No. 5 Georgia (6-1, 4-1) and Florida (3-4, 2-2) will renew their rivalry this Saturday in Jacksonville.
The Gators are led by quarterback DJ Lagway, who’s had some shaky performances this season. He’s completed 65.3% of his passes for 1,513 yards, with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions so far this year.
Lagway has dealt with injuries, but he will need to improve if he wants to help his team upset the Bulldogs.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart thinks highly of Lagway and complimented Florida’s offense.
“He’s a bright player, got a bright future, great arm talent, got an ability to process information quickly, get the ball out on RPOs, and really hard to tackle,” Smart said on Monday. “When you do get through on the rush, and if you ever get through, you’ve got to finish, and finishing on a guy that size is harder than you think in terms of him and his escapability and ability to kind of lengthen plays. He’s done a good job, and he’s improved.
“We kind of watched him grow before our eyes throughout last year and this year, and a really talented group of wideouts surrounds him and a talented offensive line,” Smart continued. “They’re physical and the offensive line has guys that have been playing there for a while, and that complements his style very well.”
Lagway has playmakers around him, including running back Jaden Baugh and pass catchers Eugene Wilson, Dallas Wilson, Tony Livingston, Vernell Brown, J. Michael Sturdivant, Hayden Hansen, and Aidan Mizell.
The Bulldog defense will need to constantly pressure Lagway, who has been sacked 14 times already this season. They’ve struggled to pressure the quarterback, with only eight sacks through seven games.
Smart said his team needs fewer missed tackles and to focus on getting off the field on third down.
“I think I’d start with tackling. I think at the end of the day, that’s what defense is about, and good defenses have few missed tackles,” Smart said. “When you look at the two of our lesser performances, there were a lot of missed tackles. The first thing you start with is that. You’ve got to tackle well, which starts with being in position to make the tackle, not being out of position. But tackling well is key. Third down defense, I’d like to see us get guys in third-and-long, because we’re pretty successful when we get guys in third-and-long. But that starts with first and second down. So it all carries over, and it kind of all bleeds into each other.”
This will be Florida’s first game after firing head coach Billy Napier, who was relieved of his duties on Oct. 19.
The Gators enter as 7.5-point underdogs, but Smart stated they could be inspired by some “new energy.”
“There are probably challenges and advantages,” Smart said. “There’s a new voice, sometimes new energy, sometimes change brings about a spark. I’m sure they’ll change some things up, and not to disrespect Billy [Napier], but sometimes when you bring somebody in, there’s new juice there.”
Georgia and Florida will start at 3:30 p.m. at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville on Saturday.