Georgia football vs. Florida: Scouting report, forecast

In the age of the transfer portal and making the jump to the NFL after junior seasons, recruiting classes are often reduced by the time a player is a senior.

Georgia football players who stayed will get a chance Saturday to do something that doesn’t happen too often: beat Florida four years in a row.

Defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse, linebacker Chaz Chambliss, offensive lineman Xavier Truss and receiver Arian Smith can check that box as the No. 2 Bulldogs beat Florida in Jacksonville on Saturday.

They all have victories in the last three years. This also applies to Smael Mondon, who is expected to be out with a foot injury. Safety Dan Jackson also missed games due to injury.

Georgia’s 1983 senior class was the last to win four straight against Florida.

“To go 4-0 against any SEC team is an accomplishment in itself,” Chambliss said.

Beating Florida is different for many Bulldogs and their fans.

“It would mean everything to never lose a game,” Smith said. “I can just get out of here and talk about it.”

Why Georgia will beat Florida

Florida quarterback DJ Laway’s two starts this year came in The Swamp. This will be located at EverBank Stadium with a 50-50 crowd split.

The freshman is 16 of 24 for 174 yards with a touchdown and an interception on the road with a yards per attempt of 7.3, according to cfbstats.com

“We have to make him feel uncomfortable, we have to go after him and do a good job of putting out disguises that he hasn’t seen yet,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart told Fox5 Atlanta.

Georgia recorded a season-high seven sacks for 59 yards in its win over No. 1 Texas two weeks ago.

Drafting Jalon Walker along a defensive front that included a healthier Mykel Williams put pressure on Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning. Walker had three sacks and Williams had two. Texas A&M, Tennessee and Kentucky have each fired Laway twice.

Georgia had the ball better with Trevor Etienne with Jared Wilson back at center and was able to bring back right guard Tate Ratledge after a high ankle sprain Saturday. The Bulldogs could target a secondary that will miss veteran cornerback Jason Marshall with a shoulder injury.

Why Florida will beat Georgia

Will Georgia be hungover after the big win over Texas?

Florida is certainly motivated enough to win its first game against Georgia since 2020.

The Gators have won three of their last four games this season but haven’t been able to match up with the best teams on their schedule, though they certainly had a chance to win in Tennessee before overtime.

“I feel like Florida is playing as well as any team in the SEC the last few weeks,” Smart said. “They tackle better. They played complementary football, that’s the right word at a high level.”

Georgia’s defense rebounded after giving up explosive plays against Mississippi State in the Texas game, but will have to endure the loss of starters Jackson and Joenel Aguero to suspensions in the first half.

Lagway has transferred arms to wide receiver Elijah Badger (Arizona State) and Chimere Dike (Wisconsin).

He has completed 62.8 percent of his passes with five touchdowns and five interceptions and threw a 27-yard touchdown to Tennessee to force overtime before the Gators lost.

“He’s doing a good job of moving through it,” Smart said. “And he made several plays where he relied on the pocket, stepped up and made really good throws. He threw the deep ball really well, obviously in the last game against Kentucky.”

Carson Beck has been hurt by dropped passes, but the Bulldogs have been working on that.

Smart said on his radio show last week that “we’ve been trying to really attack,” the dropped passes since the Texas game.

“We want captures where traffic is contentious and where there is a threat of being hit,” he said. “As much as we can do that, I think it builds confidence in our players. Not just catching a machine.”

Prediction

Georgia 34, Florida 20

Georgia could lean more on its running game and Etienne to set up the pass for Beck and reduce turnovers. Lagoway should make some big plays, but expect Georgia’s defense to take risks to pressure him. Gators cover the spread, but Georgia wins fourth straight against Gators.