Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It’s Florida-Georgia week, which means it’s time to take a look back at the annual series between the two Southeastern Conference rivals.

Each day this week, GatorNation will have a top five list that captures the colorful history of the series.

Today’s list:

Top 5 plays in series history

Run, Lindsay! (1980)

Georgia was trailing 21-20 with about a minute remaining when QB Buck Belue and WR Lindsay Scott hooked up for a 93-yard touchdown pass that gave the Bulldogs the victory.

Fourth and Dumb (1976)

UF coach Doug Dickey elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the UF 29-yard line in the third quarter. The play was a pitch to RB Earl Carr but Georgia DB Johnny Henderson stopped Carr for no gain. The Bulldogs went on to score 21 unanswered points and win 41-27.

Appleby to Washington (1975)

With Florida leading 7-3 in the fourth quarter, Georgia coach Vince Dooley called a trick play in which TE Richard Appleby ran the ball on an end-around and threw the ball to WR Gene Washington, who went untouched for an 80-yard touchdown.

Bobby Etter’s TD (1964)

Georgia faced a fourth-and-4 from the UF 5-yard line with the game tied 7-7 early in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs lined up for a go-ahead field goal, but a bad snap got away from holder Barry Wilson. K Bobby Etter, who weighed about 150 pounds, picked up the ball and headed toward the end zone. He was flipped into the air by a tackler and the goal line but landed in the end zone to score the winning touchdown.

Bell to Nattiel (1984)

Florida was leading 17-0 early in the fourth quarter, but the Gators were facing third-and-7 from their own 4-yard line. Coach Galen Hall called for a deep pass. QB Kerwin Bell connected with WR Rickey Nattiel down the sideline for a 96-yard touchdown, which is still the second-longest scoring play in series history.

No. 2 Florida (7-0, 6-0 SEC) vs. No. 10 Georgia (6-1, 4-1)
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
EverBank Field, Jacksonville, Fla.
CBS

Gators to watch

RB Mike Gillislee: Since running for 146 yards against LSU, Gillislee has totaled just 104 yards in UF’s victories over Vanderbilt and South Carolina. Teams are making it their top priority to stop Gillislee, so it’s going to be tough going again against the Bulldogs on Saturday.

P Kyle Christy: He leads the nation in punting average (47.9 yards per punt) and is coming off a game in which he averaged a school-record 54.3 yards on seven punts. Christy’s ability to flip the field, whether that’s getting Florida out of trouble or pinning opponents deep, is critical to UF’s success.

CB Loucheiz Purifoy: Purifoy is UF’s most physical corner and will present problems for Georgia WRs Tavarres King and Malcolm Mitchell. Purifoy is also a force on special teams as a gunner on punts and on kickoff coverage. He forced two fumbles against South Carolina last week -- one on defense on a blitz and another on a kickoff return. Purifoy is also spending some time at WR, too.

Bulldogs to watch

LB Jarvis Jones: Jones wrecked the Gators in last season’s meeting, recording four sacks and a forced fumble in the Bulldogs’ 24-20 victory. He’s dealing with an ankle injury that kept him out of last week’s victory over Kentucky. Georgia coach Mark Richt said Jones should play. How much will his ankle affect him, though?

RB Todd Gurley: He’s one half of the “Gurshall” combination (Gurley and Keith Marshall) that has rushed for 1,110 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’s the bigger of the two backs (6-foot-1, 218 pounds) but also presents a problem in the return game. He’s averaging 34.7 yards on seven kickoff returns and has a 100-yard return for a touchdown.

QB Aaron Murray: He led the Bulldogs to a come-from-behind victory last season by hitting a pair of fourth-down touchdown passes, but he also completed less than 50 percent of his passes. In two games against the Gators, Murray has thrown for five touchdowns and four interceptions (three in 2010) and has completed 46.5 percent of his passes (33-for-71).

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Note: During this rivalry week, GatorNation will offer you a peek behind enemy lines with links to DawgNation stories.

David Ching writes : Aaron Murray has seen his share of big games at UGA. The performances are mixed, but that reputation and his legacy could change with a win Saturday.

Ching writes : Q&A with GatorNation’s Michael DiRocco.

Radi Nabulsi's mailbag : Answering all the Georgia-Florida questions that DawgNation readers want to know about.

Kipp Adams writes : DawgNation caught up with a number of UGA commits and targets to get their takes on the big game.

We've got a few big games in the SEC this weekend and here's what you should be watching out for in Week 9:

1. Taking the East: It'll be quite the party in Jacksonville on Saturday, as this game will essentially decide the SEC East. If Florida wins, the Gators are headed back to Atlanta for the first time since 2009. A Georgia win gives the Bulldogs the edge in the East race from here on out. The Gators haven't dealt with success like this lately, so it'll be interesting to see how this team comes out against a Bulldogs team that has its back against the wall, just like last season. One thing playing in Georgia's favor is this team has been here before and fought its way out of a corner ... all the way to the SEC championship game.

2. Pressuring McCarron: A lot of the talk surrounding the Alabama-Mississippi State matchup has dealt with AJ McCarron facing Mississippi State's very talented secondary. But if the Bulldogs are going to stop Alabama's balanced offense, they have to put pressure on McCarron and force him to make mistakes. The Bulldogs haven't been great at hurrying the quarterback this season and have registered just 11 sacks on the year, while Alabama's line has given up just 15 sacks. Obviously, this team has to defend the run, but getting to McCarron is going to be very important for Mississippi State's defense.

3. Arkansas' revival: Remember when the Razorbacks were basically dead in the water? Well, Arkansas has won two straight and things are starting to click for the Hogs. Their last two wins have come against Auburn and Kentucky, but wins are wins in this league, and Arkansas' confidence is flowing right now. Saturday's game with Ole Miss is crucial as far as Arkansas' bowl hopes go. The Hogs need three more wins and one of them has to come Saturday with the gauntlet that is November coming up. Players said the bye week helped clean up some of the little things, and that defense will have to be at its best against Ole Miss' high-powered offense.

4. Slowing down the run: Going back to the Hogs' defense, if Arkansas is going to control Ole Miss' offense, it has to stop the Rebels on the ground. Ole Miss is fourth in the SEC in rushing, averaging 211.4 yards per game. Arkansas has stopped the run well in its past two games, but neither of those running games were on par with Ole Miss' rush game. Tennessee and Georgia also have to control the opposing run games. Florida is third in the league in rushing and its offense has gone the way of its rushing attack for most of the year. If the Bulldogs can force Florida into more passing situations, it could benefit Georgia. The same goes for Tennessee, as the Gamecocks will look to run Marcus Lattimore as much as possible. Connor Shaw struggled throwing the ball last week, so the Vols will try to make him beat them Saturday.

5. Georgia's defensive toughness: Senior safety Shawn Williams created a stir when he called the play of his defense "soft" and then proceeded to name which linebackers should be playing more. Some feelings were hurt, but Mark Richt hopes it motivates his players. Williams' words very well could, but the pressure is now on him to play one of his best games. But this defense has to toughen up as a whole. It hasn't played well in the past three games, and that has to change against Florida's tough running game. Giving up big plays have really hurt this defense lately, and Georgia can't afford that Saturday.

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Michael DiRocco and Jeff Barlis compare the Gators' and Bulldogs' special teams heading into the BCS top 10 showdown Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- To get the most in-depth information on No. 10 Georgia, which plays No. 2 Florida on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET in Jacksonville, Fla., GatorNation turned to DawgNation's David Ching. We asked him five questions about the Bulldogs:

Q: After being so good on the ground early in the season, the Bulldogs haven't run the ball well in their past two games. It's understandable against South Carolina, but not against Kentucky. What's the issue?

Ching: Missed assignments were a huge deal against South Carolina. It wasn’t as glaring of an issue against Kentucky, but they still failed to impose their will on a Wildcats defense that hadn’t exactly shown much of an ability to play tough run defense beforehand. I think what frustrated Georgia fans more in that game is that they kept trying to run it for too long after it was obvious that Kentucky had no answer in defending Georgia’s passing game. They finally went pass-heavy to pull ahead, and Aaron Murray wound up with a career-high 427 passing yards, but I think they realize they can’t be that reliant on the passing attack if they’re going to have a chance against Florida.

Q: The defense still looks a bit disjointed. A big part of that is not having everyone on the field until several weeks ago, but are there other reasons and can this unit get better for the stretch run?

Ching: Aside from the suspensions keeping some of their best players off the field for the first month of the season, they’ve dealt with several injuries along the defensive front seven. One of their best defensive linemen, Abry Jones, is out this week and might miss the rest of the season. But the more important injury question is whether Jarvis Jones will be close to 100 percent on Saturday. He has the potential to be a terror as a pass rusher -- and I’m sure Florida fans already realize that after his four-sack performance against the Gators last season -- but he hasn’t been healthy entering a game since Week 2 against Missouri. Without him wreaking havoc in opponents’ backfields, Georgia’s pass rush has been almost nonexistent, and I think that has impacted the Bulldogs' general defensive effectiveness. I don’t think that’s their only issue, but it has been a big factor. If they can get Jones going, I think you’ll see the defense perform more effectively immediately.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It’s Florida-Georgia week, which means it’s time to take a look back at the annual series between the two Southeastern Conference rivals.

Each day this week, GatorNation will have a top five list that captures the colorful history of the series.

Today’s list:

Top 5 goofs in series history:

Fourth and Dumb (1976)
This one’s a no-brainer to top the list. With Florida leading 27-20 in the third quarter, UF coach Doug Dickey decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Gators’ 29-yard line. Georgia DB Johnny Henderson stopped RB Earl Carr for no gain. The play got the Bulldogs going and they outscored Florida 21-0 after that to win 41-27.

Fifth-down field goal (1969)
Facing fourth-and-12 at the Georgia 20-yard line, Florida coach Ray Graves called a fake field goal. Back judge Jim Cole tried to blow his whistle to stop the play because he felt one of the photographers got too close to the field. Except the Gators snapped the ball before Cole could get the play stopped and the Gators ran the fake -- and it failed. But since Cole had blown the play dead, it didn’t count. Florida got another chance, and this time Richard Franco kicked a 37-yard field goal to give the Gators a 10-0 lead with 1:34 remaining in the first half.

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