Unleashing the Unpredictable: What's Brewing in the Minds of Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs Before the Showdown?

Florida is looking to snap a three-game skid in the series.

By Loren Meadows, GatorBaitMedia.com, Football Analyst

JACKSONVILLE--The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is center stage in Duval County and both teams arrived with the fanfare that brought back memories at the height of this rivalry. Both teams are coming of bye weeks that followed big conference wins. Georgia looks to have righted the ship a little after the early conference loss to Alabama.

While the Gators are in the middle of a possible rebound, with its offense and defense playing much better in the last four contests.

Florida quarterback DJ Lagway has become the full-time starter for the Gators due to the abscence of Graham Mertz. Lagway was impressive in his first SEC start two weeks ago, throwing for 259 against Kentucky which at the time had the SEC's third best passing defense.

Lagway completed throws of 40 yards or more to three different receivers and leads the FBS in 20-plus-yard completion percentage at 63.2%. Chimere Dike and Elijah Badger have emerged as Lagway's top targets and the Gators have six different receivers that have caught a touchdown pass. Badger leads the FBS with 23.8 yards per catch while Dike ranks fifth (20.0).

The running game should recieve a boost from the return of Montrell Johnson, who has been the lead back for the Gators the past two seasons and was absent against Kentucky. The loss of Johnson for the week allowed freshman Jaden Baugh to make his presence known in epic fashion. Baugh rushed for 106 yards and five touchdowns against Kentucky, tying a school record that was held by Trey Burton and Tim Tebow. In their first starts together, Lagway and Baugh became the first freshmen to start in the backfield together in school history.

Georgia is looking to play mistake-free football in an effort not to give the Florida defense any momentum early in the game. Georgia has struggled to run the football and the Gators have had their share of struggles stopping it. Something will need to give in that area.

For the Gators, hot starts have not been a problem in the past few seasons, but holding on has. They will look to make their freshman signal caller as comfortable as they can with a simplistic but agressive attack and take advantage of his ability to get the ball down field. If Lagway can limit mistakes and keep the Georgia defense at bay, then the Gator defense could be in a good position to play rested and with the energy they have shown in the past three weeks.

Who ends up being left with the bill at the Cocktail Party?