have allowed a > grand total of three aerial scores in seven games. Florida has collected 15 > sacks and 16 turnovers. > > Despite their success, Muschamp knows there is still a considerable amount of > work that needs to be done before the team reaches all of its goals. > > "We are very hard self-evaluators and I said if from the beginning that we > watch the film and say what do we need to do better. I stand in front of the > team on Mondays and tell the team what I need to do better as far as managing > the game and how we practice and how we approach the week. I tell them each > week what we need to do to be successful and we self-reflect on what we need > to do." > > The Bulldogs trailed three times in last week's game against Kentucky, but > used a record-setting 427-yard, four-TD pass performance from Aaron Murray to > avoid what would have been a monumental upset. Murray, who now has 16 TD > passes and only four interceptions on the year, set a new school record for > career TD passes and was named the SEC's Offensive Player of the Week as a > result. Both Tavarres King (nine catches, 188 yards, two TDs) and Malcolm > Mitchell (nine catches, 103 yards) had monster receiving days. > > In addition to Murray's exploits (130-of-199, 1,914 yards), the Georgia > offense has gotten production from RBs Todd Gurley (93 carries, 622 yards, > nine TDs) and Keith Marshall (70 carries, 488 yards, five TDs), as well as > King (26 rec., 511 yards, five TDs), Michael Bennett (24 rec., 345 yards, > four TDs) before he suffered a knee injury a few weeks ago that will sideline > him for the remainder of the season, Marlon Brown (22 rec., 326 yards, three > TDs) and Mitchell (18 rec., 229 yards). In all, six guys have at least 100 > receiving yards, helping the UGA offense average 39.6 points and 486.9 total > yards per contest (205.1 ypg rushing, 281.7 ypg passing). > > The Georgia defense has performed much better in the second half of its seven > games to this point, as it has allowed a total of 108 points in the first two > quarters compared to just 61 over the final two. The unit permits 367.4 ypg, > and has come up with just 10 turnovers and 11 sacks. Shawn Williams and > Amarlo Herrera currently sit atop the team's tackles list with 51 and 50, > respectively, while Jarvis Jones has proven his worth in the trenches by > logging a club-best five sacks. > > Kentucky scored the first points of the game last week, and wound up with 206 > rushing yards on 43 attempts (4.8 ypc). The Wildcats finished with just 123 > passing yards, as Alec Ogletree led three UGA defenders in double-digit > tackles with 11. > > Murray knows his team is going to have play exceptionally well in all phases > of the game to have a shot against Florida. > > "At the end of the day, it all depends on how we play next Saturday. We know > we have to play an unbelievable game offensively, defensively and special > teams if we want to have a chance to win that game so we just have to be > ready to go." > > There is no question this game will be physical and feature more than few big > plays, but while the Bulldogs seem to be just getting by at the moment, the > Gators appears to get stronger each week. That said, expect Florida to punch > its ticket to the SEC title tilt with a solid win. > > Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Florida 31, Georgia 21 > -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
