Can shaky Georgia upset No. 14 Florida in ‘Cocktail Party?’

He missed three weeks to a knee injury and was a bit rusty in his first game back – “I played awful”. The Gators are 9-1 against the Razorbacks, including nine consecutive wins since Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992.

WHAT A PLAY: On Florida’s third touchdown drive of the game, it drew up one of its best offensive play calls of the afternoon.

After Florida scored to take a 7-3 lead with 17 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Eason and the Bulldogs took over at their 25-yard line.

Florida defensive lineman Jabari Zuniga: Zuniga didn’t log a sack, but he was in the backfield and getting after Eason quite a bit.

With 84 of the meetings between the two teams in Jacksonville, the game has a special air about it, which is not lost on the coaches. Herrien has 341 rushing yards and three touchdowns, averaging 6.6 yards per carry.

Florida led 14-10 in what was a sloppy first half by both teams. Baker also broke up a pass. Georgia is eighth in the league in scoring defense (26.2 ppt) and and ninth in passing defense (222.6 ypg).

But the Gators did what Georgia could only do once – find the end zone – including a 4-yard touchdown run by wide receiver Antonio Callaway with 5:54 to go in the third. The Bulldogs actually outgained the Commodores 421-171, and considering they didn’t turn the ball over, it’s a odd result when you dig into the box score. Florida has its own young signal caller in sophomore Luke Del Rio, he’s coming off a three-interception game against Missouri last week. But the Georgia offense’s inability to move the ball allowed the Gators to possess the ball for 37:27. Georgia’s most recent shutout came 31-0 to Alabama on September 30, 1995. Being able to do so against a Florida front seven that’s holding teams to only 119.7 rushing yards per game could prove hard for Georgia. That group will have its hands full against the Gators’ front seven.

“I want to play our best game in all facets of the game, being able to be balanced on offense and being able to control the line on scrimmage on defense and play well in the kicking game”, he said.

The Bulldogs have held teams to just 111.1 rushing yards per game, so this could be an area Georgia can key in on.

A scheduled bye week and an unscheduled week off provided No. 12 Florida with plenty of time to figure out its offensive struggles, but the Gators will be put to the test starting with Saturday’s traditional showdown against Georgia in Jacksonville. Safety Dominick Sanders sustained an MCL injury that Smart said likely wasn’t serious.

Sure, the Bulldogs have pulled a few upsets in the series over that span, most notably in 1997, 2007 and 2012. Georgia only picked up four of its 14 third-down tries. “It was just an absolute monsoon”, Davis said. We can get a turnover, we can spark them.

Thoughts on today’s game: “I haven’t really been satisfied offensively because I haven’t seen us establish a potent offense where we can go up and down the field at will”. “I think he did a great job of being patient and taking the one that he had his eyes on”. “The most important thing about that is we won the game”.

It feels like it’s been months since we saw Florida in a game of substance.

Smart’s counter: “It might’ve had something to do with who we played”. “He understands that and he takes responsibility for that, and we’ve got to help him as coaches”.