Fresh off a bye week, the 7-0 Georgia Bulldogs travel to Jacksonville, FL to face off against the 3-3 Florida Gators. Georgia leads the all-time series with Florida 50-43-2, including 43-41-1 in Jacksonville. The Gators have won the last three meetings following three straight Bulldog wins from 2011-13. Georgia is 11-2-1 when it enters the Florida game undefeated or untied. Saturday will mark the 6th time in the series when Georgia is playing Florida following a bye week (Georgia is 2-3 against the Gators following a bye).
Georgia enters the game as the No. 3 ranked team in both the AP and Coaches poll. Georgia is one of eight remaining undefeated teams in the AP poll this week. The Bulldogs are looking to go 8-0 for the eighth time in school history (most recently in 2002).
The Gators are coached by Jim McElwain (22-11), who is in his third year at the helm in Gainesville. Florida returns 14 starters from a 2016 squad that won the SEC East and finished 9-4 with a loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship game and a victory over Iowa in the Outback Bowl.
The Gators have utilized multiple quarterbacks so far this season with Feleipe Franks, Luke Del Rio and Malik Zaire all seeing action. With Del Rio going down with an injury, it appears that Feleipe Franks has asserted himself as the starting signal-caller. Entering the game against the Bulldogs, Franks has completed 64% of passes with 4 TDs and 3 interceptions. Franks showed his versatility as a passer/runner in his last outing against Texas A&M when he ripped off a 79 yard run.
Defensively, the Gators are led by senior cornerback Duke Dawson. Dawson enters the game with 2 interceptions and 7 pass breakups.
The Gators haven’t been afraid to talk a little trash in the buildup to the game. Safety Chauncey Gardner commented on Jake Fromm’s success by saying “He’s throwing simple passes. I get it. Anybody can throw a slant.” Furthermore, Gator wide receiver Josh Hammond said “They might be the No. 3 team … but they can’t beat Florida.” For their part the Bulldogs have been mostly tight-lipped this week saying only that they expect a good challenge and they intend to let their play on the field do the talking.
Currently, Vegas has the Bulldogs as a 14 point favorite with a total of 43.5 for the game in Jacksonville. Kickoff time is scheduled for 3:39 PM from EverBank Field and the game can be seen CBS.
