SAM'S BLOG
Posted: October 29, 2010
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Florida/Georgia Preview
Sometimes the Florida/Georgia game seems like a foregone conclusion. In the ‘80’s it didn’t matter what Florida was doing, Georgia was going to win the game. They lost when they were favorites; underdogs or the game was called even.
The Gators came in during the 1985 season as the number one team in the country, and got thumped 24-3. I remember standing on the sidelines before the game thinking that Florida was prancing around and Georgia was breathing fire and the outcome was predetermined: The ‘Dogs were going to win.
Georgia head coach Vince Dooley created that culture among his team and the fans. He treated it as a home game. He liked it here. He recruited here and occasionally vacationed in South Georgia. It wasn’t a road trip at all, the Gator Bowl was the ‘dogs "second home."
That drove Steve Spurrier crazy.
In his introductory press conference as the Gators head coach in 1990 he specifically referenced the Georgia game saying, "We play it in the GATOR Bowl, it’s in FLORIDA, we take a bus and they have to fly. There’s no reason we shouldn’t play well in that game." And with that, Spurrier changed the culture of the game, stole it from the Bulldogs and begins a 20-year domination of the series.
It helped that Vince Dooley "retired" the previous year but Steve was determined to beat Georgia on a regular basis. He did that, and even when the game was in Gainesville and Athens while the stadium in Jacksonville was being rebuilt, he pounded the ‘Dogs. So much was his vilification of the Bulldogs he called time out with just over a minute to play in Athens leading 40-something to 3 just to "hang a half a hundred on ‘em." (Since no team had ever scored 50 or more points against the Bulldogs in Athens.)
The 2010 game has a very different feel. No Tim Tebow, no Herschel Walker, no Vince Dooley or Steve Spurrier, no big names to hang your hat on. The two teams come in unranked for the first time in 31 years. Florida has lost three straight and is "gripping" according to those allowed at practice.
Georgia had a 4 game losing streak where they forgot how to play and particularly forgot how to win against Colorado and Mississippi State. Now at .500 the ‘Dogs seems to be on a roll and part of that comes from the return of A.J. Green their outstanding wide receiver. Georgia has found their identity and will also have their top two running backs in the game.
The Gators have had a bye week to try and get themselves fixed and then concentrate on the Bulldogs. But Florida needs an identity and can’t quite find it, especially on offense and at quarterback. It’s hard to run a "spread" offense with a "pro style" quarterback in John Brantley. And it appears that Urban Meyer doesn’t want to turn things over to Trey Burton a true freshman.
Throw all of those things into the mixing bowl and you get Georgia opening as a 3 point favorite and now is down to 1 ½.
Florida will surprise me if they come in as a confident and well-executed offense.
That’s why Georgia, for the first time in recent memory, is the pick.
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