Homecoming week at the University of Florida is typically a lighthearted time of year.
There are fun events all week throughout campus, the annual homecoming parade on Friday and alumni pouring into Gainesville for a weekend to remember their cherished alma mater.
But for the Florida (3-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) football team, the game against Missouri (4-2, 1-1 SEC) on Saturday night is anything but a happy-go-lucky affair.
Saturday evening’s game, which is set to kickoff at 7 and will air on ESPN2, is critical if the Gators want to keep their SEC East title hopes alive.
The SEC East standings currently have No. 10 Georgia at the top with a 3-1 conference record — the one loss coming from South Carolina.
Behind the Bulldogs is Kentucky, whose lone conference loss was the 36-30 triple overtime thriller in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Sept. 13.
Then comes Florida, who is helped by their only two SEC losses coming from West opponents Alabama and LSU. Missouri has a win over South Carolina and lost to Georgia 34-0 last week.
A win over Missouri on Saturday, and the Gators will be in a very favorable position in the East race.
Florida running back Matt Jones believes the path to Atlanta is very clear heading into the game.
"We have next up Missouri, Georgia, Vanderbilt. We’ve got to win like four games straight. They’re all beatable teams," Jones said. "We’ve got it right in our hands. It’s just like taking candy from a baby. We’ve got to go get it. We’re going to execute."
Beating Missouri is much easier said than done. This is a Missouri team that returned eight starters from a squad that made it to the SEC Championship only a year ago before losing to Auburn in the fourth quarter.
On offense, Tigers quarterback Maty Mauk is familiar with the Gators defense — the redshirt sophomore made his first career start against Florida in Columbia, Mo., last year and threw for 295 yards and a touchdown as Missouri took a 36-17 win.
But Mauk is not just a drop-back passer, evidenced by his 110 rushing yards this season.
"Once he gets out of the pocket, now your defense starts to break down and then he’s got a run-pass option and you’ve got to stay in coverage," defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin said. "He is not just a scrambler. He can throw the ball too and he throws it on the run."
Mauk gets help this week as his three veteran wide receivers — Bud Sasser, Darius White and Jimmie Hunt — are all back and fully healthy.
On the defensive side, the Tigers are led by two disruptive defensive linemen in Shane Ray and Markus Golden. Ray currently leads the SEC in sacks (eight) and tackles for loss (12.5), and the duo combined has 71 total tackles.
Florida’s offensive line has given up only five sacks this season, but protecting the quarterback will be crucial this week as true freshman Treon Harris will take snaps on Saturday night.
"They’ve got to understand that it’s going to be a challenge that way and they’re not going to win every battle. And the quarterbacks have to understand that," offensive coordinator Kurt Roper said. "We’ve got to be able to play fast and get the ball out of our hand, because those guys win their fair share of opportunities."
How reps will be split between Harris and the usual starter Jeff Driskel remains to be seen. Muschamp hinted that Driskel would still start, but the fourth-year head coach said he and Roper would make a final decision as gametime approaches.
Follow Morgan Moriarty on Twitter @Morgan_Moriarty
UF football players celebrate following Florida's 36-30 triple-overtime win against Kentucky on Sept. 13 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
