On Saturday, a football game played in Jacksonville will actually matter.
This year’s showdown between Florida and Georgia is a bigger deal than the other recent installments in the storied rivalry.
For the first time since 2008, both the Gators and the Bulldogs are ranked in the Top 10 of the BCS standings as they enter their annual meeting.
Even more intriguing are the stakes.
The winner of this game will clinch the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division and advance to a de facto national semifinal in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on Dec. 1.
Put simply, Saturday’s game is a big deal.
But UF coach Will Muschamp and his players aren’t giving off that vibe.
Florida would have you believe its preparation methods for Bowling Green and Georgia are identical. For the Gators, every team on the schedule is full of nameless, faceless players.
“Nothing’s changed for us,” Muschamp said. “We’re not working any longer, harder. Practice, it’s all the same. We don’t approach things differently based on the situation because next week’s important, too.”
Granted, staying the course and keeping an even keel is smart.
Florida’s steady approach has worked to perfection so far this season.
However, treating the Bulldogs as simply another opponent is just downright silly.
C’mon! Show a little leg! Where’s the bravado?
The rivalry is called the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, and the Gators are sitting quietly in the corner sipping sweet tea. Wake up!
The final score be damned, Georgia annihilated Florida last season.
The Bulldogs had 23 first downs compared to the Gators’ 11.
UGA gained 185 yards in the ground game, and UF lost 19.
Perhaps most disturbing for the Gators: The Bulldogs snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Georgia erased a 17-3 Florida lead by scoring two touchdowns on fourth down.
The Bulldogs offense controlled the second half, amassing nearly 21 minutes of possession after halftime, including the game’s final 5:32.
Meanwhile, the Gators’ offense could not gain any traction in the second half, recording just one first down in the final 30 minutes.
“We felt like it was a game we let slip away,” Muschamp said.
The beatdown Georgia administered to Florida last season should embarrass the Gators even more than the Bulldogs’ team-wide touchdown celebration five years ago.
Georgia slowly and methodically crushed Florida’s spirit, emphatically hammering the final nail into the coffin that was UF’s winless October.
The Gators should be angry, hurting from last season’s humiliation. Instead, they label Saturday’s game a rivalry and carry on.
“I don’t want to say revenge,” Jeff Driskel said. “We’re just going to go out there and play hard and practice hard, you know, work hard this week.”
Maybe Muschamp is pumping up this game to his players behind closed doors. Perhaps the “nameless, faceless” mantra is merely an act to avoid a sparring war with Georgia coach Mark Richt, who has been brash in the media regarding Florida in the past.
The Gators’ showdown with the Bulldogs on Saturday is the most important game of the season not because it’s the next one, but because of what it represents.
Just like every year, reaching Atlanta has been Florida’s end game since the season began.
Saturday’s contest is the culmination of that journey.
Beating Georgia means more than just another win, and the Gators should act like it.
Contact Joe Morgan at joemorgan@alligator.org.
Coach Will Muschamp reacts to a pass interference penalty during the second half of Florida’s 24-20 loss to Georgia on Oct. 29, 2011. The Gators have a chance to avenge last year's loss against the Bulldogs on Saturday in Jacksonville.
