Saturday NCAA: Georgia Bulldogs vs. Florida Gators
The Florida Gators have been pushed to the limit in the past three games, winning each by 10 points or less and not covering in the past two. But maybe facing rival Georgia will get UF’s fires burning again, and the Gators have beaten the Dawgs 16 of the past 19 times in this series.
As usual, Saturday’s game is in Jacksonville, and the Gators are 14.5-point betting favorites on WagerWeb.com.
For what it’s worth, UGA is 6-1 all-time against defending national champs – and two of those wins have come against Florida, in 1997 and 2007. UF can clinch the SEC East and a return to Atlanta with a victory over the Bulldogs and a South Carolina loss to Tennessee.
This would seem a cakewalk against an inconsistent and unranked Georgia as UF has the No. 1 scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense, total defense, rushing offense and pass defense in the SEC. Georgia has the SEC’s worst rushing offense and scoring defense. The Gators are giving up just 10.1 points per game and are holding teams to 2.9 yards per carry. UF’s defense is holding teams to just 23 percent (23-98) on third-down conversions.
The Bulldogs rank 10th in the SEC and 70th nationally in yards allowed (365.6 per game), and they haven’t done very well against either the run (54th in the nation) or the pass (90th). At minus-11 in turnover margin, Georgia is tied for last in the nation. But this series has a history of upsets. And the Dawgs enter off a bye week and are 11-3 under coach Mark Richt following an off week. Georgia is 5-8 against Florida when the Dawgs are unranked and UF is ranked.
Florida will see the return of three of its top defensive players in LB Brandon Spikes and DT’s Jaye Howard and Lawrence Marsh. RB Jeff Demps (sprained neck) is also expected to play.
Look for a huge game from Tim Tebow, who comes in off one of the worst of his career last week against Mississippi State. Tebow is a native of Jacksonville, so this will be his final college game there.
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