Following the No. 10 Florida Gators 24-17 loss to No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs (rankings updated with new AP Poll Sunday November 3) GatorBait's Kassidy Hill along with Gator Territory's Jacquie Franciulli bring you their post game analysis and a look into the post game press conference with head coach Dan Mullen and players. Follow the link here or click through the window below to watch.

JACKSONVILLE, FL—This game was supposed to mean everything for the No. 6 Florida Gators. It was a chance to all but stamp their ticket to Atlanta for the SEC Championship and perhaps weasel their way into the College Football Playoff. It was a chance for a statement game against the biggest rival, a game that head coach Dan Mullen and players had hyped all offseason. But for the third year in a row—second under Dan Mullen—the Gators found themselves walking off the field at TIAA Bank Stadium with a solemn quietness, trudging into the tunnel as the No. 8 Georgia Bulldogs celebrated with stadium jumps and cartwheels into the endzone behind them. Georgia has become the standard bearer in the SEC East, representing the division in the championship game the past two seasons. So how far does Mullen think his Gators are behind Kirby Smart’s program? “Seven points.” The 24-17 loss means his math checks out. On Saturday afternoon though, with a chilly wind coming off the St. John’s River and creating an overcast day in Jacksonville, the seven points are not what told the story. The story—by the numbers anyways—lies in the stat 12-18. That’s how many 3rd downs the Bulldogs were able to convert. "I mean, that was a telling story. I feel like we did a good job of stopping the run but we didn't get off the field,” explained linebacker David Reese (six tackles). "It sucks. They've got good running backs and I feel like we maintained 'em. [D’Andre] Swift is a great back, probably one of the best backs in the country, so just know we did a good job on him and couldn't get off the field on third downs, it was a little frustrating.” The Gators did bottle up Swift, comparatively, holding him to 110 yards total (86 yards rushing on 25 touches, 24 yards receiving on one catch). The back only has two games with less production this season: Murray State, when he didn’t play the second half, and Notre Dame. But Swift wasn’t the biggest issue for the Gators defense on Saturday. Georgia’s Jake Fromm (20-30, 279 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT) went to seven different guys on third down. It was also the first time Jake Fromm has won a game in which he threw for 30 or more passes. “It sucks,” linebacker Jon Greenard said, echoing Reese. “If we get off the field right there the game changes. When you stay on the field you get tired and they get their rhythm, run more plays to get us tired. That’s when stuff happens, mistakes happen and that’s when they get you.” Adds Mullen on what the 3rd down issue was, “you can go in every direction you want to go. We had missed tackles, they got helped out a couple times, you know. Missed coverage, so…” The “help” Mullen mentioned came on a completion that kept a Georgia drive alive. In the middle of the second quarter, with Florida trailing only 3-0, on a 3rd and six from the UF 22-yard line, Jake Fromm threw a towards the sideline to a waiting Lawerence Cager. The receiver broke away from CJ Henderson and went low; the leather appeared to bobble through his hands and hit the ground before he gained control. The review determined Cager had control. "I just looked at the Jumbotron, so I saw what you saw,” explained Mullen. “I asked the official, but they said that decision's made in Birmingham [in the league office]. So they couldn't even give me an explanation. That's a question for them.” To this point in the season, no calls from the Florida media beat to the league office concerning officiating questions have been returned. With the defense unable to get off the field on 3rd down, the offense had little time to work with and trouble converting on 3rd down themselves. The Gators ran 52 plays to Georgia’s 67 and 33%—a third—of those Gators plays came on their final drive in the 4th quarter. “The only people we can be disappointed with is ourselves because they didn’t do anything we didn’t expect them to do,” admits Gators quarterback Kyle Trask (21-33, 257 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT). “We prepared for everything and it was more disappointment because we’re executing our things, we should have done right.” Adds receiver Freddie Swain (8-91, 1TD), “It was just miscommunication, penalties on us, we were shooting ourselves in the foot. Those 11 guys are pretty good but it wasn’t really nothing that they were doing that was stop us like that. It was kinda us stopping ourselves so I would say that’s what it was, miscommunication.” Florida only had four offensive penalties for 20 yards and they weren’t the biggest issue on that side of the ball. The Gators weren’t able to find a groove all day. Things clicked early with Kyle Pitts, the tight end grabbing two receptions on the opening drive for 14-yard and 11-yard respectively. Then one of those miscommunications that Swain mentioned faltered the drive. A late substitution when Mullen sent Perine back into the game meant that the official had to stand over the ball and allow the defense time to substitute as well. That’s time that comes off the play clock since the offense has to allow for the change. The clock ticked down and Mullen was forced to call a timeout. The drive eventually stalled and called for a punt. Kyle Trask looked somewhat flustered for the first time since taking over for the injured Feleipe Franks, twice scrambling backwards and taking sacks that accounted for a total of 29 yards lost, instead of throwing the ball away. “Just a learning experience for him. That’ll be a learning experience. We’ll coach that. We’ll teach that. Sometimes trying to do too much. Just take what the defense gives ya. Got behind the chains a couple times with certain things. He’ll learn from those,” said Mullen. The Gators were able to overcome some miscommunications and put together their two best drives in the 4th quarter. The first ended with a lofted arc to Van Jefferson (2-31, 1TD). The senior receiver climbed the ladder to catch the ball in air, his body and the ball breaking the plane enough that even when he came down back in the field of play, the touchdown stood. Then with 10:01 left in the game and down by two scores, the Gators took the ball back. A 17 play, 75-yard drive that took 6:50 off the clock. The time ticked below four minutes with the Gators within the redzone and it took three plays following for Trask to deliver a quick shot to Swain to make it a one score game. But by then there was only 3:11 to go in the game and the ball was going back to an offense that had milked the clock all day. “I mean when you’re down two, you’ve got to score once first,” said Mullen of the decision to drag out the drive. “So it is, let’s make sure we put a solid drive together and get the touchdown first, and we did that and that’s kind of the whole thought that goes into that, you know. Don’t panic, don’t need to panic, run our offense, execute our offense, let’s take it down the field. We executed clean, we punched it in.” It was just too little, too late. In a fitting ending to the game, Georgia took the field with those 3+ minutes left and on a 3rd and 7 from their own 34-yard line, Fromm dropped back and found the tight end Eli Wolf down the sideline that roped the Gators team. They connected for a 22-yard completion that meant the Bulldogs could run out the rest of the clock. Now, Florida returns home. They’re right in the middle of the Top 10 and have losses to only other Top 10 teams (No. 1 LSU, No. 8 Georgia) so where they will fall is up for debate. We’ll find out Sunday. Then next Saturday, Florida will face Vanderbilt with the SEC Championship mathematically still in reach. It’s unlikely at this point, as this head-to-head win against Georgia was crucial. Saturday in Jacksonville wasn’t kind to the Florida Gators. That all important game tripped them up once again. But, perhaps mirroring last season when Florida ended on an impressive four game win streak that extended into 2019 as a 10-game win streak, what this team is capable of is for from over according to Trask, and they plan on proving that once again. “I think this an elite football team. I think it’s just lack of execution, it wasn’t anything talent wise. We are an elite team. We just execute at a higher level early in games and finish drives and I think we can play with anybody in the country.”

JACKSONVILLE – This was college football's equivalent of death by a thousand cuts. Describing Florida's 24-17 loss to 8th-ranked Georgia (7-1, 4-1 SEC), Dan Mullen shook his head, shrugged his shoulders and said, “You can go in any direction you want to go.” There were far too many missed tackles. There were plenty of blown coverages. When the Gators needed pressure on the quarterback there was none. It took forever for Florida to mount a serious offensive threat. There were play calls for everything Georgia threw at the 6th-ranked Gators (7-2, 4-2 SEC), but something got lost in translation from the play calls from the sideline to the execution on the field. The Gators' first two drives of the game were a microcosm of what went wrong on the offensive side of the ball in the first three quarters. Mullen had to call a time out on Florida's first drive. It was third-and-one from the Georgia 40 but when the Gators broke the huddle there were only 10 players on the field. Lamical Perine came rushing on but Mullen had to call time to avoid a delay of game. Then came a false start that made it third-and-six, a Kyle Trask-to-Perine pass that looked like it got the first down but was reversed on replay. On fourth down just about everyone in the stadium thought the Georgia defender interfered with Kyle Pitts. The zebra didn't see it that way and it was non-reviewable even though replay showed Pitts being mugged by Richard LeCount. On Florida's second series with the Gators trailing 3-0, there was a substitution infraction when the huddle broke with 12 players that turned second-and-10 into second-and-15. That was followed by a 10-yard sack. “We had the wrong personnel on the field,” Mulle said. The first two drives we had two different things. We had the wrong personnel on the field for the play call. We had 10 men on the field and then they didn't get lined up right.” And that was just what was going wrong with the offense. Over on the defensive side of the ball, coordinator Todd Grantham did his best to get pressure on Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm without blitzing. With no pressure to speak of, Fromm had enough time to order pizza from Papa John's and hand out slices to his teammates while waiting for someone to get open. Of Georgia's 12 third down conversions (in 18 attempts), Fromm found an open receiver for the first down. Georgia's first touchdown was a third down conversion on which Marco Wilson tried to throw a cross body block to the legs of Dominick Blaylock instead of trying to wrap him up with his arms. Blaylock bounced off the hit and went the final three yards for the TD that gave Georgia a 10-0 lead. There was a critical third down conversion on Georgia's drive to a field goal that increased the lead to 13-3 just prior to the half. That one was a 12-yard pass from Fromm to Lawrence Cager, who made a dive for the ball at the 10. Ruled a catch on the field, it went to replay and while all the angles showed the point of the ball touching the ground, the replay folks in Birmingham refused to overrule the zebras. On that same drive, there was also a pass interference call that gave Georgia a first down at the Florida 26. “We had a penalty that gave them a first down; we had a 'call stands' which I thought that was one of the biggest plays of the game,” Mullen said. In a best case scenario, that drive would have been snuffed out and instead of a 13-3 halftime lead it would have only been 10-3, so it really had little to do with the outcome but it was atypical of the kind of day it was for the Gators. It wasn't until the fourth quarter that the Gators finally found themselves offensively, but their two touchdowns – a 23-yard Trask to Van Jefferson pass and a two-yarder from Trask to Freddie Swain – sandwiched the Georgia touchdown that sealed Florida's defeat. That one was a 52-yard pass from Fromm to Cager, a play in which there were two Georgia receives and only one defender. Fromm simply picked the wide open receiver and Cager stolled into the end zone. This was the first touchdown pass of the season from Fromm that covered more than 14 yards. Take that play away and Georgia could have very well finished off the drive by taking more time off the clock, but the blown coverage was just one more play on a long list of mistakes the Gators made. Georgia limited its mistakes. Florida made more than Mullen could have hoped to recall on short notice in his post game press conference. The Gators gave up only two touchdowns, both on mistakes. Georgia kicked three field goals, each one aided by critical third down conversions. Indeed, death by a thousand cuts. To Florida's credit, the Gators didn't roll over and die, but you don't beat a team that has been there and done that as Georgia has the last three years if you can't get them off the field. The two fourth quarter touchdown drives showed what Florida can do in the passing game and those two scores would have been enough to win the game if not for the inability to get some three-and-outs. But it turned out to be a case of too little too late when coupled with inadequate defense. This isn't a bad Florida football team. Far from it. The Gators are very good but on this day they needed to be elite and they weren't. Elite teams down't spend critical, must win games playing from behind because they can't get the other team off the field on third down. Elite teams don't kill their own offensive momentum for three quarters and them expect to have enough in the tank to rally late. Georgia may not be an elite team either, but if nothing else, the Bulldogs are efficient. They didn't beat themselves Saturday. For the most part, any time they needed a play they got one whether by their own ability or Florida's inability to make a play. Florida, on the other hand, kept firing away at its own feet with what seemed like ammunition clips that never ran out of bullets. With the win Georgia has the tiebreaker which means it can absorb a loss in one of its three remaining SEC games and still win the Southeastern Conference East Division even if the Gators go 2-0 the rest of the way. All the Gators can do now is win these last two SEC games (Vanderbilt next week in Gainesville and Missouri on the road the following week) and hope that somehow Georgia stumbles twice, which seems highly unlikely. It would have been so much easier had the Gators played at a highly efficient level Saturday, but they didn't. Georgia was and is a beatable team but to beat the Bulldogs you have to keep your mistakes to an absolute minimum. So a Saturday that began with so much hope ended in a massive disappointment caused by self-inflicted wounds. “The only people we can be disappointed with is ourselves because they did nothing that we didn't expect them to do,” a clearly disappointed Trask said post game. “We prepared for everything and it was more disappointing because we weren't executing on things that we expected we should've done right.”

An entire season isn’t defined by one game…but the narrative around the No. 6 Florida Gators will most certainly be shaped by what happens this weekend. Saturday pits those Gators against their most hated rival, the No. 8 Georgia Bulldogs, in a de facto play-in game for the SEC Championship—and on the flip side, essentially an elimination for the loser. One of these two teams lead or are in the top of the SEC in nearly every category. This is only the eighth time in the series when both teams are coming off a bye week. Georgia is 4-3 against the Gators following both teams having a bye week. This marks the 27th time in the series that the Gators have had an open date before the matchup. Florida is 18-8 against the Bulldogs after an open date. Georgia is 7-6 following a bye week before playing the Gators, including a 26-17 win last year. Before you head into the fray that is the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party, get ready for the game with these five last things. One Thing to Remember The past 13 matchups, 2006-2018, the team that has rushed for the most yards has won the game. This doesn’t bode particularly well for the Gators given that Georgia averages 236.86, 15th best in the FBS and 3rd in the SEC. The Gators average 142.38 per game, 90th in the FBS and 11th in the SEC. Florida has improved on their rushing performance in the last two games, rushing for 146 against LSU and 154 against South Carolina, their best performance against an FBS team. They also averaged 5.13 yards per rush against the Gamecocks, the best performance of the season save the 6.0 averaged against FCS opponent UT Martin. Georgia’s rushing defense is holding teams to an average of 85.71 yards per game, best in the SEC. That number though is dragged though by a three game stretch in the beginning against FCS Murray State (23 yards) along with Arkansas State (43) and Notre Dame (46). The Bulldogs have given up 142 and 160 rushing yards respectively their last two games. So what does all this mean? It means for one that the trench battle between the Gators defensive line and Georgia’s offensive line will be key, which we’ll discuss more below. It also means that the Gators likely won’t be able to run the ball up the middle. That’s fine, they haven’t had tons of success doing so yet. The run blocking by the Gators offensive line has improved in recent weeks but head coach Dan Mullen will most likely send runs towards the edge or at the very most, around the tackles. The former is an area that has benefited Lamical Perine and the latter has seen success from Dameon Pierce. But we could see more sweeps and swings to players capable of finding a seam on the edge which brings us too… One Florida Player to Remember Kadarius Toney should be back from his shoulder injury suffered in week 2 and ready to play on Saturday. The Gators Swiss army knife has impressed his teammates all week in practice. Josh Hammond said his speed is still second to none while both Van Jefferson and Tyrie Cleveland hinted at a play from Toney in practice that left them shocked. Said Jefferson, “[Tuesday] he was going crazy out there, it’s like he never left. It’s been great to have him back. I think he is going to be a real big factor in the game on Saturday. I love having him on the other side of me because he is a mismatch for anybody that is guarding him, so I’m glad to have him back… I can’t say all that [he did] but you know he did some things out there today, I mean we see on the regular but just him coming back, we’re like ‘ok KT’s back’ so I can’t wait to see him on Saturday.” Added Cleveland, “he been gone for six weeks now he comes back in so most teams couldn't game plan him so most teams think he's just a one type player but we've got a lot of tricks up our sleeve.” We’re also going to throw in Kyle Pitts here. The Gators tight end is a mismatch for any defender that tries to cover him and as such is the Gators leading receiver. He could be a chess piece that Mullen moves around the field to find advantageous matchups. One UGA Player to Remember On the other side, the Dawgs have their own Swiss army knife in D’Andre Swift. He’s received high praise from Gator coaches and players all week with linebacker Jon Greenard saying, “Everything revolves around Swift. If he’s going they’re going to keep feeding him if he’s not they’re going to find a way to get him the ball and get some other playmakers involved. Everything goes through him.” Related: Gators defense turning all eyes towards Swift Swift is responsible for the second most of Georgia’s offensive yards save quarterback Jake Fromm. Mullen mentioned more than once that you couldn’t leave him one-on-one which means there will be a concerted defensive effort just to stopping D’Andre Swift. If the Gators can shut him down, then they have a decent shot of shutting down the bulk of the Georgia offense. Given that Swift is a threat in both the rushing game and the pass, we could see a lot of Amari Burney, the Gators sophomore money linebacker who's also capable of sliding up to the nickel STAR spot. One Big Question Can the returners make a difference? We already discussed the impact Kadarius Toney could have by rejoining the lineup but he’s not the only one with a potential to be a difference maker in this game. The defensive front will see the return of Jon Greenard and Jabari Zuniga who have both missed a handful of games in such a way that the two haven’t played a game together since the season opener against Miami. In that game, the Gators held the Hurricanes to 87 rushing yards while tallying 10 sacks. On Saturday in Jacksonville though, the duo—along with Adam Shuler and Kyree Campbell inside—will be taking on the largest, literally the largest, offensive line in college football. The projected starters for the O-line average 328 lb. The Gators defensive front starters average 272 lb. Florida knows they’re not as big; they’ve admitted as such all season. But they’re fast off the edge and adding Greenard and Zuniga back gives speed that has been missing. Related: Read what Kirby Smart said about UGA's offensive line versus Gators defensive line Says Greenard, “On paper, they definitely have the biggest O-line I’ve probably seen. But we also have one of the best d-lines they’ll probably see. I like our matchup. I like us against anybody. Their size will be a factor, but we’ve got guys that lift weights just like they lift weights. We’ve got guys that put our pads on the same way they put their pads on. We’re just going to have to strap it up and line it up. We’re ready. They’re going to be ready. Let’s get it. “We don’t switch our game. Just come out there play physical. We know what they want to do. They want to run the ball, impose their will, use their big, physical O-linemen, which they do very well. But we just gotta break it. I like our chances. I like my boys.” Florida has 29 sacks this season, 8th in the FBS and best in the SEC. Georgia's offensive line has allowed only four all season, best in the entire country. One Last Prediction When I just think about it, I say Florida. When I start to lay it out on paper and look at what the Bulldogs bring to the field, I want to stay Georgia. But I’m going with my gut. Florida has put their entire offseason focus on this game. Typically that can hurt a team and it didn’t pay off for Florida last year. But they’ve lost one game in the past 11 and a large part of that is by letting themselves get amped for certain games. It’s what won the Miami game, it’s what helped at Kentucky and it’s definitely—in my opinion—what won the Auburn game. Dan Mullen has proven he knows how to correctly handle the emotions of a team and use it to their advantage. As ambiguous and illogical as that sounds, it’s been my argument all season for certain games and it’s holding true to this point. So I’m not changing my mind yet. I do however think this game will be more high scoring than others. Florida 38-34

WILL THIS BE A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER? Despite the Vegas oddsmaker's love affair with 8th-ranked Georgia (6-1, 3-1 SEC), there are substantially good reasons to believe the 6th-ranked Florida Gators (7-1, 4-1 SEC) are going to walk away from Jacksonville Saturday halfway home on their four-game elimination SEC East Division elimination series. With a win Saturday, the Gators will have a one-game lead over the Poodles and they'll own the tiebreaker. If the Gators get the win – and I think they will – they'll only need wins over Vanderbilt and Missouri to claim the SEC East outright and a win over FSU in the season finale to make this truly a November to remember. Here are three very good reasons why I believe the Gators win Saturday and send Georgia fans everywhere to the nearest ledge wondering what went wrong in a boom (national championship) or bust (second place to Florida in the SEC East) season: (1) Kyle Trask is the best quarterback Georgia has faced this season: Earlier in the week, Georgia linebacker Monty Rice admitted, “I don't think we've faced a quarterback as good as Trask this year.” No kidding. Before he got hurt, South Carolina freshman Ryan Hilinski was busy carving up the Georgia defense. Hilinski is good and one day he's going to be great, but he's not as good as Kyle Trask. Georgia will try to confuse Trask with exotic looks and blitzes. Trask can say been there, done that and he won't flinch. (2) Florida's offensive line can handle the Georgia pass rush: LSU brought the kitchen sink against Trask and only got to him twice. That was in Death Valley where the decibel level made it tough to hear yet Florida's O-line handled both the noise and the rush. Of Georgia's 16 sacks this year, the Poodles have only six in their four SEC games. Also, only two (count 'em) of their sacks have been registered by their defensive line. Georgia is going to have to expend so much energy trying to get to Trask that it's going to open the field for a quick hitter in the passing game and in the second half, the Gators will pop some big plays in the running game. Think Lamical Perine vs. Auburn. Think Dameon Pierce vs. South Carolina. (3) Florida can cover the Poodle receivers one-on-one and load the box to stop the run: One of the real benefits of getting Jabari Zuniga and Jonathan Greenard back is Todd Grantham won't have to blitz to get pressure on Jake Fromm (State Farm). The Gators will also be able to play press coverage and load up the box. That's what South Carolina did and while the Poodles did run for 173 yards, they averaged only 4.02 per carry, which is very ordinary. Georgia doesn't have receivers capable of stretching the Florida defense so the Gators will be able to keep everything in front of them. The Sayer says sooth: Since the start of the season Georgia hasn't gotten any better and what the Poodles last two games have taught us is they are ready for a serious fall. Florida, meanwhile, has been getting better every week and now the Gators are healthy. The Gators are going to win the turnover battle and In the fourth quarter will bust this one wide open. FLORIDA 28, Georgia 17 THE SEC SOOTHSAYER #11 Auburn (6-2, 3-2 SEC) 41, Ole Miss (3-5, 2-3 SEC) 24: Ole Miss will have all sorts of problems trying to run the ball against Auburn's defense and Bo Nix will find it a whole lot easier to throw the ball against Ole Miss than he did last week against LSU. Texas A&M (5-3, 3-2 SEC) 56, Texas San-Antonio (3-4) 7: Jimbo will get the Aggies bowl eligible with an easy win against Paycheck Tech. It will be all but over by the time the clock starts ticking in the second quarter. South Carolina (3-5, 2-4 SEC) 32, Vanderbilt (2-5, 1-3 SEC) 21: If the Gamecocks are going to get to a bowl game, they've got to win this one. As for Vandy, if Derek Mason intends on being the HBC at Vandy next year, he has to win this one. He won't. Arkansas (2-6, 0-5 SEC) 21, Mississippi State (3-5, 1-4 SEC) 20: Arkansas hasn't won an SEC game since October 28, 2017. The Hogs have a real shot to break that 16-game SEC losing streak against a Mississippi State team that is fading fast and teetering on the verge of mailing it in the rest of the season. Tennessee (3-5, 2-3 SEC) 28, UAB (6-1) 24: How will the Vols handle success after blowing out South Carolina last week? UAB has a shot at nailing the hide of an SEC team on its barn door if the Vols don't come into this one fully focused. COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY: EDITION 10 Extinct Species List Chris Ash, Rutgers: If they're smart they'll do whatever it takes to bring back Greg Schiano to pick up the pieces and start over. Nobody ever said Rutgers was smart. On Life Support Lovie Smith, Illinois: The Illini just might buy Lovie one more year. They're 4-4 with Rutgers this week, a bad Michigan State the week after then they finish up with a very good Iowa team and a bad Northwestern team. If there aren't two wins in there to make the Illini bowl eligible, then Lovie deserves to get pink slipped. Bob Davie, New Mexico: Before his QB unzipped and whipped it out to a woman in a parking garage on campus, Davie could at least point to the fact his players don't embarrass the program the way they did when Mike Locksley was the head coach. Only four games remain in the Bob Davie Farewell Tour. Phil Montgomery, Tulsa: Tulsa almost won a game last week against Memphis, the second straight almost win for the Golden Hurricane. By the time Two Lane gets through with Tulsa Time on Saturday it will ensure a third straight losing season and end any pretense of Montgomery that he will live to coach another year. Mike Bobo, Colorado State: The Fighting Bobos play UNLV this week. It will seem like a playoff game with the losing coach first to get fired. With Air Force, Wyoming and Boise State the last three games on the regular season schedule, UNLV will be the final win of the Bobo era should the Lambs win this one. Tony Sanchez, UNLV: The only thing that can save Sanchez is to win the last four games for a 6-6 regular season that will get the Rebels to a bowl game. That isn't going to happen. These guys are really bad. How did Vanderbilt manage to lose to UNLV? Derek Mason, Vanderbilt: Oh how they hate to fire coaches at Vandy but since James Franklin proved you can win there, the pinot grigio and camembert tailgate folks want someone who can (a) win and (b) convince folks to attend games. If Vandy can't get to five wins Mason won't be able to convince administration that he's got the program pointed in the right direction. Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion: There is only one winnable game remaining on the schedule which means ODU will go 1-11 or 2-10 which means Bobby Wilder, the only coach the school has known since it revived football, will be looking for gainful employment elsewhere. Endangered Species List Joe Moorhead, Mississippi State: Mississippi State's run of nine straight bowl games is in serious jeopardy. So is Joe Moorhead's job. Alums and boosters are well aware that Dan Mullen left a roster that should have won 10 games last year (Moorhead won eight) and there is enough talent to win eight this year but the Bulldogs will struggle to get to six. If the Bulldogs lose to Arkansas, buzzards will begin circling in StarkVegas. Randy Edsall, UConn: UConn won a game last week. Okay, it was UMass so it wasn't like it was a real team they beat. Edsall is a rotten coach and they can't afford the buyout but the UConn administration didn't get $41 million (and counting) in debt by accident. Firing Edsall would be the smart thing to do for football but the dumb thing to do for the athletic department. Clay Helton, Southern Cal: If he beats Oregon Saturday – the game is played in LA – he might very well postpone his firing for at least another year. USC doesn't have an athletic director yet and the interim and school prez aren't going to hire someone they like ahead of the new AD. Of course, if Oregon puts the whammy on the Trojans, there will be buzzards sitting on the power lines that surround the USC football complex. Kilani Sitaki, BYU: The Cougars are 3-4 and need to win four of their last five to save Sitaki's job. If they lose to Utah State Saturday that would make them oh-fer the State of Utah and that wouldn't settle well with the LDS brethren who long for the thrilling days of yesteryear when LaVell Edwards was good for 10 wins a season. Chad Morris, Arkansas: They really would like to give him three years, but if he goes oh-fer the SEC for a second straight year the AD will start asking the billionaires who spend like crazy to have their names on facilities to pony up the $10 million or so it will take to buy him out. That's tip money to these guys. Frank Wilson, Texas-San Antonio: The Roadrunners will finish 4-8 if they're lucky. It doesn't help that each loss brings more empty seats. Beads of Sweat Forming Steve Addazio, Boston College: Losing by 52 to Clemson didn't exactly help his cause but if he can win two more games, another 6-6 season is assured, therefore another year of sweating out gainful employment. Charlie Strong, South Florida: The Bulls had an impressive 25-point win over ECU last week and the next three games are homers. They probably won't fire Charlie because they can't afford the buyout but win two of the next three and his underarms will be a lot drier. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State: The Spartans are a bad football team with a horrible offense and Dantonio is going to have to answer questions under oath about former player Auston Robertson in a very messy lawsuit. Dantonio's seat isn't on fire yet, but it could be. Saved by the Buyout Willie Taggart, Florida State: The boosters will be hopping mad if the Seminoles lose to Miami this week, but if they win they'll be a game away from bowl eligible. Of course, that will mean another year of the Taggart era. Winning, you see, doesn't cure everything. Even if they could hold enough car washes and bake sales to Free Willie they don't have enough cash to buy out the assistants and then bring in a decent coach to clean up the mess. Chip Kelly, UCLA: The glass half full folks think the Bruins have turned the corner with their two-game winning streak. The glass half empty folks see four straight losses on the horizon and a 3-9 record. Doesn't matter. Win or lose any or all of the last four and Kelly will still be the coach next year because UCLA can't afford to fire him. GOOD QUOTES FOR FRIDAY Bruce Feldman of The Athletic predicting the Florida-Georgia outcome: “The Gators are getting some of their most talented players back, and they have been more impressive than the Dawgs, but the hunch here is that Kirby Smart will get them dialed in after a few clunker performances. Georgia wins the game by being more physical. Georgia 20, Florida 17” Stewart Mandel of The Athletic predicting the Florida-Georgia outcome: “Tough, tough call. Georgia's defense is capable of dominating this game, but its offense has had major issues for weeks. Meanwhile, Florida is getting back star defensive ends Jabari Zuniga and Jonathan Greenard, plus explosive WR Kadarius Toney, who's been out since Week 2. This feels like Florida's year. Florida 24, Georgia 21” RANDOM THOUGHTS: Michigan State's best player, All-Big Ten linebacker Joe Bachie, has been ruled ineligible after testing positive for PED use … After a 12-year absence, the Hula Bowl is returning, featuring college players from the US, Australia and Japan ... There is one less undefeated team in Division I after Georgia Southern upset 20th-ranked Appalachian State 24-21 Thursday night … Fox coverage of the World Series earned the third worst ratings in history … The San Francisco 49ers remained unbeaten Thursday night with a 28-25 win over Arizona … Baylor is 8-0 after its 17-14 win over West Virginia.

By BUDDY MARTIN GatorBait Editor In these days of trying to adjudicate neutral site games, there is a real danger of college football stepping on its own toes and doing the very opposite of what it needs to do: Not broadening appeal of the big games and adding value to schedules. So what is CFB and going to do? Scott Stricklin is on it. Kudos to the UF and Stricklin for helping temporarily preserve Jacksonville as the Georgia-Florida home site for two more years in a lengthened contract. And at same time, beefing the schedule by adding Power 5 opponents. All the while, Stricklin and UF were adding futures series with Utah, Miami, Colorado, and Texas. Then he took to Twitter and sent out invites to other Power 5s to contact him about scheduling the Gators. All good, all impressive. But that’s not the story today. This story is about a game that is expected to be a spectacular setting for a spectacular game in a spectacular rivalry. Seems it’s been on the “questionable” list lately. In effort to gain some kind of advantages in recruiting or more leverage or money, some administrators seem too willing to throw this classic rivalries over the side in the name of progress. Sure, as my late friend Beano Cook would have said, “Go ahead! Ditch the Mona Lisa.” That’s a bit over the top – Beano was great at being over the top – but you get the point. Don’t take something that’s good and true and successful and trash it. All for the sake of a few kids that might take be able to take an official recruiting visit to some school. Half of them will wind up in the transfer portal anyway. Sometimes a so-call neutral site can seemingly provide an edge to one school, as the River City seemingly did for the Bulldogs. But Steve Spurrier took back a competitive edge from once-dominant Georgia, beating the Bulldogs 11 out of 12 after being told playing them in Jacksonville and then having to play Auburn would mean no chance at the SEC. Let the record show that the HBC won it six times. First off, I know Lenny Curry is the real mayor of Jacksonville, but he’s been upstaged by the Ambassador of Florida Football. Spurrier helped build Curry’s city on the Rock & Roll of Florida-Georgia football as the Atilla The Hun for the Bulldogs. In his time as Gator coach, the HBC beat the Bulldogs like they were the Washington Generals. Now he’s back as a diplomat-cheerleader, wiser and more appreciative “I have a new appreciation for Jacksonville,” Spurrier told me this week on my live streaming show. Last spring Spurrier was coaching the Orlando Apollos and they had to move out of Orlando for insurance reasons. The team stayed in the Lexington suites, “a very nice hotel right on the river in downtown Jacksonville and Jerri and I enjoyed the view from the seventh floor. “Jacksonville is a beautiful city, especially at night when all those Prudential and Wells Fargo buildings are lit up and the bridges and all the lights and St. John's River rolling through there. It really, really is a beautiful city. So I got a better appreciation for how really nice a place it is.” Earlier this year when folks were already conceding the Georgia game to the mighty Bulldogs, Spurrier cautioned us to hang on and see what Dan Mullen had under the hood. He conceded nothing – just like he didn’t as coach when Georgia loved to brag about its superior recruits under Ray Goff. He has always liked the way Dan Mullen and his staff brought this team along. He is particularly a fan of the fourth-quarter comebacks. “This is a good coaching staff and the strength coach, the conditioning coach, Nick Savage,” Spurrier said. “You know, we have won the fourth quarters. Our points in the fourth quarter compared to our past is unbelievable. Mullen has been here when we are behind going into the fourth quarter six games that we’ve won. So it's never over till it's over. And that's a really good sign. When the fourth quarter rolls around, we seem to put it all together.” So the HBC is glad to see that the Florida-Georgia game is safe in Jacksonville for a while. And he scoffs at the idea that Georgia wanted to move the game to a home-and-home because it would help recruiting. “I don't know how much recruiting has got to do with it, but if you’re look for something to complain about, I guess you could,” Spurrier said. “Georgia's having no trouble recruiting over the last four years – they’ve been between one and three in the nation just about every year. So I don't know how viable that is.” I get the home-and-home argument, but when something as indigenous as Oklahoma-Texas in Dallas and Florida-Georgia in Jacksonville and Army- Navy in Philadelphia have found a home, continue to grow the organic roots there and someday it will bear fruit. So leave it there.

BY FRANZ BEARD GatorBait Columnist The experts who made Georgia an overwhelming favorite to dethrone Alabama as the premier football program in the Southeastern Conference got one thing right – the SEC East championship would be decided in Jacksonville when Florida and Georgia meet in their annual showdown. With a loss to unranked South Carolina and an underwhelming win over Kentucky in its last two games, Georgia looks anything but invincible. Florida, which has a loss to #1 LSU on the road at Tiger Stadium, looks like a team gathering momentum yet the Gators are underdogs heading into Saturday's game with Georgia. Dan Mullen, who has learned so well how to put a chip on Florida's shoulder that is as large as some of the aircraft carriers that call Mayport home, will certainly play the underdog card to the hilt as the Gators prep for this game that has the feeling of an SEC East Division Championship Game, but he is downplaying the rivalry aspect. "Nah, I don't have to, you know what I mean?” Mullen responded when asked if he had any Urban Meyer-like tricks in his bag to fire up the 6th-ranked Gators (7-1, 4-1 SEC) to take on their rival from north of the Florida border. Meyer, if you recall, defined Georgia, Tennessee and Florida State as Florida's chief rivals when he arrived on campus in 2005. The Gators went 16-2 against those three in Meyer's six years on campus. One of the losses was to Georgia in 2007 when the Bulldogs stormed the field after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter. Meyer spent the entire next year making certain the Gators never forgot what had happened and the Gators avenged their only loss to Georgia during the Meyer era in 2008. So while he learned from the master of motivation, Mullen – at least for public consumption – doesn't seem to think he needs anything special to rally his troops for this Saturday showdown at EverBank Field. “This is a big game,” Mullen said. “If our guys aren't juiced to play in the game, they've got problems. You come to Florida to play in big games, to play in rivalry games like this. If I have to go motivate our team, it ain't much of a rivalry game then." Perhaps, but Mullen is well aware of the implications of scoring a win over Georgia will have for the Florida program. It starts with winning the SEC East and while the Gators will still have conference games remaining with Vanderbilt and Missouri, they will hold a one-game edge on Georgia and the tiebreaker in case the two end up tying for the division lead. Getting that one-game edge and control of a tiebreaker has some experts call this a de facto playoff game, but Mullen fails to see it that way. “I don’t view it really as a playoff game because whoever wins doesn’t go on to the playoffs,” he said. There’s a lot more football ahead of us before any of that stuff.” Such as beating Vanderbilt and Missouri to claim the SEC East championship outright. That's important because Florida has been on the short end of a tie for the East Division with Georgia in the past. That was 2012 when Florida and Georgia both finished with identical 7-1 conference records. By virtue of its 17-9 win over Florida, Georgia got to play Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. So, while a win Saturday won't ensure the Gators will win the SEC East, it will at least give them the advantage Georgia had in 2012 by putting them in complete control of their SEC Championship dreams. “Well, I think at this point in the season it’s for first place in the SEC East,” Mullen said. “All you can really control is winning the East. If you do that, you get an opportunity to go to Atlanta and play one game there. Beyond that, everybody is voting for you. So, you know, I think that’s important, you get into November and be in first place in the East is a great position to be in because that’s what you can control.” The approach Mullen seems to be selling is consistent with the way he preaches winning to his football team. The single most important game in Mullen's mind is the next one the Gators are playing and this one happens to be Georgia which is Florida's most important rival in that it's the team that has to be beaten to have a shot at getting to Atlanta. When he was asked if the Gators have Georgia circled on his calendar, quarterback Kyle Trask echoed Mullen's season-long decree that what is most important is to win the game that's next on the schedule. “We don’t necessarily circle any game,” Trask said without so much as cracking a smile. “If you asked me who we’re playing in whatever it is, week eight, if you asked me that week one, I wouldn’t be able to tell you who we’re playing because we’re all focused on the team we’re playing that week.” Trask makes it seem like just another day at the office for the Gators but he is indeed well aware of the implications if the Gators win this second game of what is essentially a four-game playoff for the right to represent the SEC East in Atlanta. Senior wide receiver Josh Hammond, like Trask, didn't overdo it when it came to emotion regarding Georgia but he made it clear that playing in a top ten matchup adds a measure of excitement to the week of preparation. It isn't madness, but there is definitely method to Mullen's approach to Georgia. He knows the history of the rivalry and is quick to point out that with the exception of two years, Florida-Georgia has been played in Jacksonville dating all the way back to 1933. He knows the feeling of being in the team bus when it hits the downslope of the bridge and the stadium comes into view and how walking onto the field when half the stadium is clad in Florida's orange and blue, half in Georgia's red and black, causes the hair on the back of his neck and arms to rise and his skin to tingle. No one has to remind Mullen of how unique this game is, but he is ever so quick to point out that this is one game and the moment he puts too much emphasis on one game focus can be lost on what's up ahead. If Florida beats Georgia Saturday, the Gators still have those games with Vanderbilt and Missouri ahead and they, also, are important. “I never try to measure anything off one individual game because all of a sudden, you win one game and you think you have arrived, and then you lose another one and it’s a disaster,” Mullen said. “And neither of those two are true. You are as good as your last play and what is next week going to bring to you.”

It’s a long process. That’s what No. 6 Florida Gators basketball head coach Mike White had to remind himself and staff after the Gators 89-71 win in Tuesday’s exhibition against Lynn. “Some positive, some negative. It’s so early. You got to check yourself as a staff this early on, especially with how many young guys we’re playing, and just remind yourself that it’s a long process. Some of the controllable’s you wish you could have controlled better.” The game meant nothing to the overall record and was more a chance for White to see what he has under the lights with a team comprised of six freshman and a grad transfer. Despite it’s youth—or maybe because of it—the incoming class joining a trio of experienced sophomores (Andrew Nembhard, Keyontae Johnson, Noah Locke) has this team already tapped as a possible Final Four contender. But, as White said, it’s a long process from this moment to there and before the season officially tips off next Tuesday, there are some blatant areas of concern. “I don’t think we rebound the ball that well, either offensively or defensively. That’s definitely a concern of this staff leading into Game 1.” Florida did out-rebound Lynn, 42-36, with 29 defensive rebounds. But the Fighting Knights are also a Division-II opponent, which is White was perturbed not only by letting their point guard Jordan Allen score 35 points but also by the lack of rebounding at the rim. It’s not a lack of experience—White was clear on that fact—but he had a slew of other adjectives to describe what it takes…and what the Gators need to find more of as the season approaches. “I think effort, yea, honestly you hate to say it but rebounding is a lot of effort, yea it is. Tenacity, toughness, desire, you know passion, all those things. Physicality, motor. Some of it’s cardio. Some of it’s as guys get in more and more game shape, hopefully we can become a better rebounding team. But it was early for Lynn as well; they seemed to beat us to too many basketball’s. ‘Some of it was one on one, some of it was where we had an opportunity—where two to three guys out there did their job and their blocking out and their accountability’s where it’s supposed to be, then we got a couple guys just watching and it’s a bad bounce but maybe if you weren’t watching, you go get that rebound.” Part of the issue, White willingly admits, is due to a Catch-22 with how the Gators play offensively. They’re a shooting team which means they often have at a minimum of three guards on the floor. This leaves less size inside and puts the onus on those guys on the perimeter to take on a greater role defensively. “Our guards have to rebound at a much higher level against Division 1 opponents, especially against our schedule, especially the way that we play off the four guards out there. Keyontae Johnson a lot of times and KJ Blackshear or whatever big is in when we’re playing four guards, they’re gonna be in dog fights and a lot of times we’ve got three guards out there complimenting Keyontae and a big, and what are those three guards gonna do to help neutralize our lack of size? “It can be advantageous for us offensively and from a skill level standpoint but from a fight standpoint in the paint, we’ve gotta bring more fight or we’re gonna get beat up on the glass at times.” On Tuesday night, the bigs combined for 27 rebounds with the guards chipping in 13. Of those guards, freshman Scottie Lewis led with five. Lewis, in another sign of his advanced maturity, was much more focused on what he considered an inadequate defensive performance from himself. “He scored 35 points in 32 minutes,” Lewis said of Allen. “I take full responsibility for that as someone who feels they are the best defender on the team. I have to do better and step up for my teammates. I let my teammates down and I’ll say that repeatedly. I have to take more pride and more ownership.” It’s that same attitude that White wants to see in every area of the Gators game but immediately in the rebounding effort. On the floor, he has graduate transfer Kerry Blackshear Jr. (16 points, 10 rebounds) to help impart that message. “I think it’s just always making it a fight. We’re going to be undersized against a lot of teams, so we’ve got to always be ready to be accountable, box out our man, but also help out our teammates when we have the opportunity. And then we always have to have five guys fight for a rebound on the defensive end. And then, on the offensive end, me, Keyontae and other guys who are go-gets have got to always be accountable and always put pressure on the rim and attack the rim for offensive rebounds.” White praised the Gators effort in the offseason so there’s evidence it’s there. Now it’s about putting it together in a game at the rim. It’s a long process. It starts now and according to Mike White, it never ends. “I’m not sure you’re every where you want to be. There’s always that level of concern about certain areas and urgency. I like the way we’re shooting the basketball and sharing it. Those factors, I guess, we’re in a pretty good place in those areas, and probably a couple others. But, no, not where we need to be in terms of rebounding the basketball, overall accountability defensively. The buy-in is pretty good, not great, defensively." Adds Blackshear, “We’ve just got to always maintain the same energy we have at the start of the game. The excitement that we have at the start of a game, we’ve got to keep it throughout a game, when we’re up 30, when we’re up 20, or whatever that may be. And I think as we continue to do that and we continue to maintain our maturity, we’ll be a good team.”

Georgia, ohh Georgia, no peace they find. Just an old bitter loss, keeps Georgia on their mind. “We always thinking about Georgia. It’s in the back of our mind.” Even a week and a half ago, defensive end Zach Carter couldn’t hide the truth. Georgia was on their mind. The No. 6 Florida Gators have had a meteoric rise this season. They’ve defeated one Top 10 team already—Auburn, then fell to No. 1 LSU in a game that brought more respect to Florida’s name than any win. They’re 7-1, are averaging 400+ offensive yards per game and have started receiving outside consideration as a 1-loss College Football Playoff contender. But this week, this game against No. 8 Georgia, has been on their mind for a year. So much so that linebacker Jon Greenard—who wasn’t even here last year, but still at Louisville—feels responsible for the 2018 loss and therefore responsible for avenging the game. “It's gonna be a really good matchup but we're going in with a chip on our shoulder just because we lost last year, so all that's just going to take into account and give us more motivation to get the dub. “I'm a part of this team now, they lost last year, I'm a part of that too. They won last year, I'm a part of that as well, so 'cause I mean obviously when I get out on that field I've got to have the same juice and grit and fight that they had from last year so that way I can make plays and have that same intensity and play with that same intensity as the guys around me that have been here last year.” Even if Greenard wasn’t in Jacksonville for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party last season, the Hiram, Georgia native has had this game circled on his calendar for—well—most of his life. "This game is huge. This is a game I've been thinking about since I was a child, obviously, I heard about it, the opposite side, me being a Florida fan all my life, I got all the trash talk already, still got trash talk on my phone. But it'll be good, it'll be really good to get a W, bragging rights not only to them but it also sets us up for where we want to be moving forward with this team.” For those that have been here a while though, like receiver Tyrie Cleveland, last years 36-17 loss and the 2017 loss of 42-7 can not be compounded for the senior. "Played Georgia three times, only won one game and they beat us the last two years so it's kind of personal for me. Just leave out on a good note, get a W and finish out the season, this four-game stretch, so this one big right here. This game big against the Georgia Bulldogs so I'm looking forward to it.” Even though last year’s game ended in a loss for the Gators—and then snowballed into another—there was a moment that became a rallying cry and an example defensive coordinator Todd Grantham could point to and say “that is who we are.” And now one year later, it’s still a moment that has helped define a team ready to face Georgia once again. A six play goal line stand—seven really, if you account for the play disregarded due to a penalty—kept the Bulldogs out of the endzone from a distance that most offenses would have no trouble punching it in to score. “We used that early on to build to where we are now,” explains Grantham. “I think if you go back and look at our team, I mean I think that identity and that toughness kind of showed up at Kentucky when Feleipe [Franks] goes down and it's fourth-and-one. If we don't get that fourth-and-one stop we probably don't win the game. So I think it showed up there. I think when you look at the game, like the Auburn game there were some sudden-change situations where you had to go play and so I think that it's kind of shown up throughout the year because we preach. “I think as a coach you can create that with your attitude and the way you coach and the way you teach and that kind of thing. So we just try to build upon that to make sure that we understand this is who we are and there's a certain way we have to play to be successful." The rivalry ebbs and flows, each subset of the history relating to the landscape at that time. Currently, it’s been a game the last four years that has decided the SEC East and gotten a coach fired. It’s been a game that mirrored the hatred of the 90’s thanks in large part to head coach Dan Mullen’s willingness to throw barbs at the Bulldogs. Grantham has been on both sides of the field, as former defensive coordinator for Georgia as well. He’s been in this current subset of the history and just like his players, he knows this is what they’ve been working for. "I think it's an awesome environment because that's why you work and grind and do the things you do because you know it's a bowl type atmosphere. It's probably the loudest that place gets all year, and it's pretty dynamic that way. There's a lot of energy in it, and obviously there's a lot riding on the game in itself with two Top 10 teams, so the combination of the quality of teams, the pageantry, the passion of the fans, the energy, the fact that it's basically 50/50 as far as the fans go, as far as who's in the game. It creates a lot of energy and excitement and it's fun to play in.” Adds corner CJ Henderson, “You don’t get these opportunities always, so we’ve got to take advantage of it. We’ve got a chance to make the SEC Championship. It starts with this game. That makes every game after this even harder.” It does in fact start with this game. College football has a four game playoff currently, which makes games like this essentially a play-in for the SEC Championship given that mathematically the Gators currently lead the division with Georgia on their heels. In other words, it’s a de-facto playoff game. And while some are hesitant to put that qualifier on a game, risking ballooning the day, others are willing to admit what this game means. “Me, personally yes it’s a playoff game. This game right here determine who gonna get in. Me, personally thinking about, you know, whoever win this game control their destiny,” says receiver Tyrie Cleveland. Adds quarterback Kyle Trask, “It very well could be. This game is very important for our season, which is why we're going to do our best just to start out fast and play up to our standard." It’s a game important to their season and to changing the past. Because even still in peaceful times they see, the road leads back to Georgia.

Jon Greenard would have to be dead to not play on Saturday. That was the qualifier given by No. 6 Florida Gators BUCK for the crucial game against the No. 8 Georgia Bulldogs. After having to miss the South Carolina game and much of the LSU loss with a high ankle sprain, Greenard can’t foresee a scenario where he isn’t on the field Saturday in Jacksonville for the game that will in all likelihood decide who plays in Atlanta as the champion of the SEC East. “I practiced [Monday] and felt really good. Just going to continue to work on it, get more rehab and stuff to be able to make it manageable and continue to do my thing. I just know I’m going to be out there and that’s all that matters. “I would say I’m good. I’m 85-90. If I’m honestly 85-90, to me that’s 100 percent. I feel good. No excuses. Of course, I’m going to have to have the brace and stuff like that but, like I said, I’m playing.” The senior hurt his ankle during the win over Auburn three weeks ago. He felt good the following week (while taking it easy to rest the ankle) and was prepared to play against LSU the following Saturday. He tried on the first series and again on the third, but was devastated to realize whenever he tried to plant and take off, his ankle wasn’t ready for the move. Having to stand on the sideline while his team lost to the No. 1 Tigers brought flashbacks to the transfer from Louisville who missed all of last season with a wrist injury. “It was tough. It kind of brought a flashback, that’s why I got emotional on the sideline. The flashback I had to me missing all of last year, being in the training rooms, being on the sideline every single day and all year. That just kind of brought a little flashback but once I got over I had good teammates and a good support system and realized I had to be selfless and help those guys.” Related: Jon Greenard's Destiny While he did help on the sidelines and with encouragement, unfortunately he couldn’t do much to help on the field. Corner Marco Wilson admitted after the game that not having Greenard effected them in a way that was a bit surprising. No teams wants their success to hinge on one player. But Greenard has been quite the impact player for the Gators this season. Before the LSU game, the BUCK had 28 total tackles, four sacks, a forced fumble, an interception, three pass break ups and seven quarterback hurries. He’s arguably been the Gators defensive MVP and his presence is palpably felt from every position when he’s on the field. Defensive end Jabari Zuniga being out with an ankle injury as well was a double blow. Without the two, there was little pass rush—with Zach Carter and Jeremiah Moon not having experienced depth behind them for reprieve's and rotation—which meant the secondary had little time to get in place. It also meant the run defense was noticeably effected. The Gators two worst defensive rushing performances this season was LSU (218) and South Carolina (217), games where they were without Greenard and Zuniga. It wasn’t just a fluke in facing those two teams at those times either. That was LSU’s second best rushing performance of the season (first was 248 against Utah State) and South Carolina’s third best (493 against Charleston Southern and 247 against Kentucky). “I think anytime you lose guys like that, it can affect you in everything you do because they're physical guys at the point of attack,” explains Grantham. “They’re guys who can get off blocks, they're guys that can win the one-on-one blocks, set the edge like you said. I think anytime you remove one, you're dinging yourself, and if you remove two, that ends up being a challenge which our guys have handled and did a really good job against South Carolina, so we've just got to, we've kind of got some depth now with them coming back, you kind of feel comfortable playing maybe some other guys maybe a few snaps that maybe you wouldn't have earlier.” Adds safety Shawn Davis, “It’s really big because when they went down, we had a couple of young guys to step up. But now that we got our vets back, we can really lock it down. We can lock the edges down and pull everything down, get to the quarterback and running back.” For Greenard, the Georgia native who grew up a Florida win and transferred to Gainesville for his last year hoping to get a shot at a championship, this game is why he came here. It’s the culmination of everything he wanted as a Gator. His teammates are happy and maybe even a little desperate to have him back. And lucky for them, there isn’t anything that could keep him off the field this Saturday. “This game, I never played Georgia. I always watched them. I always wanted to play them. I always wanted to play in the SEC. Getting a chance to do that now, to play against a top team, a team that’s been in the national championship, just like many other teams as well, it’s going to be a fun one. I’m excited for it. I can’t show it right now, but I’m excited. I’m just ready to get back out there. “This is a game I've been thinking about since I was a child, obviously, I heard about it, the opposite side, me being a Florida fan all my life…it’ll be really good to get a W, bragging rights not only to them but it also sets us up for where we want to be moving forward with this team. We've got a lot of guys that can make some real good plays. We've got a lot of guys that think this team can take it the distance. At this point, we've just got to play football."

With just under 15 minutes left in the 2nd half and the No. 6 Florida Gators up 62-40 over Lynn in their season opening exhibition, head coach Mike White subbed in freshmen Omar Payne and Ques Glover. They joined on the floor, freshmen Tre Mann and Scottie Lewis along with senior transfer Kerry Blackshear. It was a group made up entirely of Gators new guys, giving White and fans a better glimpse at just what the new blood for this highly touted Gators roster will offer during a season already ripe with expectations. The lineup wasn’t so much a design by head coach Mike White to see what it looked like on the floor, but a by-product of who he wanted resting on the bench at that point versus who he wanted to get more minutes for experience. “It was more so trying to hold our guys accountable defensively and on the glass as much as possible, especially in the first 30 minutes or so. And then it was, we were at a point I thought Andrew [Nembhard] and KJ [Kerry Blackshear Jr.] had probably played enough minutes so playing a bunch of new guys late was definitely by design. Not necessarily to see those guys together but this early in the year when certain guys, especially older guys have played enough minutes.” Freshman guard Tre Mann (4-8, 13 pts., 1 rebound, 1 assist) says this team has done enough in practice that even a newcomer lineup feels like old hat. “I didn’t even know we had that lineup to be honest. All of our freshman, I feel like we played like we been here before. We didn’t look as bad as like freshmen supposed to look I guess and we just gel because of practice. We switch up the lineups everyday in practice so we look at different lineups, we play with different people every day–well each other but we different rotations every day so it wasn’t really nothing new.” An exhibition game against a Division II opponent went exactly as one would think, allowing that extra time for younger guys. The Gators handled the Lynn Fighting Knights with relative ease, defeating them 89-71. But this night was never about the win or loss that wouldn’t even count towards the record. It was about finding out what this team’s DNA would look like as they began the long stretch towards March. The DNA is still being figured out but we at least know the team’s roster. It boast six freshmen and Blackshear, who transferred in from Virginia Tech. Blackshear has the experience in tournament’s and leading a team that is showing up right away. At one point in the second half, during a two minute span Lynn went on an 8-2 run. Blackshear had seen enough and called a timeout, allowing the Gators time to regroup. It’s the younger guys that White is still tinkering with. All have exhibited remarkable maturity off the court and never seemed to blink on the court, at least on Tuesday night. White knows the competition is about to take a step up though and is braced for any waves on which he young crew might take him. “Freshmen are freshmen,” he laughed. “There were a couple that were a little rusty tonight…they may be great next week and struggle two weeks later. When they start playing like sophomores all of a sudden you’ve got really good freshmen.” That is largely what happened last season when three freshmen—Andrew Nembhard, Noah Locke and Keyontae Johnson—were inserted into the starting lineup and asked to grow up quickly. Now they’re the young veterans who combined for 38 points on Tuesday night (Nembard, 17, 6-11; Locke, 9, 3-8; Johnson, 12, 4-8) and are tasked with bringing along this new crew at the same pace. The trio was joined by Blackshear and Mann in the starting lineup against Lynn. Scottie Lewis came off the bench 3:20 into the first half and went 1-3 for field goals and 2-2 from the line. But Lynn’s Jordan Allen scored 35 points in 34 minutes, something Lewis’ was acutely aware of right after the game. With a wisdom that belied his age, Lewis’ took responsibility for the performance. “He scored 35 points in [34] minutes. I take full responsibility for that as someone who feels they are the best defender on the team. I have to do better and step up for my teammates. I let my teammates down and I’ll say that repeatedly. I have to take more pride and more ownership.” Lewis may hold on to that defensive performance but he and others in his class have acclimated well, if not to the college game yet at least to the college team. At one point when fellow freshmen Omar Payne went down after a collision, it was clear he wasn’t hurt. Still, Lewis sprinted across the floor to help him up. Mann says that’s a rule in practice as well and one that this team and their quickly developing chemistry, have already figured out. The veteran feels that chemistry as well and after seeing it play out on the court Tuesday night, Kerry Blackshear and the Florida Gators are ready to show on a grander stage what they’re made of…even if it’s six freshmen and a transfer. “It was exciting being out there with my teammates, all-new environment. The Rowdies were great,” Blackshear said. “The start of college basketball is here. I’m excited about that.”