Gator Country

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray said he's "definitely" pulling for the Florida Gators to beat the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday. / Gator Country file photo by Tim Casey

Georgia Bulldogs fans are Florida Gators fans, at least for this one Saturday anyway.

The Bulldogs will benefit in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division if their-long-time rival Florida beats South Carolina in a game that begins at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Florida is 5-0 in SEC play, just ahead of one-loss Georgia (3-1) and South Carolina (4-1) in the Eastern Division standings.

A Gators win Saturday would all but eliminate the Gamecocks, which handed the Bulldogs their lone loss, from contention.

With Florida playing Georgia on Oct. 27 in Jacksonville, Fla., the Bulldogs will win the Eastern Division with a win.

That’s assuming both teams win out in the rest of their SEC games. And, of course, assuming the Gators chomp the Gamecocks in half on Saturday.

That’s why Georgia players and coaches are rooting for Florida this week.

Georgia junior quarterback Aaron Murray, who’s from Tampa, Fla., gave Bulldogs fans his permission to pull for the Gators on Saturday.

“I think everyone gets a free pass this week who’s a Georgia fan,” Murray said while meeting with the media this week. “I’m not saying to deck out in Florida gear, but you can definitely be a little happier if they can come out with a victory Saturday.”

Apparently, Georgia coach Mark Richt didn’t follow Murray’s advice as he sported a little Gators-friendly attire during his Monday “Bulldog Hotline” call-in show.

“I’ve actually got a little bit of orange in my shirt today,” Richt was quoted as saying during the show in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog. “I don’t have anything that has pure orange but I’ve got one has red and orange stripes. I wore it today in honor of the Florida Gators, but that’s it.”

Host Scott Howard replied with, “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“I’m a Florida fan this weekend,” Richt laughed.

The SEC Championship is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Dec. 2 in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.

Here’s a look at the SEC Eastern Division standings:
Team SEC Overall
Florida 5-0, 6-0
South Carolina 4-1, 5-1
Georgia 3-1, 5-1
Vanderbilt 1-3, 2-4
Tennessee 0-3, 3-3
Kentucky 0-4, 1-6
Missouri 0-4, 3-4

About the author

MikeCapshaw

Mike’s 15 years in the business has included more than six years of covering SEC sports and recruiting at a daily newspaper in Arkansas. He has also helped launch a newspaper, magazines, websites and even a sports talk radio show. Mike has won Florida Press Association awards for Best Sports Game Story and Best Sports Feature Story in the past two years as well as a company-wide award at his former newspaper group that includes some 60 publications, for Excellence in Sports Reporting.

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