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Florida's talent has Georgia's attention despite record

Jeremy Johnsonby: Jeremy Johnson7 hours agoJeremyO_Johnson
Kirby Smart, Georgia. Billy Napier, Florida
© Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The early results from the Georgia side of the game with Florida on Saturday point toward a healthy respect for the Gators.

Florida enters the game with a new, interim head coach. Billy Napier was fired ahead of Florida’s bye week. The Gators are 3-4 on the season. Georgia has watched the tape and come back with praise for the ability on the Florida roster.

“I feel like this year, more so than any other year, we actually respect it a lot more just because of, on paper, Florida doesn’t really look like the greatest team when it comes to record-wise,” Georgia defensive lineman Jordan Hall told reporters on Tuesday. “But you sit down and watch the film, it’s one of the better teams we’ve played all year. I know us up front, o-line wise, that’s probably one of the best units we played. So I respect them and their game a lot more just by watching film and sitting down and watching that.” 

Georgia is looking in a mirror when facing Florida

There are a lot of philosophical similarities between the two rosters. Georgia and Florida have done battle on the recruiting trail for as long as they have played football. Napier was also on Alabama’s coaching staff with Georgia head coach Kirby Smart.

“Yeah, I think their front seven is just big, athletic, and aggressive football players,” Georgia center Drew Bobo told reporters on Monday. “They’re kind of built the same way that our team’s built a little bit. And they run the same kind of defenses that our team runs as well. So it’s just, they pride themselves, I think on stopping the run. And that’s something that we need to know how to attack this week.

There’s an emphasis on playing physical defense still prevalent in the Florida program. There are talented players on Florida’s defensive front, despite the wave of injuries that has hampered the defensive production a bit in 2025.

Florida is still 34th in the country in scoring defense. The Gators allow 20 points a game. Georgia is 30th in scoring defense. The Gators are eighth in the country in least amount of first downs allowed. Comparatively, Georgia is 18th.

Florida is 31st in run defense, while Georgia is 12th nationally.

“They’re really talented, and they’re really talented, and they’ve had some injuries,” Smart told reporters on Monday. “They’ve had some guys out. I can only imagine what this unit would look like if it had stayed healthy the entire year. But they’re really good. They’re big. They’re physical. They’ve got a defensive coordinator who knows what he’s doing. He understands where weaknesses are. He understands what you’re trying to do, has compliments for that. He’s been really successful as a defensive coordinator everywhere he’s been, and they do a great job of stopping the run, affecting the passer. They’re a very dominant defensive team, in terms of physicality and skill level.”

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