JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — There’s a bit of a homecoming theme playing in the background of this year’s Georgia-Florida game.
- Bulldogs senior quarterback Carson Beck is at home in Jacksonville to play his final game at EverBank Stadium as a collegian.
- Georgia running back Trevor Etienne will be coming home, in a way. He’ll be back in Florida, where he lived for two years while playing for the Gators, and will be on the Jaguars’ field, where his brother, Travis, plays for the local NFL team.
- And the news this week has surrounded this game remaining here, where it has been played almost continuously since 1933. Every indication from Georgia, Florida and the city of Jacksonville is they will resume their longtime relationship in 2028 on the other side of the stadium’s recently approved $1.4 billion renovation.
All that is well and good and exciting for an economy that brings a reported in $33 million annually into Jacksonville, $15 million to South Georgia and the Golden Isles and about $60 million a decade to the respective schools. But the real theme surrounding this game is the same one that accompanies it every year.
That is, what it means to the SEC race.
Bragging rights and cocktail parties remain central to these proceedings. But situated at the gateway to the last one-third of the season, being victorious in this game almost always dictates the fortunes of the respective teams when it comes to championship and postseason pursuits.
Those are the only goals that Georgia and Florida are considering as the schools renew their rivalry for the 103rd time at 3:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC).
Asked repeatedly this week about the future of the game in Jacksonville and the plan to conduct it in Atlanta and Tampa in 2026 and ‘27, Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said he has been too “engulfed” in preparation for the Gators to care.
“I recognize why it’s a story for you guys, but I’m so consumed by our team,” Smart said on the SEC coaches’ teleconference call Wednesday. “We’re trying to get our team better for Florida. That’s my focus. I mean, I really haven’t been involved in those discussions.”
Already saddled with a Sept. 28 loss to Alabama, No. 2-ranked Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) can ill afford another conference loss if it wants to return to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta in December. And the Bulldogs can ill afford on the brink of the first College Football Playoff rankings release Tuesday to lose a game to an unranked Florida squad that has struggled again in its third season under coach Billy Napier, even if it recently has demonstrated that it may be getting its act together.
Thanks to a season-ending knee injury to starting quarterback Graham Mertz, the Gators (4-3, 2-2) had to turn to freshman DJ. Lagway to pilot their offense. And all he did in his first start since that development was average 37 yards per completion Oct. 19 in a 48-20 win over the same Kentucky team that Georgia struggled to beat 13-12 six weeks ago.
And while Florida’s playoff pursuits appear to be mostly a pipe dream, both teams have taken particular pleasure in ruining the others’ postseason plans over the long history of this storied series. Georgia famously upset the Gators’ attempts at securing their first SEC championship by repeatedly sacking eventual Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier on the way to a 27-10 win in 1966, and the Bulldogs blew up No. 1-ranked Florida 24-3 as a two-loss team in 1985.
Conversely, the Gators knocked off a heavily favored No. 5-ranked and undefeated Georgia team 20-13 in 2002, which effectively kept the 13-1 Bulldogs from qualifying for national championship consideration that year. There were similar results by Florida against former UGA coach Mark Richt in 2003 and 2005 that kept Georgia from realizing its championship potential.
This season, there are 12 spots available in the playoff for the first time, but the competition for those spots is fierce just within the newly expanded SEC.
Heading into Week 10 of the season, Texas A&M (7-1, 5-0) is the only conference team yet to suffer a league loss. Coming off a victory against No. 1 Texas 30-15 two weeks ago, the Bulldogs are the SEC’s highest-ranked team. But a rugged November schedule remains, with a trip to No. 19 Ole Miss and a home date against No. 7 Tennessee awaiting in the next two weeks after the completion of Saturday’s game.
Winners of 52 of their past 55 games – including three consecutive over Florida and six of the past seven in this series – the Bulldogs are well-trained at navigating this stretch run. They haven’t lost in November since 2020, a 44-28 decision against the Gators here in the pandemic-altered season.
Meanwhile, one of the traits of Smart’s teams has been continuous improvement over the course of season. Georgia enters this game having not yet played its best or even a complete game against a fully manned SEC opponent.
That’s the primary goal for the Bulldogs as they prepare to face their most consistently hated SEC rival over the past century.
“It’s personal,” said senior wideout Arian Smith, a resident of Bradley, Florida, and one of a dozen Georgia players with ties to the state. “It’s a border rivalry, and you already know it’s going to be a physical game. So, it feels like a good when we come out of there with a win, and our fans are right there cheering for us and you see the other side clearing out. I’d say it’s just one of those games where you just always want to come out with a dominant win.”
Said Smart of playing in Jacksonville: “It’s a different vibe. It’s no relation to home or away. It’s a different fan base a little bit, not a home field for anybody. It’s more of an NFL-type feel to it.”
In recent years, Georgia has looked more like an NFL team. But Florida has been coming on. With Lagway at quarterback and Atlanta’s Jaden Baugh (Columbia High School) running the football, the Gators look like a more physical, determined team on offense. That seems to have helped a Florida defense that was getting pushed around earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, those early-season losses to Miami (41-17), Texas A&M (33-20) and Tennessee (23-17) don’t look so bad. Each currently is a top-10 team.
“Yeah, our mindset has shifted a little bit, I think,” said Napier, who was fielding questions about job security earlier in the year. “The makeup of our team, you know, I think we’re in a lot better place in that regard. But, I mean, it’s a production business. We got to do it on the grass.”
The SEC is a long way from sorting itself out, but the Bulldogs are further along than most. Among the top seven teams in the conference standings, only Georgia and Texas A&M will have completed 75% of the SEC slate after Saturday. A loss to Florida on Saturday would put a serious hurdle between the Bulldogs and a return trip to Atlanta.
But that’s the way they like it when these teams meet. The “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” just doesn’t have the same feel without those kinds of stakes involved.
“We’re 6-1 and in the driver’s seat to go to the SEC Championship (game),” said Beck, who grew up 10 miles from where the Gators and Bulldogs will be playing. “Everything is right in front of us, and we have plenty of talent to make a run and go win it again. That’s exactly what I believe is going to happen.”
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