Jordan Davis, UGA defense look to avenge last year's loss to Gators

Next to the word "helpless" in the dictionary, there's a picture of Jordan Davis on his couch.

That's where he sat last year, as Georgia took on Florida in Jacksonville. Nursing an elbow injury, he watched the Gators torch the Bulldogs' defense in a 44-28 Florida win.

This year, Davis leads a Georgia defense that is one of the best in the nation. When it heads to the banks of the St. Johns River this weekend, this defense will be looking to rebound from last year's performance.

In last season's contest, Florida made a habit of connecting on big plays. The Gators registered 11 plays of 15 yards or more. Eight of those came in the first half, when the Bulldogs allowed 38 points.

"At the end of the day, you can’t give up explosives at the rate we gave them up," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. "If you give up explosives, that’s probably the number one indicator, even more than turnovers, to who wins games. We gave up too many and didn’t make enough."

Davis sat out the game with an elbow injury. Georgia entered the game without safety Richard LeCounte, and then it had to play the majority of the game without its other safety, Lewis Cine, after he earned a targeting penalty for a hit on Kyle Pitts.

Along with Pitts, that Florida team featured playmakers such as Kadarius Toney who connected with quarterback Kyle Trask to create big plays. Those players are now in the NFL, but the Gators have still been explosive on offense this season.

They enter this weekend's contest averaging just over 500 yards of offense per game. Florida has scored at least 28 points in four of its five SEC contests under the direction of head coach Dan Mullen.

"They’re first in the SEC or top 10 in the country in explosive plays," Smart said. "They’re a very explosive team in terms of what they do. Their run game has been really special when you talk about the quarterbacks in the run game, plus their ability to get their ball to three good backs. They do a great job of that."

Smart noted that last year's Florida team relied on the pass more than the run. This year, with quarterbacks Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson, the Gators are more ground-based. Through seven games, they average 6.3 yards per carry and 254.3 rushing yards per game.

Dan Mullen said Monday that he's planning for both Jones and Richardson to play against Georgia. Smart doesn't see much of a difference, no matter which signal-caller is on the field.

"They don’t not run quarterback draw, or not do drop-back pass, or not do zone read, or not do speed option with one guy or the other," Smart said. "The way the game’s called, they have very similar plays. I think they’re physically different in their build. They’re both tremendous athletes, and both really tough guys to defend in terms of 53 yards to the sideline, and an extra hat in the run game makes it tough."

For Davis, containing explosive plays comes down to executing their assignments. Defensive line coach Tray Scott emphasizes gap discipline to his players. Even if a Bulldog records a sack or a tackle for loss, they get a minus toward their game grade if they don't fill their gap on a certain play.

"It’s kind of like the same card—two sides of one coin. It’s a tremendous challenge watching them on film," Davis said of preparing for Florida's quarterbacks. "It kind of gets us to lock in, especially going off the result from last year, and how dangerous that Florida team is and can be."

Georgia's secondary has also been strong this year after being victimized by the Gators last year. Smart said the unit has meshed well, which, along with a simplified scheme, has helped the Bulldogs contain explosive plays in 2021.

They will need to keep that up against the Gators in order to avoid a repeat of 2020. It may not be the same aerial assault Florida employed a year ago, but it's still an offense capable of creating big plays.

"People take shots. They’re going to take shots; we know that going into every game," Smart said. "We’ve got to play well on the perimeter, we’ve got to tackle well, we’ve got to affect their quarterback, cover their wideouts. We’ve got to do all the same things we’ve got to do every week."