Florida Gators

Georgia’s recent success against Florida has been a long time in coming. The Bulldogs had not beaten the Gators in back-to-back seasons in more than two decades, dating back to 1988-89. Florida has an 18-5 record over Georgia since 1990 so the rivalry has been mostly one-sided. But thanks to some recruiting success, Mark Richt has turned the annual showdown in Jacksonville, Fla., back into one of the most highly contested battles of the year.

And he did it with some ringers from the Sunshine State.

Quarterback Aaron Murray has struggled against the Gators but is 2-1 in his career against them. In his first win he completed four passes to tight end Orson Charles of Tampa, Fla. All-SEC kicker Blair Walsh, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., always said the Florida game was the biggest of the year and he scored 22 points against the Gators in his career. Keeping Murray upright this year was a freshman from Jacksonville, right tackle John Theus.

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GatorNation's Derek Tyson and DawgNation's Kipp Adams look at five key recruiting battles remaining between Florida and Georgia for the Class of 2013.

OL Laremy Tunsil (Lake City, Fla./Columbia)

CONSIDERING: Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Florida State

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The Florida-Georgia rivalry doesn't just take place in Jacksonville. The two schools compete all year long on the recruiting trail around the Southeast. Kipp Adams of DawgNation and Derek Tyson of GatorNation take a look at ten of the top battles for blue-chip players, five from each school's perspective.

Florida

WR Jacquez Green (Fort Valley, Ga./Peach Co.): Green played quarterback in high school and was recruited by the in-state Bulldogs to be a cornerback. Green, however, admittedly wasn't a fan of Georgia head coach Ray Goff and wanted to play offense on the next level. Green signed with Florida to play wide receiver for Steve Spurrier. Green caught 61 passes for 1,024 yards and nine touchdowns as a junior and was a consensus All-American in 1997. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1998 draft.

DE Jermaine Cunningham (Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson): The four-star defensive end had offers from Auburn, Georgia, Florida State, Tennessee and Virginia Tech. Cunningham had his most productive year at Florida in 2006 when he produced 64 tackles, including 12 for a loss and 6.5 sacks. A second team all-SEC selection in 2008 and 2009, Cunningham was a second-round draft pick of the New England Patriots in the 2010 NFL draft.

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At the SEC spring meetings back in May, the league repealed the rule that banned its members from hosting recruits at a game held on a neutral site. In other words, going forward, the home team in the Georgia versus Florida contests could host recruits at the annual showdown in Jacksonville, Fla.

As important as recruiting the Sunshine State is for the Georgia program, this would seem like a boon. But right after the rule was abolished, both Georgia and Florida agreed to not host recruits during the game.

"Georgia and Florida have agreed not to do this,” Georgia assistant athletic director Claude Felton told DawgNation in June.

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BUFORD, Ga. -- Class of 2014 linebacker Korie Rogers was not a happy man Friday night. His Buford Wolves had lost their first home game since the 2006 season, a 43-game winning streak that ended when the Gainesville (Ga.) Red Elephants outscored the Wolves 19-15. Rogers and his defense forced five turnovers in the losing effort.

“They were running the spread, which we prepared for all week,” Rogers said. “I think they changed their offense just a tad bit to where it threw us off by just enough that they could win by four points.”

The 6-foot-2, 218-pound junior answered questions after the game while bleeding from multiple cuts to his nose, cheek and chin. When the injuries were pointed out to him, he shrugged.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Shortly after dropping the season opener 27-6 to Butler on Friday night, ESPN 150 wide receiver Marquez North (Charlotte, N.C./Mallard Creek) had little interest in talking about colleges coming after him or listing favorites. In fact, he said he has put recruiting on the back burner and is focusing on helping his Mavericks return to the playoffs.

“I am still not into the recruiting thing,” North said. “I am just trying to get better with my teammates and work on the season. I have not even decided yet on any official visits. It has been a while since I spoke to a college coach. I cannot even remember.”

Following Friday’s game, North mentioned North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee as schools recruiting him the hardest. His father, Ramondo North, also mentioned Ohio State but cautioned that distance could play a factor in his son's decision.

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Four-star offensive guard Tyrone Crowder has cut his long list of college considerations to four.

North Carolina, Stanford, Georgia and Clemson are the finalists for his services, the Richmond HS senior stated via text message to ESPN.

On the Tigers: "Clemson has a great program and Coach Caldwell is a fantastic coach."

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Nick Glass (Atlanta/St. Pius X) has been committed to the University of Georgia since April.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound safety, once strong in his convictions to be a Bulldog, now appears to have had some questions surface. Playing time, and how he fits into the depth chart, are foremost in his mind.

"It has been good," Glass said of his commitment to Georgia. "I have been talking to them about the safety spot. They have about four or five safeties and that is making me a little itchy and I am just trying to see what is going to happen with them before I make a decision."

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Schools are fighting to get in with five-star offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil (Lake City, Fla./Columbia), but only five programs will be lucky enough to host the No. 3 prospect in the country for an official visit this fall.

“I will be taking official visits to Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and USC,” Tunsil said.

Three of the programs made the cut because of their history.

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ESPN 150 safety Tray Matthews (Newnan, Ga./Newnan) readily admits he is torn. He is caught between the weight of his commitment to the University of Georgia and his vow to play college football with his best friend, linebacker Reuben Foster (Auburn, Ala./Auburn), who, after being committed to Alabama for nearly a year, switched his commitment last month to Auburn University.

For Matthews, the most convenient solution would be for Foster to decommit from the Tigers and join him at Georgia.

“That is not going to happen,” Matthews said.

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Running back Jacques Patrick (Orlando, Fla./Timber Creek) is used to being a marked man. It started last year when he was a freshman on the East River High School football team in Orlando, Fla., where he rushed for more than 1,200 yard on 150 carries. Former teammate Ryne Rankin welcomed Patrick to the varsity squad in the traditional way.

“I remember giving Jacques his first true varsity hit at practice,” said Rankin, a four-star ILB who committed to Georgia this spring. “They faked a dive with him and ran the option. And though he didn’t have the ball, I showed him how a fake dive ends up for the running back when they play against me. He took the hit and I just stood over him and said, ‘Welcome to varsity football, baby.’ I helped him up and he just smiled. He knew from then on he would have to keep his head on a swivel and go 100 miles an hour on every play.”

Patrick didn’t hold a grudge.

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ESPN 150 defensive lineman Kelsey Griffin recently named the University of Georgia his leader, but he wasn’t quite ready to pull the trigger Friday at Dawg Night. Still, the Georgia native enjoyed his time in Athens and the Bulldogs remain at the top of his list.

“I didn’t do any drills this year,” Griffin said. “I just watched this year. I enjoyed myself. I thought it was way better and better put together than last year. It changed a little bit, and it was more fun than last year.”

Although Griffin opted not to participate in any of the drills, he watched and learned from UGA defensive line coach Rodney Garner throughout the camp.

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