Grab a cocktail. It’s time for Georgia vs. Florida. The Bulldogs and Gators head down to Jacksonville to meet at the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail party. This week, the two teams announced that the rivalry game will be on the move. EverBank stadium is going through a makeover. The easy answer was to move this game on campus for 2026 and 2027. But who likes to do things that are easy or make sense? Instead, the Cocktail Party will head to Sanford Stadium East, Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta in 2025, and then Raymond James Stadium Tampa in 2026.
"WE SHOULD BUILD ENORMOUS STADIUMS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES"
"AND SHOULD THESE COLLEGES PLAY THEIR GAMES THERE?"
"THEY WILL PLAY THEM HUNDREDS OF MILES AWAY IN SMALLER CAPACITY DOMED STADIUMS, CALLED NEUTRAL SITE GAMES" pic.twitter.com/UOqWGNYFeh
— CFB Home (@CFBHome) October 30, 2024
Jacksonville has hosted this rivalry almost every year since 1933, except for 1994 and 1995, when games moved to campus. Playing in neutral, NFL stadium settings is financially driven: Georgia receives $350,000 yearly for travel and lodging, while Florida receives $60,000 as they don’t require flights. By contrast, a Florida home game generates $2-5 million, so a home-and-home series would earn less over two years than a single neutral-site game.
With cash being king in today’s college football, one can only dream about what Georgia vs. Flordia might look like Between the Hedges or at the Swamp. Enough lamenting; let’s get to the game.
Between the Hedges: Georgia vs. Florida
What are the game details?
What Should You Know About Florida?
Florida fans come into Saturday’s game, likely needing a cocktail. The Billy Napier experiment has had more bumps, and year three shows the program is still spinning its tires. The team has not made a bowl game in either of Napier’s first two seasons and they come into the game 4-3. After Georgia, the team still has Texas, LSU, Ole Miss, and Florida State on the schedule.
Only the game against the Seminoles would be a game that would see the Gators favored to win. DJ Lagaway has done a nice job stepping in for the injured Grahm Mertz at quarterback. Lagaway was Napier’s prized recruit in 2024 and is off to. The young quarterback’s success will go a long way in determining if Gator’s Athletic Director, Scott Stricklin, will have to pony up big money to start another coaching search after the season.
What Should You Watch for on Georgia’s Offense?
Tate Ratledge looks to return to Georgia’s offensive line this week. Ratledge has been out since Kentucky with a high ankle sprain and is coming off of tightrope surgery to repair. The returning senior is regarded as a top lineman in the 2025 NFL Draft Class and can help stabilize a unit that has had problems protecting Caron Beck.
#Georgia RG Tate Ratledge (6061v, 317v) was mauling UK defenders before he exited with an injury. Powerful, massive hands, strong finishing anchor.
Future NFL starting guard. pic.twitter.com/x3VKqz3R1w
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) September 17, 2024
Georgia also got some bad news late Thursday when wide receiver Anthony Evans was listed as out for an undisclosed reason for the Bulldogs. Evans has consistently returned in the kicking game and has started to emerge as a threat at receiver. Look for Travis Etienne to take a more prominent role in the return game in Evans’ absence.
What Should You Watch for on Georgia’s Defense?
What can Georgia’s defense do for an encore? The defense looked like those championship defenses from a couple of years ago, two weeks ago in Austin. The Bulldogs lived in the Longhorn’s backfield and chased Hesiman-hopeful Quinn Ewers to the bench to gather himself. Kirby Smart spoke about the chip that the defense and the rest of the team had coming into the Texas game this week.
“Our whole program was being doubted. Did you watch the show (College Gameday, presumably) this morning? I didn’t, because I was in meetings, but I got 8000 texts about it… but we were able to win this game because of what we did before going to Kentucky and playing, going to Alabama and playing, and we didn’t flinch.”
The key to the game will be forcing Lagaway to try to beat the Gators. Smart spoke earlier in the week about how the Gators would need to rely on the rung game to take some of the pressure off their young quarterback. For Georgia to do that, they will need to put a halt to Florida’s best runner. “I’ve known Jadan (Baugh) a long time. He’s a tremendous talent, a great athlete,” said Smart. “Explosive, twitchy…hard to tackle. I mean, runs physical. He had a great year, but he had a great game against Kentucky.”
Look for the Dawgs to come out hungry again on Saturday.
Who Will Win Georgia vs. Flordia?
Smart has a special place for Georgia vs. Flordia, which is not endearing. The Gators were the last team outside of Alabama to beat Georgia in 2020. This game has not been close and has lacked competition since then. Look for the trend to continue as Florida leans out its Freshman signal caller.
Georgia 41
Florida 13
