HOOVER, Ala. – Whether or not the annual Georgia-Florida game should continue to be held in Jacksonville or perhaps go to a home-and-home series between the two schools is a discussion that’s not expected to be settled anytime soon.
Arguments, both pro and con, have and will continue to rage, despite the fact the current contract doesn’t end until 2021.
Often, it just depends on whom you ask.
“I’d like it to stay in Jacksonville, just because of the NFL scenery,” Florida running back Lamichal Perine said Monday during Day 1 of SEC Media Days. “I like it. My first year playing there, I'd never been to an NFL stadium. So just being able to play there, understanding what the tradition is, I think it would be great for a lot of guys if we kept it there.”
Quarterback Feleipe Franks took a more ambivalent tone.
“I don’t know. At the end of the day we’re going to play either way, so it really doesn’t matter to me,” Franks said. “If it’s Jacksonville, Texas, wherever, as long as we prepare. we’ll go out there and do good, no matter where the game is at.”
Florida defensive lineman Jabari Zuniga, a native of Marietta, feels much different. Georgia and Florida haven’t played at each other’s venues since 1994 and 1995, and the senior said he wouldn’t mind it being that way again.
“It would be a good feeling to beat them at Georgia. I wouldn’t mind it,” said Zuniga, who admitted playing in Jacksonville still has a home-team feel.
“Yeah. The bus ride is not but, like, two hours. We’re in Florida, so it’s basically a home game for us,” he said. “We feel it’s our home game. It’s our field. We’re the Florida Gators; it’s our state. We just have to show everybody.”
But will they?
The Bulldogs will be going for their third straight SEC crown, something the Gators, who finished 10-3 in 2018, are hoping to do something about when the two teams meet on Nov. 2.
Head coach Dan Mullen hasn’t been shy about taking shots at the rival Bulldogs and apparently his players are feeding off the confidence their second-year coach has shown.
“I think we’re real close,” Zuniga said. “The last two years, the best prepared team won. I don’t think the most talented team won last year. I feel like we had a lot more talent than they did. They just played better than us and came out on top.”
Zuniga did give props to Georgia’s offensive line.
“I definitely feel they’re one of the better offensive lines that I’ve played against in my career,” he said. “At the same time, it’s going to be a fight next year. We’re coming.”
Like Zuniga, Perine feels the two squads are a lot closer than last year’s final 36-17 score would indicate.
Georgia trailed 14-13 in the third quarter before scoring 23 of the final 26 points.
“Both teams are equally matched,” Perine said. “Everyone knows this is a game that will probably decide the SEC East.”
Franks agreed.
“They’re a really good team, we’re a really good team,” he said. “When two really good teams get together, it’s usually a really good game.”
