WHERE: EverBank Stadium, Jacksonville, Fla.

WHEN: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 7-0, 4-0; Florida 5-2, 3-1

TV/RADIO: CBS (Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson, Jenny Dell): Georgia Football Radio Network (Scott Howard, Eric Zeier, D.J. Shockley).

Georgia and Florida could be 0-7 but would still qualify as must-see TV. That’s how fierce this rivalry is after 101 meetings.

Of course, the Bulldogs come into the contest at EverBank Stadium a perfect 7-0, with the Gators a respectable 5-2 following back-to-back wins over Vanderbilt and South Carolina.

Georgia is 5-2 against Florida under head coach Kirby Smart, whose Bulldogs face an unranked Gator team for the third straight year.

However, there is one significant difference from last year. Well, actually two.

Jacksonville native Carson Beck will be the quarterback, so it will be interesting to see how the junior responds to playing in a stadium he knows very well.

The other big difference is that Saturday’s contest will mark the first game this season for Georgia without tight end Brock Bowers. He's out for an undetermined amount of time after undergoing tightrope surgery to repair a high-ankle sprain suffered against Vanderbilt.

Bowers enjoyed a huge game last year against the Gators, catching five passes for 154 yards and a touchdown in Georgia’s 42-20 win.

Should Georgia win, the Bulldogs would extend their school-record win streak to 25 games and set a new mark for consecutive SEC victories with 24.

Georgia: QB Carson Beck, RB Daijun Edwards, RB Kendall Milton, WR Ladd McConkey, WR Dominic Lovett, WR RaRa Thomas, C Sedrick Van Pran, N Nazir Stackhouse, DE Mykel Williams, LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson, S Malaki Starks, CB Kamari Lassiter.

Georgia Offensive Stats

Georgia Defensive Stats

Florida: QB Graham Mertz, RB Montrell Johnson Jr., RB Trevor Etiene, WR Ricky Pearsall, WR Eugene Wilson III, NT Cam Jackson, Edge Princely Umanmielen, LB Shamar James, DT Caleb Banks, CB Jason Marshall, S R.J. Moten

Florida Offensive Stats

Florida Defensive Stats

Other skill players must step up: Smart says his Bulldogs have no “Brock Bowers” plays, i.e., plays designed specifically for the injured tight end. Nevertheless, Georgia will miss the All-American. Others will need to help make up for the loss of production.

Carson Beck must stay in the moment: Nerves haven’t been an issue for Georgia’s quarterback, who has actually shown a lot of poise in his first season as a starter. Saturday, however, will be the first time he’s started in his hometown in a stadium where he played as an 11-year-old. He’ll need to keep his cool.

Disrupt Gator quarterback Graham Mertz: This is always the goal for the Bulldogs’ defense. But considering the Wisconsin transfer leads the SEC in completion percentage (76.07), pressure will be imperative on Saturday.

OL Amarius Mims (ankle) Probable

OL Xavier Truss (ankle) Probable

TE Brock Bowers (ankle) Out

RB Branson Robinson (ankle) Out

RB Roderick Robinson (ankle) Probable

RB Kendall Milton (knee) Probable

DT Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins (foot) Out

WR Cole Speer (undisclosed) Out

DT Jamaal Jarrett (foot) Questionable

WR Ladd McConkey (back) Probable

LB E.J. Lightsey (Shoulder) Out

• Quarterback Graham Mertz has completed 76.2 percent of his passes (170-for-223), which leads the SEC and ranks third nationally behind Oregon’s Bo Nix (79.2 percent) and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy (78.2 percent).

• Mertz is fresh off his first-career 400-yard passing game, throwing for 423 yards and three touchdowns at SC.

• In year one under DC Austin Armstrong (Former Georgia staffer under Smart), Florida ranks fifth in the SEC, 12th in the P5, and 17th in the FBS in total defense with 312.3 yards allowed per game. Through seven games last year, UF had allowed 429.3 yards per game.

• Florida boasts the third-best passing defense in the SEC (187.0), ranking 21st in the FBS and 11th in the P5.

• The Gators have limited teams to 20.0 points per game (t-35th in FBS), an 8.9-point improvement from 2022 (28.9).

• Florida has scored in 443 consecutive games dating back to 1988—an NCAA record and 53 games longer than any other college football team in the history of the sport.

The loss of Brock Bowers understandably has a lot of Georgia fans on edge. While he’ll be missed, he will not be the difference in a win or a loss against the arch-rival Gators.

Look for Georgia’s running game to have a big day, and combined with another consistent day by Carson Beck, the Bulldogs will post an easy win. Prediction: Georgia 38, Florida 17.