No. 5 Florida State vs No. 6 Georgia

WHERE: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.

WHEN: Saturday, 4 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 12-1, Florida State 13-0

TV/RADIO: ESPM (Dave Flemming, Brock Osweiler, Kayla Burton); Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (Scott Howard, Eric Zeier, D.J. Shockley)

Nothing against the Orange Bowl, one of the oldest and most prestigious postseason destinations in college football, but Georgia and Florida State would both rather be somewhere else.

That’s just the way in the playoff era.

Despite Georgia losing to Alabama in the SEC Championship, there are many who feel that the Bulldogs are still one of the nation’s best four teams.

Florida State’s exclusion, meanwhile, left many in the Sunshine State downright pissed.

After all, the Seminoles won the ACC with a perfect 13-0 record, but due to the season-ending injury to quarterback Jordan Travis, Florida State was bumped in favor of both one-loss Alabama and one-loss Texas.

The question for each program: How will each respond?

Florida State has reportedly had some key opt-outs, including its top three receivers and top rusher from the regular season.

No Bulldogs have officially announced they will miss the game, although injuries are expected to prevent players, including tight end Brock Bowers, from playing.

For their part, the Bulldogs appear to be approaching the game as another business trip. They do have a purpose.

With a win, Georgia’s 2023 senior class with leave Athens as the winningest seniors in school history. The current Bulldog senior class has tied the school mark for victories with a 49-4 record. The 2022 class went 49-5.

Georgia – QB Carson Beck, RB Kendall Milton, Daijun Edwards, WR Ladd McConkey, TE Brock Bowers, WR Dominic Lovett, C Sedrick Van Pran, DL Nazir Stackhouse, DE Mykel Williams, CB Kamari Lassiter, S Tykee Smith, S Malaki Starks.

Florida State – QB Brock Glenn, RB Lawrance Toafili, LB Kalen DeLoach, DT Braden Fraske.

Start Fast: Florida State’s offensive issues are well-documented. That’s especially true with the current list of opt-outs. A fast offensive start by the Bulldogs might be too much for the Seminoles to overcome.

Clean game from Carson Beck: The Bulldogs had too many offensive mistakes to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship, a fact Beck made clear in the post-game interviews. After recently announcing he’ll be back for his senior year, Beck will be anxious to show the game was an anomaly.

Be aggressive: With the Bulldogs facing a young quarterback who will be without many of his key weapons, don’t be shocked if the Bulldog defensive coaches dial up even more pressure than they typically do in order to create turnovers and mistakes.

Georgia

TE Brock Bowers (Doubtful, ankle)

OL Amarius Mims (Doubtful, ankle)

WR Ladd McConkey (Questionable, ankle)

DB Julian Humphrey (Questionable, shoulder)

LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson (Transferred)

Florida State

QB Travis Jordan (Out, injury)

RB Travis Benson (Opted out for Draft)

WR Johnny Wilson (Opted out for Draft)

WR Keon Coleman (Opted out for Draft)

TE Jaheim Bell (Opted out for Draft)

DE Jared Verse (Opted out for Draft)

DT Fabien Lovett (Injured)

DT Malcolm Ray (In Portal)

LB DJ Lundy (In Portal)

OL Thomas Schrader (In Portal)

DT Ayobami Tifase (In Portal)

LB Dylan Brown-Turner (In Portal)

• With a win over Florida State, Georgia’s 2023 senior class will finish with 50 wins, the most in school history.

• Quarterback Carson Beck, who announced he will return for his senior year, has a completion percentage of 72.4—the best in school history.

• Georgia is third nationally with an 80 percent success rate on fourth down conversions, going 8 for 10 with three touchdowns.

• Four Bulldogs have blocked kicks in their career:

…Freshman Joenel Aguero blocked a Florida punt that resulted in a safety.

…In 2022, Nazir Stackhouse blocked a field goal that was returned 96 yards by Chris Smith in the SEC Championship against LSU.

…Outside linebacker Jalon Walker blocked a punt last year against Kent State.

…Dan Jackson blocked a punt against Arkansas in 2021.

• The Orange Bowl marks Georgia’s 62nd bowl game, second most of any team in the country.

• Florida State has been ranked in the Associated Press top five for 14 consecutive weeks, the program’s longest streak since 2013-14, when Florida State was there for 27 consecutive polls.

• The Seminoles boast one of the nation’s best pass defenses, leading the country in opponent completion percentage (46.8), pass breakups (77), and passes defended (87). FSU’s defense also ranks second nationally in opponent passing efficiency (96.50) and fourth in fewest passing touchdowns allowed (8).

• Florida State (46.8 percent) is the only team in the nation forcing more incompletions than completions allowed. The last time a P5 team held its opponents below 50 percent completions in a season was 2018, when Michigan and LSU posted marks of 49.5 and 49.7 percent, respectively; the last time FSU held its opponents below 50 percent completions for a season was 2012.

• FSU leads the ACC in both scoring offense (37.0, 13th nationally) and scoring defense (15.9, 6th), one of four teams in the country to lead their conference in both categories.

• The Noles rank third nationally in total sacks (45), fourth in 3rd-down defense (27.4 percent) and turnover margin (+0.92), sixth in total tackles for loss (96.0), and eighth in passing yards allowed per game (170.4).

• Florida State’s offense leads the ACC in fewest turnovers (5, 1st nationally), fewest interceptions thrown (2, 2nd), fewest fumbles lost (3, 11th), touchdowns scored (61, 10th), and passing efficiency (150.7, 30th).

• FSU leads the ACC and ranks second in the country with a kickoff return average of 27.08 yards, and its net punting average of 43.21 yards per punt is fifth nationally.

Under normal circumstances, this would be one hell of a game. But there’s nothing normal about this one.

Considering the sting still being felt in Tallahassee by not making the playoffs and the number of significant opt-outs, Florida State is going to have to dig deep to make this a game.

Georgia, meanwhile, despite some disappointment of its own, appears motivated.

Earning the 2023 senior class its 50th victory is a key incentive for the Bulldogs. Coupled with the fact that it’s going to be Carson Beck under center for the Bulldogs, that’s going to be a bad combination for the Seminoles. Prediction: Georgia 42, Florida State 10.