GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as we’re joined by Barrett Sallee of CBSSports.com to continue to preview Florida Gators vs. Georgia on Saturday.
Andrew and Nick ask Barrett for his keys on the game on Saturday and how much he thinks Justin Fields will be involved in the game on Saturday.
Andrew and Nick also give you their keys for the game on Saturday and why they think the pressure on Georgia on Saturday.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew: What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, Wednesday before Georgia. It’s a rivalry week. It’s hate week. We’re going to bring on a special guest today to help us preview this big top 10 matchup in the World’s Largest Cocktail Party.
Nick: Big game. Sixth time that Florida and Georgia will play each other as top 10 teams, according to the AP Poll. Florida is 3-2 in those five top 10 matchups, and they’ve won the last three. The last time it happened was 2008. You got College Gameday in the building, so Lee Corso is in the building. You’ve also got Tim Tebow and Laura Rutledge in the building with SEC Nation.
Andrew: Don’t forget about Marcus Spears.
Nick: Yeah. Marcus Spears.
Andrew: I love talking to Marcus Spears.
Nick: Really, the eyes of the entire college football world are on Jacksonville this week. Given where Florida has been, given where the season was, didn’t see this coming. Florida, hats off to them. Hats off to Dan Mullen and the players. They put themselves in a position where, like I just said, the eyes of the college football world are on you this weekend.
Andrew: Yeah. It’s definitely a big game and having all that attention on the game only heightens it a little bit. For the SEC, it’s nothing but good. You have this game, and then next week I think you could make the argument that both of them would be in Baton Rouge for the night game.
Nick: I think this is the audition for the 3:30 game. Also, you probably need to see what Kentucky does this week.
Andrew: No, I’m saying Gameday and SEC Nation are likely headed to Baton Rouge for LSU-Alabama.
Nick: Next week.
Andrew: Yeah. That’s what I’m saying. You kind of have back to back big SEC weekend games. Next weekend it will be top five matchup.
Nick: Got you. I thought you were saying, so Florida, we didn’t get the Missouri time. It’s either 12 or 3:30. 12 on ESPN. 3:30 on CBS or 4:00 on SEC Network. This is like the audition for that 3:30 game. LSU-Alabama is a CBS night game, so they are doing their double-header next week. This is the audition for that 3:30 CBS slot. Kentucky plays Vanderbilt this week?
Andrew: Kentucky plays Missouri.
Nick: Missouri this week.
Andrew: They’re an underdog too.
Nick: Yeah. You keep sleeping on Kentucky.
Andrew: Kentucky will fall sooner or later. I expect Kentucky to end the year with three losses.
Nick: Kentucky-Missouri. So then, if Kentucky wins and Georgia wins, obviously CBS is going to snatch up that Georgia-Kentucky game, because that then would be for the SEC East essentially. If Kentucky beats Missouri, and then Kentucky beats Georgia, all they have left on the SEC slate is Tennessee, and they would have the tiebreaker over a one SEC loss Georgia. They would go. Kentucky would be in Atlanta. Those words are being spoken.
Andrew: Here is my thing, Nick, and I may take some heat from Florida fans when I say this, but if Florida wins I’m not sure that Florida-Missouri is a bigger game than Georgia-Kentucky, because essentially if Kentucky beats Georgia, Kentucky still goes. I mean, they could lose down the road. I’m trying to think of who else they have. They have Tennessee left maybe, I think? Still, I think you can make the argument that that Georgia-Kentucky game still might be a little bigger game, even though I think Georgia is going to crush them. A lot depends on this weekend.
A lot depends on how both teams come into this game. You talk about all that different stuff of Gameday, SEC Nation there, Florida being #9 in the country, all the love their getting, all the love Georgia is not getting, because of their loss to LSU. Which team comes in prepared the most? What team mentally prepared the most? In the past this is a game Florida would come in with their heads gigantic and would think they could walk out on the field and win the game. Has that been the case with Mullen’s teams? No. I think they’ll be okay. Then how does Georgia? I think, outside of the national championship game last year, not the national championship game, outside of the Auburn game before the SEC Championship game, this is kind of the real first adversity a Kirby Smart team has faced.
Nick: I’d say so. They were 7-0 when they faced Florida last year. Did they get all the way to the SEC Championship undefeated? I think they did.
Andrew: No. They lost to Auburn.
Nick: That’s right. They lost to Auburn.
Andrew: That’s what I’m saying. Really that was kind of the first adversity they faced, when you had that loss in the plains, and then you had to rebound and beat Georgia Tech, who was whatever. Then you had to rebound and get ready to face an Auburn team, which that wasn’t as bad, because that was revenge. This is really the first adversity you faced when you go out and looked as good as they have.
Nick: Yeah. I agree with you there, but I also kind of think it’s almost like, because of the rivalry, you almost kind of throw that stuff out. We talked about maybe last year Florida on paper is not as good as Georgia, and you and I both picked Georgia last year to win. You also say, you throw that stuff out the window, because it’s a rivalry game.
Andrew: Oh, 100%.
Nick: Stuff happens because of rivalries. I do agree with you saying they are facing adversity. They have been rolling.
Andrew: Here’s my thing to you. To spoil who, our guest today is Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports, a good friend of both of ours. He’s going to come on, and I’m going to ask him this question. I’m going to throw this out there. The pressure is all on Georgia. Florida’s playing with house money.
Nick: I thought you were going to keep going with that. I agree.
Andrew: I don’t know how you say anything different, not you, but anyone.
Nick: No. Georgia was the preseason pick to win the SEC East. Georgia was the team that everyone was talking about, me included. On a collision course for Alabama and the SEC Championship. Probably the only team that could beat Alabama in the SEC. These are all things that I’ve said, that other people have said. Absolutely.
Andrew: You think about this, and again, we’ll get into this more. We have talked about this, but this is not the same Georgia team, by any stretch. We’ve been talking about that for a couple weeks now. For me, Nick, if you’re Georgia, and you return your starting quarterback, you return most of your offensive line, and you potentially go into this game with, well, there is no potentially. You go into this game, and you lose, you’re out. You’re not going to Georgia. You’re not going to the playoffs. You’re not going to one of the big New Year’s Six bowl games. Excuse me, I don’t know what they call them now. It’s not the New Year’s Six bowl games. You’re not going to the Sugar Bowl. You’re not going to the Fiesta Bowl or one of those big games. So, all the pressure is on Georgia, if you lose, in my opinion.
Florida, you have two losses. I’m not taking anything away from this rivalry. This is a big game for Florida, but if you lose this game, you have two losses. You’re still looking at probably going to the TaxSlayer Bowl or one of the New Year’s bowls. Two losses on the year, everybody would have took that.
Nick: I’m going to take it. We’re going to a good bowl game?
Andrew: That’s what I’m saying. I mean, everyone would take that. That’s why I say the pressure is all on the Bulldogs on Saturday. Florida is playing with house money. Again, it’s a rivalry game, and nobody will admit there. There is not a soul in the world that will admit that there’s no pressure on Florida. Not a soul in the world in that football office at Florida that will say that. Not a ton that will say that. They’re going to go into this game saying it’s a big game, and it is a big game. I think that there’s a chance you can come out, and if you can put some early points on the board against Georgia, the pressure builds on Kirby more, and then it’s a situation of does Kirby then maybe go to Justin Fields, who may or may not be ready to be that guy for the four quarters?
Nick: That’s another thing with Georgia and the preseason expectations. Not only did you have your freshman quarterback coming back, but you also had the #2 quarterback in the country signing onto you. Now you’re in a situation, like you just said, where you’re dealing with questions of are you going to play this kid and not the guy that got you to the SEC Championship last year?
Andrew: Right. Exactly. Nick, let’s go to Barrett. We’ll talk to Barrett about all this, and then we’ll come back and break this game down even more.
Guys, we’re back with our man Barrett Sallee of CBSSports.com. Barrett, first off, thanks for coming on. Second of all, you and I are friends. We’re Braves fans.
Barrett: Yeah. We are. It was a fun ride. I got to see you a couple times, very, very briefly throughout the course of the season. They were ahead of schedule. It was fun. It was magical. It felt like 1991. Looking back at the playoffs, and really the NLDS in general, the Dodgers were way better than the Braves. The Brewers were way better than the Braves. Barring an absolute freak miracle, it wasn’t going to end well for the Braves. They’ll get there eventually, but this was just an experience year. They’ll use that to their advantage moving forward.
Andrew: Don’t worry, Barrett.
Nick: That’s it. That’s the Braves talk for this segment.
Andrew: Hold on. Barrett, you and I …
Barrett: Let’s talk about the Marlins though.
Nick: That segment’s also over. Look at that. We’re flying right through.
Andrew: Barrett, you and I will still party in the Battery for a World Series very, very soon. Don’t worry. We will.
Barrett: I’ve already got lodging set up if that happens. No joke. I’ve got a whole lodging setup that includes cots inside of an office, ready to go if that happens. I’m 100% down.
Andrew: I need a cot.
Nick: Barrett, that was great. Thanks for coming on. We’ll talk to you later.
Andrew: Save me a cot. But you and I, in order to go see our Braves, we have to do our day to day job, and that’s taking us to Jacksonville this weekend. Barrett, I want to ask you this. Nick and I have been kind of breaking this down all week a little bit. When is the last game for Florida that you can honestly say has been this big of a hype game? I said the LSU hurricane game, because of the hurricane circumstances and then the East. Realistically, it was just a chance to go get beaten by Alabama by 100. When is the last game by Florida that’s been this hyped for you?
Barrett: Probably the last Florida game, man, the hurricane game was probably the best one. Maybe before that was, Texas A&M wasn’t that big of a deal. There haven’t been that many. I’d say in terms of Florida it’s because Florida hasn’t lived up to its end of the bargain. Maybe the Tennessee-Florida game from 2015, the one where Butch Jones had a field goal chance to win it and blew a 14-point lead, or 13-point lead. Maybe that one, because Florida was still kind of on the new hire buzz before the McElwain shine wore off. Tennessee at that point under Butch Jones wasn’t a complete train wreck. In fact, they were cranked up pretty good. I’d say biggest game since that, most likely.
Andrew: In my opinion, this is the biggest game in Jacksonville since the ’08 game.
Barrett: I would say 2012, because that was Muschamp’s second year, and that was the year that Georgia and Florida were in the National Championship hunt literally into rivalry weekend. I would say 2012, but ’08 certainly would qualify as well, because that was when Georgia was preseason #1. I know they got smoked by Alabama, but that was a super loaded team. ’08 would definitely qualify.
Andrew: I agree with you in that ’12 game. Completely just erased that one from the memory. Let me ask you this, Barrett. Nick and I just kind of broke this down a little bit. Does it not just feel like all the pressure is on Georgia in this game with the expectations heading into the year?
Barrett: Yeah, a little bit. Especially what happened their last time out against LSU. I mean, I think it does sort of feel like they’re the ones that have the biggest pressure, because they’re the defending SEC champs, and they went to the national title game. They haven’t looked up to par, at least in terms of what the expectation was throughout the course of the season. The division is still very much in doubt with Kentucky and Florida both being right there. I mean, they’re the hunted, so therefore I think they have more pressure, especially considering the way they’ve looked this year.
That might change with Florida. I mean, it’s a rivalry game, so going into the game Georgia has got pressure, but I think a lot of players will tell you, especially in rivalry games like that, it doesn’t really matter what the pressure is. It doesn’t really matter what the hype is. It’s almost like baseball. You’re only as good as your next day starting pitcher. In football, in a game like that, you’ve got pressure, but then if your big brother, your little brother, your cousin, punches you in the mouth, you don’t care about that anymore. You just want to punch back as hard as you can.
Andrew: I agree with you on that. That’s what Nick and I always say about this game. It doesn’t matter who is good. Both teams can be 0-8, and you’d get a great showing in Jacksonville.
Barrett: It’s a tight game too. Mentally and emotionally it’s tight. It’s almost like the Iron Bowl that way too. The Egg Bowl is that way too. I don’t know if fans on either side really have fun until the final gun sounds, because you’re so intense. You’re almost everybody in that stadium is more afraid to lose than to win, especially in that game, which is typically pretty tight. It’s not a lot of fun to watch.
Andrew: Does any fan know what’s going on by Saturday at 3:30 is the key.
Barrett: No. Especially not if they have those pools up there. I mean, you might as well just hang out and not even pay attention to the game. No. But that’s a fun festival. That’s kind of like the SEC’s version, not kind of, it is the SEC’s version of Oklahoma-Texas that’s at the state fair of Texas. You have all the stuff going on outside. You go to the game, but even if you didn’t go to the game, you’d probably have more fun tailgating or just hanging out there than any other college location, any other college football game in the South.
Nick: It earned its nickname, the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. It’s definitely earned, not just given.
Barrett: It is. I’ve obviously covered that game. My dad lives in Jacksonville, so I’ve been to that game as a fan way back when, before the Gator Bowl was renovated too. It’s a big party. I think the St. Johns river scene is vastly underrated, because there is some Vol Navy things going out there sometimes. It’s a good time. It’s always going to be the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, no matter what the PC police say. It’s that way for a reason, because it’s a giant party.
Andrew: Yeah. Dan Mullen said something on Monday that I disagree with. He said he thinks that the game can be won anywhere. I think the game is won in the trenches, like in any key rivalry game. Would you agree with that, that this game is going to be won in the trenches? Whichever team runs the ball better is more than likely going to win the football game?
Barrett: I’d agree with you to an extent, because I don’t think Georgia has to run as effectively at Florida to win. Sure. That has to happen in every game for a team to win. You have to establish the run, or if you’re in Mike Leach’s case, establish the screen pass game. For Georgia, if they establish the run just enough, they’ve got enough of a passing game in Jake Fromm and the rest of those receivers out there where they can really turn it sideways. That’s kind of what I feel about this one coming in.
If Georgia wins, it’s going to be by a pretty significant amount, because they don’t have to run as effectively to set up what they want to do through the air. Florida can’t do anything through the air, so they’re just going to have to run. If Georgia doesn’t stop it, then Florida’s going to win. Either way, I think it’s going to be close, if Florida does establish the run against a Georgia run defense that hasn’t been good. It’s won in the trenches, for sure, but for Florida that’s kind of the only way for them to win. For Georgia, that just sets up and opens up a lot of what they want to do.
Andrew: Georgia is not going to give Florida the seven yards of separation Mississippi State did.
Barrett: No.
Andrew: That’s not going to happen. You hit on something that I think a lot of people vastly overlooked heading into the year for Georgia, and that was just how much Roquan Smith and the guys up front for Georgia would be missed. Everyone thought, it’s going to be replaceable. You don’t replace a first-round draft pick that easily. Has it just been a situation of younger guys getting established there, or is it a depth issue? What has been the issue, in your opinion, up front for Georgia?
Barrett: I think it is a depth issue, because you do have some young guys playing roles, and they wouldn’t be playing roles if they had some more experience around them. I think it’s mostly just inexperience. You go back and look at what Georgia was in 2016 in Kirby’s first year. They were good at linebacker, but Roquan was not what he was last season. Davin Bellamy and Lorenzo Carter were sort of hit and miss. I think those guys coming back really helped them last year. So, with those guys gone, I think you’re asking a bunch of dudes to play at a level that, quite frankly, is impossible.
I think for Georgia it’s one of those things, we maybe overestimated what that situation would look like and maybe sold them a little too high, based on Kirby’s ability to produce solid defense consistently. I think, for him, I think it proves that while they are starting to have that Alabama look, where you just plug and play guys, they’re not quite there yet. Even with Alabama, when Kirby was there, for the first couple of years you had some ups and some downs, relatively speaking, while you built that depth. Kirby is doing that, but this is still one of those things kind of like growing pains, where you’re still going to be effective, you’re still going to be competitive, you still might win a National Championship, or you still might get close, but that inexperience is not at the level where you can just keep running dudes out there and have them play at the ultimate high. I think they’ll get there eventually, but they’re not there yet. I think the linebacker corps is the perfect illustration of that.
Nick: It takes a while to assemble all the pieces to that machine, to get it to start running like Alabama did. I think still though Georgia has at least kind of kept guys out of the end zone. They’ve had 12 scoreless quarters this year. I think a guy that sticks out to me at linebacker, obviously you’re not replacing Roquan Smith, is probably D’Andre Walker. He’s already got five sacks, and he’s had a couple forced fumbles this year.
We’ve seen Florida’s running game, and it’s hard to say, because Malik Davis is a special talent, but I think Florida’s running game has gotten better without Malik Davis, just in the sense that now Lamical Perine and Jordan Scarlett are getting more carries per game. I think that’s getting them into a rhythm. Is Georgia equipped to stop Florida’s running game? Then you can even throw in Feleipe Franks, who’s gotten more involved.
Barrett: I think they’re equipped. I don’t know if they can do it consistently, because you’re right about Scarlett. He gets better as the game goes on, so does Perine. I think for Georgia, the times that they’ve struggled with run defense it’s been really when there’s a little bit more of an element in the passing game. I think in this specific instance Georgia will roll down a couple safeties, and they will put their corners on islands, because they’ve got a good secondary, and really make it hard for Florida to run. Because I don’t think they feel threatened by the downfield passing attack. They’re equipped to do that. I think a team like Florida kind of plays into what Georgia wants to do. The fact that they don’t pass as effectively as other teams I think will allow Georgia to try to disguise its weakness or hide its weakness, or at least limit the impact of that weakness by loading the box. If Feleipe Franks has a great day, then so be it. They’ll adjust.
Florida is capable of running on Georgia if Georgia doesn’t approach the game that way, because if they don’t, then yeah, Florida’s offensive line has been better than I think I expected. The running backs, I’ve said for a while that I think the running back group is extremely deep and versatile. I just don’t know if they can exploit Georgia’s weakness, because Georgia knows Georgia’s weakness, and going into a situation like this, with Florida’s passing game being a little questionable, I think they’ll do a lot to disguise that weakness.
Andrew: Let me ask you this, Barrett, to move to Georgia on offense. How much do you expect Justin Fields to be involved? I think he’s involved a little bit more in the running game, since it’s a whole week off, but obviously I’m not as close to the Georgia program as you are and that kind of stuff. Do you expect him to have a little bit of a bigger role in this game?
Barrett: I do. They have a lot built in for him. I mentioned this on a couple other shoes. The LSU game for Georgia was almost like that Ohio State-Michigan State game from 2015, when Urban Meyer forget Ezekiel Elliot was a person. I think in that LSU game Kirby tried to let Jake Fromm throw himself out of a slump, rather than going to a different part of the playbook that was Justin Fields heavy. It’s already there. I said pretty much everywhere that it wasn’t a Jake Fromm problem that Georgia lost to LSU. It was a Kirby Smart problem, because he didn’t get to the stuff that he needed to get to. I think he learned his lesson from that. I think that was really the first time where he had to make a decision like that, and he made the wrong one. Kirby has shown throughout his career that he’s capable of learning his lesson and adjusting beyond that.
I think you’re going to see a ton of Justin Fields, because what you’ve seen throughout the course of the season, with the exception of a little bit in the Tennessee game, there’s a lot built in there for Justin. It’s not a quarterback controversy. I think it’s a partnership. I think you’ll see a lot more of that, not just against Florida, but moving forward, because of what happened in Baton Rouge.
Andrew: They complement perfectly.
Nick: They do. It’s like a thunder and lightning almost, if you’re talking about running backs and the backfield. I think I saw you tweet about it, and we were talking about it in the press box up in Nashville. Kirby, might be time to put Justin Fields in, watching as that game unfolded. It just never happened. I think if Kirby goes back and watches the tapes and sees what Kentucky was able to do against Florida with a running quarterback who can’t throw the ball like Justin Fields, I certainly agree with you that I would expect more Justin Fields on Saturday.
Barrett: It would be certain situations too. They like to use him inside the red zone or inside the other 20 to get him out of the shadow of the goalpost. They’ll use him, but I think it’s about feel for Kirby, and so he has to find the right times, and unfortunately I think the LSU game was a perfect opportunity to figure out exactly what the feel of that is like in this sort of new age partnership, and he didn’t get to it. You’re going to see a ton from him, and it’s not just going to be running back or running quarterback. It’s going to be as a passer. He can sling it. They know he can sling it. They have plays built in there specifically for him to emphasize his strengths, to do things that Jake can’t do, and vice versa. I would expect to see a pretty hefty rotation this weekend.
Andrew: I’m the biggest Justin Fields fan in America. I’m just going to let you know that, Barrett.
Barrett: He’s good.
Andrew: He very well is. Before I get you out of here, Barrett, I wanted to ask your opinion of this. A lot of people have weighed in on Dan Mullen and the job he’s done. I think we all agree it’s been an excellent job. From a national perspective, how much appreciation is Dan Mullen getting for just what he has done so far, not only from just winning the games, but the way they’re winning the games, the mindset of this program in general? From a national perspective, Barrett, can you touch on that?
Barrett: Yeah. I think he’s getting a lot of credit. I think the fact that he’s done this before, turning a program around, is maybe dampering that a little bit nationwide, because I think a lot of people expected Dan to turn things around and make Florida competitive again. Even this year, I mean, I said they’d go 8-4. I mean, I think people recognize that, and I think that is something that he can improve upon and perhaps make a run at Coach of the Year if things continue down that road. I don’t think it’s one of those things where he’s the ultimate in terms of Coach of the Year candidates, because of guys like Ed Orgeron, who was almost fired. Because of a guy like Luke Fickell at Cincinnati, they’re already bowl eligible.
In terms of the best coaching jobs or turnaround coaching jobs in America, Dan might not be in that conversation right now. He certainly can if he beats Georgia and makes a run to the SEC East Championship. Again, I think a lot of people outside of Gainesville sort of expected this. Maybe not to this extent, but they certainly, including me, saw a coach in Dan Mullen with a bunch of players around him that he can use to the best of their abilities, and he’s always been a guy who changes his playbook to fit his personnel better than I think a lot of other coaches. This is sort of the expectation, save for maybe a win-loss record that’s better than a lot of folks expected.
Andrew: I think, Barrett, from my standpoint the wins and the losses, I had Florida right now at this point in the season at two losses. I think it, for me, has been how they’ve won games. We touched on this on the podcast before. Florida doesn’t win that Vanderbilt game the last few years.
Barrett: No, not at all.
Andrew: They don’t go into Starkville and win that tough football game. They just don’t. They would have laid down by then. For me, that is the biggest change for Dan Mullen.
Barrett: It is. I think that’s a product of Dan instilling that kind of mindset, making sure that his players don’t feel entitled, which I think was one of Jim McElwain’s fatal flaws. It’s also, I think, a mindset of those players to say, we know that we’re new at this. We know that every week you got to go out there and win your job back. I think that happens a lot with first year coaches, or even second year coaches.
Then eventually programs get built to a point like Alabama or Georgia, where there’s so much depth on the roster that you had that same thing, where players are constantly worrying about their jobs. I think because he’s a first year coach, and the fact that he has sort of preached that mindset really keeps that attitude consistently throughout the course of every game, where especially in the Vanderbilt game they never felt that. They knew what they had to do. Really, I think the Vanderbilt game was a little bit, I would say the perception of that game was maybe out of whack, because Florida had two drives and two critical turnovers. You don’t want to excuse turnovers, but Florida never really felt like they couldn’t do what they wanted to do against Vanderbilt, despite being in that hole.
Andrew: Right. I agree with you on that. Barrett, listen, we appreciate it so much. Always enjoy getting you on. I would bring you on every week, if it was my choice. We stick together. You do a lot of things, man. Tell everybody where they can find all your work. We definitely endorse your work over here at Gator Country.
Barrett: I appreciate it. Follow me on Twitter, @BarrettSallee. Download the CBS Sports app and read our stuff there. On CBSSports.com. You can watch CBS Sports HQ. It’s integrated into our app on smart phones, on tablets, on smart TVs, Amazon Fire TVs, Rokus, Apple TV, all that stuff. It’s 24/7, 365 sports news and highlights without the yelling, which is a lot of fun. I get to go on there quite a bit. Then Sirius XM Sunday mornings. Every Sunday me and Tom Luginbill on Channel 84. Then filling in whenever they need me, including Wednesday afternoon 4-7 on Off Campus.
Andrew: By the way, I’m still waiting for my invite.
Barrett: I might get you on this week.
Andrew: There you go. Barrett, listen, we appreciate it so much, man. We look forward to talking to you in the future. Enjoy everything. See each other next year in Hotlanta.
Barrett: Thanks, guys. Go Braves.
Nick: Thanks, Barrett.
Andrew: Nick, glad to have our man Barrett on to talk. Barrett does great work, Nick. You and I have been friends with Barrett for a long time. Barrett does a great job over there. I think he had some good points. I think that Florida definitely has to establish the running game.
I do disagree a little bit with him that Georgia can win with their passing game. I just don’t know if they have enough time to throw the ball if they don’t get their running game going to some degree. Again, like I said, Barrett knows Georgia a little bit better than both of us do. I agree with him Justin Fields is going to be a big part of this game.
Nick: I think really when you see what Kentucky was able to do, and Justin Fields is, in my opinion, he’s kind of a once in a generational type of specimen type of athlete. To me, it’s a no-brainer to get him a little bit more involved than he has been.
Andrew: Right. Again, I don’t know for a fact, 100% sure, Justin Fields is ready to handle the pressure for four quarters, but I know this for a fact, and that is Justin Fields is not going to be scared.
Nick: No.
Andrew: Justin Fields is not going to lack the athletic ability in this football game. Lets just call it what it is. Justin Fields is the best quarterback that’s going to walk on the field on Saturday. Maybe on Sunday. Does Jacksonville play at home? He’s better than Blake Bortles probably too. He is a very, very good quarterback. I think it will depend on the game, and that is if Justin Fields comes in and it’s 10-0 Florida, does he press? Maybe.
Nick: Yeah. Certainly a reasonable question to ask. I think is Jake Fromm looking over his shoulder? That’s a real question. I have another question for you. I think maybe it’s just us making too much of it in the media, but I don’t think that’s making too much of it in the media. I know Kirby, like you said, has come out and said he’s backing his guy.
Andrew: What else do you expect him to say?
Nick: Yeah. What else do you expect him to say? Then also, it’s still Jake Fromm is a 19 year old kid, 20 year old kid. You’ve got a guy coming in who is the #1 quarterback. Listen, 100% Jake Fromm is confident in his abilities, but how would you not be looking over your shoulder?
Andrew: Right. To kind of further my point a little bit, Nick, Georgia’s given up 12 sacks on the year. I mean, not terrible, but it’s 43rd in the country, tied for 43rd in the country. Florida has only given up nine sacks on the year. I mean, again, that’s a little misleading. They’ve had a lot of pressure and had to throw the ball away, this, that, and the other. Again, I think that everyone, and I say that respectfully, don’t understand the pressure Florida gets.
Here’s another thing. Todd Grantham knows what he has to do Saturday from an aggressive standpoint to not being too aggressive, all that good stuff. He knows what he’s got to do on Saturday. I think that that’s a key too. Can you go into this game a little bit and throw the rhythm off, throw the timing off, and make Jake Fromm think a little bit more?
Nick: Certainly. That’s a thing. I’ve been so high on Jake Fromm, and I’ve been on him on the podcast. Certainly, I guess, not having as good of a year as I thought. You think he’s playing a little worse than you expected him to?
Andrew: I’m going to be honest, Nick.
Nick: Am I leaning too much on that last game maybe?
Andrew: I’m not …
Nick: Not watching a ton of Georgia?
Andrew: No. I’m not saying that I’m down on Fromm, but I’ve always been a guy who thought Fromm was just a game manager.
Nick: Okay. So, I was higher on him than you were.
Andrew: Yeah. I think you were higher on him than me. Again, that’s no disrespect to Jake Fromm. What he did last year was incredible. I just, for me, it’s kind of like he is what he is. I kind of said that a little bit before. It was kind of like this was still supposed to be Jacob Eason’s team, and all that problems went about. Then it kind of seemed like Fromm got recruited over by Justin Fields. Fromm is just a guy who’s a very, very smart guy who understands his limits and stuff. Again, I think he’s a good quarterback. I might not be as high on him as you are.
Again, let’s also not discredit what he had around him last year. You’re thinking about Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, two guys who are …
Nick: Along with Holyfield and Swift and all these other guys.
Andrew: Yeah. I mean, you’re thinking about all those guys that he had balling out with him last year. I mean, Sony Michel is balling out for the Patriots, and Chubb is doing his thing in the League. I don’t want to say it was easier, but it helped.
Nick: I agree with that.
Andrew: It definitely helped. Let me ask you this, Nick. I went back and forth on this a little bit. How much stock do you put into the Georgia-Mississippi State game last year?
Nick: I don’t think a ton.
Andrew: Okay. I just wondered. I went back curiously and looked. It was 31-3 in the game. That was the final. Mississippi State only had two turnovers in the game. Mississippi State had 280 yards of offense, 177 rushing, on that team last year. The reason I asked was just simply a question mark of this was pretty much the same coaching staff coaching against Georgia. I haven’t went back and watched the game completely. I’ve watched bits and pieces of it. To see if it was just simply lack of players executing in the game, or if it was more of coaching game plan for Mississippi State. It was just interesting, and that was why I was asking. I went back and looked at it and was pulling up some stats and that good stuff. 177 yards rushing though, against that team, is pretty darn good.
Nick: Yeah. It certainly is. My question for you was do you think it’s a media thing and a fan thing, or is it a real thing, that when people say, or when you and I say, Georgia is going to come in angrier, hungrier, ready in the two weeks of practice, because they’re coming off a loss rather than coming off of a win? Is that real? Is that just a storyline that fans and media will talk about this week? Would you rather face Georgia if they’re 7-0 or 6-1 coming off of a loss?
Andrew: This is just my standpoint. I think if you ask Dan Mullen he probably tells you it’s whatever, maybe. Maybe he is honest about it and says that. I think it’s a situation where it’s kind of like the Florida loss to Kentucky. Had that not happened, do your players really realize the mistakes they’re making? Probably not.
Nick: I think that’s where my question comes from.
Andrew: Now that you see this game for Georgia, do they understand now that maybe they can’t rely off of last year? Let’s just be honest, Kirby might say they didn’t, that’s BS. Every team thinks they’re last year’s team, whether they are or not. They think they can get by on the morals and accomplishments of last year’s team. Did this wake them up? Then they had two weeks to be woke up about it. I think so. That’s just me. Again, I could be completely wrong about that.
I said that last week. I thought you wanted a Georgia team that came in confident, 7-0, arrogant, instead of a team that came in licking their chops. Listen, they’ve been ready to get back on the field for two weeks now. Not that Florida hasn’t, because Florida is coming off big wins. They’ve been ready to get back on the field too. Georgia’s in that different mindset of they’re ready to get back on the field because they just lost. They’ve probably been getting their ass chewed out for two weeks.
Nick: Right. I think Florida was more so looking towards the bye week as a mental refresher, as a physical refresher, get your legs back under you. Clear your head, because Vanderbilt wasn’t an emotional win, but the three wins before that were. To me, I think Florida was more so looking forward to the bye, where Georgia might have been looking forward to it, but once you get that loss you want to go out and play on Sunday. You don’t want to wait two weeks to have to get back on the field and redeem a loss.
Andrew: Right. Exactly. It’s just, for me, it is a little bit of storyline. I can see some people saying that. It very well might be true. I’m not going to sit here and call anybody a liar or anything else for that. I do think that in the back of Dan Mullen’s mind a little bit he probably thinks, they probably got woke up a little bit. Again, it just all kind of goes back to what we talked about, and that is a little bit of adversity in this game. I agree with Barrett in a way too, and that is when it’s rivalry game time now, all that kind of does go away. Like you said before, that all kind of does go away, and it becomes a point of strap it up. You and I both know how that crowd is. It’s a very weird crowd. The crowd is never quiet. One side is always happy, and one side is always mad.
Nick: It’s an interesting dynamic, for sure. A lot of guys on both sides will be playing in their first game. How do they handle that? I’ve been asking players. I think the one that I was most interested in asking was David Reese, because David Reese was born and raised in Michigan, just outside of Detroit in Farmington. He had no idea what Florida-Georgia meant. He had seen the highlights. Brandon Spikes hitting Knowshon Moreno. He knew that both teams had some great linebackers. We forgot about David Pollack. David Pollack will be there with Gameday. The only Georgia grad. Great linebackers. Great running backs. He knew about that kind of stuff, but he didn’t really know about the hatred and how heated the rivalry is on the field, in the stands, around St. Johns river. He didn’t understand that. I think that’s something that you probably need to experience firsthand, so how do those guys handle it?
Andrew: I think that’s a very underestimated part of this rivalry. People don’t understand. The Iron Bowl, the Egg Bowl, Ohio State and Michigan, all that stuff is a very, very heated, nasty rivalry. Florida-Tennessee is a nasty rivalry. Florida-Florida State is a nasty rivalry. But there’s only a few games, Oklahoma-Texas, Florida-Georgia, that it’s split 50/50 in there. When that bus pulls in off the bridge, and you go through there, there’s Georgia fans and there’s Florida fans. You’re getting yelled at go Gators, go whatever, chomp, chomp, all that stuff. Then on the other side you suck, your mom sucks.
Nick: There’s barking. There’s grown men and grown women barking.
Andrew: Yeah. That’s what you’re going through. If you’re on the road in Death Valley, you know what you’re getting. You’re getting a few go Gators, chomp, chomp, that kind of stuff, but the majority you’re getting you suck, go Tigers. This is just a different atmosphere. I’m with you on that. I think that while we say it, I think we get away from it at times too. Throw all the numbers away in this game. Throw all the storylines in this game away. Flush them down the toilet, because when they walk on their backfield, it’s different. It’s Florida-Georgia.
Nick: Another point I wanted to make, and we’ll make it quick, because we’re running out of time here. Here goes Nick talking about punters. I think that might be something we haven’t talked about yet. Tommy Townsend has had a couple games, or a couple punts, that haven’t been great. Georgia’s got Mecole Hardman, who right now is leading the SEC in punt return average, with 22 yards per punt. He has a 70-yard touchdown. That was against Middle Tennessee State, but regardless, still a 70-yard punt return touchdown. When we talk about rivalry game and being close and field position, I think that’s a big key. Certainly, that’s something that Greg Knox will be focusing on with directional punting and getting hang time and things like that.
Andrew: Yeah. Got to do it. Special teams and defense, that could very well win or lose this game for either team in this game. You can say that about any big game out there, but rivalry games more so than anything. Opening kickoff return or punt return, any of those to get momentum going one way or the other can loosen you up a little bit. Both teams are going to come in a little tight, I would say, a little nervous, per se. It’s a big game for both teams and both coaching staffs as well. We’ll talk more about this on Friday, but I like this matchup of an offensive guru versus a defensive guru. Who wins out?
Nick: Didn’t work out in Florida’s favor for a little while there, for about four years.
Andrew: Well, it did. Florida. No, that’s right. Mac only won the one. Muschamp won one. Yeah. It is what it is. Dan Mullen though is a lot like Urban Meyer, a lot like Nick Saban, and that is rivalry games are not just another game.
Nick: No. Big emphasis on it. There should be. You’re not playing Toledo.
Andrew: This isn’t Vanderbilt.
Nick: You’re not playing in front 1,500 people at Vanderbilt Stadium. You’re playing in an NFL stadium against one of your biggest rivals. This is a different game, and it should be treated that way.
Andrew: It’s a big recruiting emphasis as well. Nick, tell everybody where they can find us. We’ll get out of here. We’ll see everyone on Friday. Big podcast. We’ll break this game down even more, if that’s possible here. We’ll pick some players, and we’ll pick that game this week.
Nick: www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gator news. The podcast is there in audio and transcript form. The podcast is anywhere you listen to podcasts. Just search Gator Country. Hit subscribe. Never miss an episode. Have it pushed right to your phone, your tablet, or any device. Follow us on social media. @GatorCountry on Facebook and Twitter. @TheGatorCountry on Instagram. I’m @NickdelaTorreGC. He’s @AndrewSpiveyGC.
Andrew: There you go. We appreciate it, guys. Follow us. Good basketball stuff on the site. Good football stuff. Good recruiting stuff. You name it, you got it. Come check us out on Gator Country. As always, guys, we appreciate it. As always, chomp, chomp, and go Braves. Barrett, you got it. Go Braves.
Nick: You stay classy, Gator Country.