Georgia v. Florida: Dawg Tired Of One-Sided Football Rivalry

by Josh Cagliani
10/23/2007

The 18th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs hope the rest from their bye week will reverse their recent losing trend to the Florida Gators as they face off this Saturday in what is generally known as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

The Bulldogs (5-2, 3-2 SEC) come into the game against Florida (5-2, 3-2 SEC) off a bye week, the first time that has happened since 1991. Georgia head coach Mark Richt is 9-2 in his career following the bye week.

“We are playing the defending national champions this week and that is a team that could easily be ranked No. 1 in the country,” Richt said. “They have two very close losses to two outstanding teams, and they are only a fraction away from being where they were a year ago.”

In order for the Bulldogs to have a chance to win this game, they will have to play better on defense in the first half. Georgia has given up 91 points in the first half, compared to only 47 in the second half this season.

Last year against the Gators, the Bulldogs allowed 14 first half points and eventually fell down 21-0. The deficit was too big and the Bulldogs were only able to pull to 21-14 by the end of the game.

“Florida has been doing a good job of setting the tone and stealing the momentum straight from us, and we’re always having to play catch-up from behind,” senior strong safety Kelin Johnson said. “That’s one thing that we are really going to have to focus on.”

The Bulldogs will need to jump out front early and never let up. Under Mark Richt, the Bulldogs are 50-7 when scoring first, which includes 4-0 this season.

A big portion of the scoring load will be on the shoulders of freshman running back Knowshon Moreno. Moreno will be making his second consecutive start due to the injuries to running backs Thomas Brown and Kregg Lumpkin.

In Moreno’s last game, he finished with 157 rushing yards on 28 carries and was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the second time this year.

Florida is coming into the game off a big win against Kentucky and they will look to keep that momentum as they make their way into Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. The two games prior to the Kentucky game resulted in losses to Auburn and former No.1 LSU.

The success of the Gators rests solely on Tim Tebow’s arms and legs. Tebow has accounted for 27 touchdowns this year, which is the sixth-highest single season total in Florida history.

Tebow has a 177.5 passer rating which ranks first nationally and his 10 rushing touchdowns are currently equal to or more than 44 Division I-A teams. His 324.4 yards of total offense a game are more than 15 Division I-A teams.

“Offensively, we are seeing the same thing everyone in the country is seeing, and that is Tim Tebow. He is accounting for 70-75 percent of their offense,” Richt said. “Everyone knew he could run the ball, but no one knew for sure how he would do throwing it during the course of a whole season. But he has proven that he can throw it as good as anyone.”

The Georgia-Florida rivalry dates all the way back to 1904, if you ask Georgia fans. Georgia owns the edge in wins with a record of 46-37-2 against the Gators.

“It’s a long history. This rivalry has been one that a lot of people have looked forward to every single year,” junior Mohammed Massaquoi said. “We want to go out there and do the things we have been doing and get better with this game, show improvement, and try to come out with a win.”

This will be the 85th meeting between the two teams and the 75th game held in Jacksonville. Florida head coach Urban Meyer said it is his favorite rivalry game for Florida because it’s a neutral site and the stadium is split 50/50. Florida may love this game because they have won 15 of the last 17 games against Georgia.

CBS has televised the game the past four years and Georgia is 31-22-1 in games done by CBS. The game will be aired on CBS at 3:30 Saturday.