Georgia football is riding high coming off a win over a top five Ole Miss team and subsequent bye week, but they can’t afford to take this week’s annual matchup against their top rival lightly. Florida is playing its first game under interim head coach Billy Gonzales and would like nothing more than to hand the Bulldogs a season-ruining loss.
Though the Gators are just 3-4 overall, they have a talented defense and explosive young playmakers on offense. Florida gave Georgia a run for its money last year and have a stunning upset on their minds this week.
“They do a great job of stopping the run and affecting the passer,” head coach Kirby Smart said via 247sports.com. “A very dominant defensive team in terms of physicality and skill level."
If Georgia wants to avoid the upset and keep their title hopes alive, there’s one area of the game they need to dominate, the turnover battle.
Georgia must dominate the turnover battle vs Florida
The Gators have 12 giveaways this year, and they have cost them in some big spots.
Florida has turned it over twice in each of its last two games and threw five interceptions in a mid-September loss to LSU. They turned it over twice against Texas as well, but two giveaways by the Longhorns helped Florida neutralize the turnover battle and win that game.
The Gators have shot themselves in the foot repeatedly on offense this season, getting in the way of what could be a very effective unit in terms of talent alone. That, compounded with the nation’s 129th-best third down conversion rate at 28.57 percent, has led to a litany of issues.
Quarterback D.J. Lagway has had an up-and-down season this year after coming in with considerable hype. His nine interceptions are the most in the SEC, but even with that, Gonzales insisted that he wants his quarterback to keep taking risks.
"You don't ever want to limit them,” Gonzales said. “You want to take shots and you want to be aggressive. So there's going to be a little bit of give and take in that."
With that mentality, there should be room for the Bulldogs to make a play on the ball or two. And for a defense that has the third-fewest tackles for loss in the country at 27 and the least sacks in the SEC with just eight, they need their big plays to come from somewhere.
Georgia must find a way to disrupt Florida's offense
The Bulldogs haven’t been able to create much disruption on their own defensively this year. A little luck in the turnover department might be able to turn that tide.
So far this year, the Bulldogs have just six takeaways on the season, the third-fewest in the SEC. That number could go up against a Florida team expected to play fast and with nothing to lose.
If the Gators do indeed up their tempo and get more aggressive, it could lead to them being just a bit careless with the ball. In a historic rivalry like this, that could wind up making all the difference.
“You have more explosive plays than them, you're probably going to win. You have less turnovers than them, you're probably going to win,” Smart said. “If you rush the ball better, you've got a good chance of winning. There's things that are facts about that, and then there's things that are just part of history.”
Kickoff between Georgia and Florida is set for Saturday, Nov. 1 at 3:30 pm EST.