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Published Oct 30, 2024
Bulldogs find their own meaning in Florida rivalry
Jed May  •  UGASports
Staff
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Georgia's rivalry with Florida runs deep.

The Gators are one of the most frequently played rivals for the Bulldogs, with the two teams having played 102 times. Only Auburn (128) and Georgia Tech (115) have faced Georgia more.

Every year, players on both sides find their own meaning in the highly-anticipated matchup.

Each program recruits the other's state hard. As Florida native and Bulldog receiver Arian Smith said, that can make things "personal."

"I'm from Florida and growing up and going to camps and, like, it's a small world in Florida," Smith said. "Everybody goes to places and, like, does things. As a young guy growing up in camps and stuff like that, you meet a lot of people that go to schools in Florida. And so I have a lot of – I don't think I have that many teammates that play in Florida anymore because they get transferred out or in the league. But I had a large amount of people I played with in high school that went to Florida, so I'm just excited."

Smith signed with Georgia in the Class of 2020, meaning Georgia has lost once to the Gators during his career. But those who are a year younger than Smith have a chance to make history this weekend.

With a win this Saturday, the Class of 2021 would become the first group of seniors to go 4-0 against Florida since the class of 1983.

Smael Mondon, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Dylan Fairchild, Micah Morris, Jared Wilson, and Chaz Chambliss are the Bulldogs still on the team from that signing class.

"it's just an accomplishment in itself, you know, to go 4-0 against any SEC team," Chambliss said. "Every single team in the SEC is capable of beating anybody every single weekend. Going 4-0 against one opponent is a great achievement."

Junior safety Malaki Starks is also undefeated against Florida. But he's hoping this year's game goes differently than the last two.

"When I look back at it, my freshman year, I woke up with the flu. And last year, I was pretty sick when we played them. So I've been like sick every year I've played Florida. So I'm really trying not to get sick this week," Starks said. "But, you know, it's always a good game, very physical. They’ve got a really good team. You know, they kind of run their program very similar to ours and, you know, vice versa. So, I mean, I like going out there and competing."

Each player finds their own thing to focus on during this week. But in the end, Georgia tight end and Bulldog legacy Lawson Luckie summed it up succinctly.

"Florida-Georgia is the biggest game, one of the biggest games we play," Luckie said. "It's one of our biggest rivals, so that's one of the games you always look forward to as a kid and then now it's full circle. It's one of the biggest games you look forward to all year."

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