Georgia might know Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner better than just about anyone in college football. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that familiarity works both ways.
Before joining Jon Sumrall's staff at Florida, Faulkner spent three seasons orchestrating Georgia Tech's offense, where he repeatedly found ways to challenge Kirby Smart's defense despite what was perceived as a significant talent disadvantage.
Before that, Faulkner spent three seasons working inside Georgia's football program, helping the Bulldogs win back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 alongside former offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
Now, as Florida prepares to face Georgia in Mercedes-Benz Stadium rather than the rivalry's traditional home, Faulkner has an opportunity to put that experience to work against his former employer.
He might not have beaten Georgia during his time at Georgia Tech, but he certainly knows how to make the Bulldogs uncomfortable, and if that happens on Saturday, Georgia's offense could find itself in another shootout.
Buster Faulkner has already proven he can challenge Georgia's defense
Georgia won all three meetings against Georgia Tech while Faulkner was running the Yellow Jackets' offense from 2023 through 2025. But "won" is a relative term, as none of those victories came easily.
All three games were decided by one possession, with the most impressive Yellow Jackets' offensive performance coming in 2024.
Georgia Tech piled up 563 yards of total offense, including 260 rushing yards, in a 44-42 loss that required eight overtimes to settle. Quarterback Haynes King repeatedly frustrated Georgia's defense with his ability to make plays through the air and on the ground.
Georgia eventually found a better answer in 2025, holding Georgia Tech without a touchdown in a 16-9 victory. Still, the fact that Faulkner's offense kept all three matchups competitive speaks to the problems his approach can create.
And Smart isn't pretending otherwise.
"Just think he's one of the best offensive minds in the country," Smart said this week while discussing his former assistant.
That's high praise coming from a coach who has spent years building one of college football's most consistently formidable defensive programs.
Faulkner's Georgia experience could give Florida another advantage
What makes Faulkner particularly intriguing in this matchup isn't simply his success against Georgia's defense. It's that he also understands how Smart's program operates from the inside.
Faulkner served as an offensive quality control assistant and quarterbacks coach at Georgia from 2020 through 2022, working closely with offensive coordinator Todd Monken and quarterback Stetson Bennett.
He was part of the offensive staff that helped Georgia win consecutive national championships and gained firsthand experience with the preparation, practice habits, and game-planning process that made the Bulldogs so successful.
Bennett even described Faulkner as an "important intermediary" between himself and Monken during games, showing how much responsibility and weight the assistant carried despite his relatively modest job title.
That doesn't mean Faulkner knows exactly what Georgia will do defensively on Saturday. Personnel changes, evolving schemes, and weekly adjustments make that impossible. But understanding how Smart approaches opponents, what Georgia emphasizes during preparation, and how the Bulldogs handle in-game adjustments could be valuable.
It's one thing to study Georgia's defense on film. It's another to have spent three seasons working alongside the coaches responsible for building the program and coaching against that defense every day.
Faulkner has done both.
Now he gets another opportunity to apply those lessons, this time with Florida's offense at his disposal. While Georgia has consistently found a way to beat Faulkner's Georgia Tech offenses, the Bulldogs also experienced firsthand how difficult those offenses can be to stop.
For Florida, that experience could be one of the most valuable assets it brings into Saturday's rivalry showdown.
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