Georgia took care of No. 1 Texas two weeks ago and after an off week, the Bulldogs will travel south and take on the Gators. The win over the Longhorns was just the fourth time that the Dawgs defeated the No. 1 ranked team. Three of the four have happened under Kirby Smart and the other occurred in 1985 when Georgia defeated the Florida Gators.
Georgia leads the all-time series with Florida 56-44-2 and since 2011, the Bulldogs lead the series nine games to four. Smart was 1-3 against Florida as a player, but is 6-2 as Georgia’s head coach. His six wins against the Gators is tied for the third most by a Bulldog leader.
Georgia is attempting to win its fourth game in a row in the series. It would be the first time accomplishing this since winning six in a row in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Here are the longest winning streaks that Georgia has had in the series.
Five of Georgia’s six wins in the series with Smart as the head coach have been by 19 or more points. In hasn’t been that close head-to-head in terms of points and total yards.
...Georgia and Florida will meet up in Atlanta in 2026 and in Tampa in 2027 as EverBank Stadium is being renovated. The teams have never met in Atlanta but have met in Tampa back in 1919. Georgia defeated Florida 16-0 that day after the two did not meet during the previous two seasons due to the war. The game was scoreless in the first half, but E.S. Rothe scored on a 5-yard run and Joe Barchan returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown. Georgia added a D.A. Collings field goal in the fourth quarter to get to that final score.
...Carson Beck struggled at times against the Longhorns, but in the end, the Bulldogs were victorious. Georgia has a 3-5 record since the beginning of the 1997 season when its quarterbacks had zero touchdown passes and three or more interceptions in the same game. Two of the wins came against ranked teams.
...Beck did have 23 completions in the game which gave him 503 in his career. He is the seventh Bulldog with at least 500 in his career.
He also has 1,993 yards passing this season. Eric Zeier was Georgia’s first quarterback to have 2,000 yards passing in a season when he eclipsed that mark in 1992. Not counting 2024, only five times (1995, 2000, 2006, 2015, 2020) since Zeier’s seasons has the Georgia quarterback leader not get to 2,000 yards (mostly due to injuries or inconsistent play).
...Speaking of milestones, Arian Smith needs just 17 yards to reach 1,000 yards receiving in his career. Another Bulldog, Dominic Lovett needs 31 to reach 2,000. 1,019 of Lovett’s yards came with Missouri and 950 with Georgia. Dillon Bell has an outside chance of 1,000… he needs 155 more.
...Lawson Luckie is a lot further away, but the tight end is currently fourth on the team with 162 yards receiving this season. Luckie also has just 12 receptions this season with three going for touchdowns. There have been five times that a Georgia player (in the 2000s) has had 15 or fewer catches in a season while having three or more touchdown grabs.
Luckie is currently one of four SEC players with that stat as well.
...The offensive player that may be doing the best for Georgia as of late is former Gator, Trevor Etienne. Etienne is second among SEC running backs with 20 receptions this season (Texas’ Jaydon Blue has 24, but has played seven games compared to Etienne’s six). Over the last 50 seasons, only five Georgia running backs have reached 30 receptions in one season.
Etienne leads the Bulldogs with 422 yards rushing this season. He had a career-best three touchdown runs against Texas. He has played twice in the big clash in Jacksonville, but both were for the Gators. Here are Etienne’s stats in his two games against the Bulldogs in this game.
Defensively, Georgia was dominant against Texas. The Longhorns averaged over 43 points per game entering the clash with the Bulldogs. The Dawgs' defense held them to 15 (and it could have been less). Georgia forced four turnovers and held Texas to 259 yards which was the fourth fewest by Texas under Steve Sarkisian. The Bulldogs also had seven sacks in the game. There have only been two games in the 2000s in which the Georgia defense has had more.
...All six of those games above came against ranked teams and the only one that was played in Athens was the Auburn game (which was also the only loss for Georgia).
...As for the semi-recent Florida tilts, Georgia had six in both 2007 and in 2011 and five in 2012, 2017 and 2023. Plus, don't forget how many times Bill Stanfill and George Patton got to Steve Spurrier in 1966.
...Those are just a few games in this series that Georgia fans won't forget - But, what about these individual performances from the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party... How many do you remember?
--- Herschel Walker had 238, 192, and 219 rush yards in his three games against the Gators.
--- Charley Trippi did one better (exactly one better) by rushing for 239 yards in the 1945 matchup.
--- Another Charley, Charley Britt and his 100-yard pick six in 1959.
--- Ray Goff wasn't too successful as a head coach against the Gators, but in the 1976 comeback victory, he had three rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns.
--- Robert Edwards had four rushing touchdowns in the 1997 upset win and don't forget the Kirby Smart had two interceptions in that game as well.
--- Knowshon Moreno had three touchdown rushes and amassed 188 yards on the ground, but it was the one-yarder that provided the spark and the dance party in 2007. Also, in that game Matthew Stafford connected with Mohamed Massaquoi for 84 yards and a score.
--- David Greene and Fred Gibson connected on a late TD to help preserve a win in 2004.
--- Another big touchdown pass was to Malcolm Mitchell in 2012. Soon after getting a personal foul, he totally redeemed himself with a 45-yard touchdown from Aaron Murray.
-- Georgia's rushing trio of Keith Henderson, Lars Tate and Tim Worley and the rest of the Bulldogs ran for 344 yards, compared to the Gators' 28 in the upset win over the No. 1 team in the nation in 1985.
--- Jarvis Jones dominating John Brantley in 2011 and Jeff Driskel a season later are just a few of the incredible defensive performances.
--- Richard Appleby connecting with Gene Washington in 1975, and of course Buck Belue to "Lindsay Scott, Lindsay Scott, Lindsay Scott" in 1980.
