Steve Spurrier thinks Florida ‘has a chance’ to beat No. 1 Georgia
Following their comeback win at South Carolina, the Gators are off this week before the annual rivalry with No. 1 Georgia. Steve Spurrier hopes Florida’s offensive performance against the Gamecocks can carry over into next Saturday.
Spurrier said UF coach Billy Napier had his best game as a playcaller in Columbia.
“Billy did call his best game,” Spurrier said during his radio show on WRUF this week. “Obviously we’re very fortunate. Had a lot of good breaks at the end of the game and sometimes you need those. Sometimes those go against you.
“But it went our way, and a huge win for us. Hopefully that can create momentum, confidence to go beat Georgia and the rest of these guys. So, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Florida has lost the last two games in Jacksonville and five of the last six matchups against the back-to-back national champions. The No. 1 Bulldogs opened as 23.5-point favorites vs. UF, according to VegasInsider.com.
Despite the betting line and recent history, Spurrier believes the Gators have a shot to pull off the upset.
“I think this team has a chance. I mean, we’ve got a chance to beat Georgia,” Spurrier said. “And if we do that, we’re right in the middle of winning the Eastern division. It’s a long way to go, but as long as you only have that one conference loss and as long as it’s not to Georgia, you’re in the hunt.”
Steve Spurrier recalls first win over UGA
Spurrier dominated the Bulldogs during his dozen years as Florida’s head coach, winning 11 of the 12 matchups. He also beat UGA five times in his 11 seasons at South Carolina, including three straight victories.
During his radio show this week, Spurrier recalled his first-ever win over the Bulldogs. They had owned the Florida-Georgia rivalry for two decades, but the HBC couldn’t have cared less. Spurrier shared this hilarious story from 1990.
“The week of the game, one of the media boys said, ‘Coach, are you getting a little nervous about playing Georgia over in Jacksonville?’ I said, ‘Why should I be nervous?’ He said, ‘Because the Gators have lost 15 of the last 20 over there. They’re 5-15 against Georgia, even though we’re favored like we are and blah, blah, blah.’ And I said, well, ‘Let me just tell you something. Our Florida Gators right now are No. 1 in the SEC in offense, and I think we’re No. 2 or 1 in defense. Georgia’s ninth in defense and 10th in offense, and you think I’m supposed to be worried about us beating them?’
“I said, ‘Now we gotta play well, don’t get me wrong, but we are favored to beat these guys and the only thing’s going to beat us is ourselves going over there thinking something bad is going to happen.’ So, we tried to erase all that and even though we won 38-7, I was irritated after the game. Shane [Matthews] will tell you that. He fumbled one center exchange his whole career and it was on their 1-yard line! Right, Shane? It was the only one I ever remember him dropping.”
“It was a bad snap, Coach,” Matthews responded.
“Blame it on the center! I don’t know what happened,” Spurrier said.
“Cal Dixon,” Matthews quipped.
“Yeah, so that was seven we gave away,” Spurrier continued, “and then we were inside the 20 and some stuff happened three other times, didn’t get any points. But it should have been about a 55 or 62 to 7 game and we had to settle for 38. But if you can beat the team big like that, then the next time you play them, it’s in their head. You know, ‘we’re not gonna let them clobber us’ and this, that and the other.
“But we were always ready to play those guys and I guess one year we weren’t ready and that was the one we lost back in ’97. But we changed just the mental approach to the game, I think, and that’s really the first thing we needed to do in order to beat them consistently is to believe we’re just as good or better. Now let’s go prove it.”
