Georgia Football: Defense Will Be Put to the Test Against the Gators

The Florida Gators are fresh off a bye week. The Bulldogs just won their third game in a row while scoring 40 plus in each. The Bulldogs have great confidence and momentum heading down to Jacksonville.

However, the win streak was against Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky—the weaker teams of the East.

And just because the Gators are down this year, don’t think this is a guaranteed win for Georgia.

Georgia has only won three times in the last two decades against the Gators. This year is their best opportunity to steal a victory from them. 

Post Tebow, the Gators are 74th in rushing and 82nd in passing. Don’t let the stats fool you because the formerly known "World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" is always a tough battle no matter where the teams rank.

And this year neither team is ranked in the AP top 25 for the first time since 1979. Georgia crushed Florida 33-10 that year and went on to win the National Championship the following year.   

This game will come down to who can control the clock. And with that, the Georgia defense will face its toughest opponent in weeks.

The 3-4 Georgia D will need to bring their A game and confuse John Brantley and Trey Burton.

Georgia is going to get a lot of different looks on both sides of the ball from Florida. On defense they will try to bewilder Aaron Murray. On offense they’ll have multiple packages to keep Georgia guessing.

The 3-4 Georgia D better be ready for a mix of Brantley, Burton, Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey.  Urban Meyer stated today that “Rainey has done the things he needed to do” to play Saturday.

A very convenient time to return an explosive athlete that threatened to kill his girlfriend. Talk about discipline issues, how is this guy being reinstated?

Nevertheless, Georgia will need to do a few things to beat Florida. 

1. Slow the Gators Down

Florida is capable of the big play at any moment. They have several players with lighting like speed. And one mistake could equal disaster for Georgia.

The Bulldog defense must contain the Gators and not give up the big play. Slow these speedy Gators down and Georgia has a fighting chance.

2. Stop The Run

With the addition of Rainey, the Florida back field just got better than their stats show. The combination of Demps and Rainey could be too much for the Bulldogs to handle.

The quickness from both backs will be difficult to stop.

But Georgia needs to continue stopping the run. They allowed less than 100 yards in their past three games. Somehow, someway, they’ll need to do the same to the Gators.

3. Give the Ball to A.J. Green

Green failed to score a touchdown in Lexington this past weekend. This cannot happen in Jacksonville. Green is Georgia’s best play maker and he needs to find the end zone.

He got his catches last week, receiving the ball six times for 86 yards. The Bulldogs showed they can score without Green. That’s great. But there’s no way Georgia is rushing for five touchdowns against a Florida defense that only allows 18 points a game.

Throw it deep to the best receiver in the nation and Georgia can keep this game interesting for four quarters. 

4. Keep the beards growing

The Bulldogs are finally getting after the ball. The extra incentive to not have to shave their beards is working. Georgia forced Kentucky to turn the ball over four times, Vanderbilt twice and Tennessee three times.

Georgia must keep this trend going and score touchdowns off the turnovers. Field goals just won’t do. 

5. Forget the last 20 years

The past is the past. The outcome of these last two decades needs to be forgotten. The mental psyche for Georgia must focus on the game plan; score early and score often (that’s the goal for every team, or it should be).

Disregard the fact that you’ve only beaten Florida three times in 20 years. None of that matters now. Do not however, forget that they destroyed you last year. Use that as motivation.  

All too often Georgia will be down early and lose hope. Keep fighting and finish the drill Bulldogs.

Those are five keys for Georgia to focus on.  And while I still believe Georgia will lose this game I think they’ll be in it until the end, unlike years past.

My prediction: Florida 33 Georgia 30.

Believe me, I would love to be wrong, but I don’t think this Bulldog defense can step it up enough. They’ll give up too many big plays that will hurt them in the end.

Enjoy the game everyone. And if you’re going, please, don’t be "that" guy. You know what I'm talking about.