Dogs vs. Gators - It’s all on the line in Jacksonville, can Georgia answer the challenge?

by Travis Ragsdale

When seemingly all hope for another trip to the SEC championship
was lost, Steve Spurrier and South Carolina giftwrapped
an opportunity for the Dawgs. A loss to LSU and a
loss to Florida this past weekend have opened the door for
Georgia. But will they be able to seize the opportunity? Coach Richt teams
tend to have trouble on the big stage and they don’t get bigger than this. A
trip to Atlanta is hanging in the balance. Can the Dawgs capitalize?

As Jarvis goes, so goes the defense
Coming into 2012, many pundits and analysts listed the Georgia defense
as one of best in the country; certainly one of the best in the SEC. But
Todd Grantham’s unit hasn’t come close to living up to those expectations.
A lot of the issues have been attributed by players and coaches to “communication
issues.” This may be pertinent given the fact that to start the year off, many starters were
missing from the first few games. But they’re back now and these “issues” continued with their
struggles against Kentucky this past Saturday. So how else could it be explained? A key cog in
any successful 3-4 defense is a solid outside rush from the outside linebackers. In the Georgia
scheme, that comes in Jarvis Jones. But Jarvis has been hurt all year. First, it was a groin and now
it’s an ankle. He didn’t even play against Kentucky and it showed. The argument to this is that
no player can determine how well a defense plays. For the Dawg’s though, it certainly could. If
Jarvis is healthy, he is one of the best outside rushers in the country. As a result, the defensive
ends in the scheme can cheat up the middle a little bit to stop the inside run because they know
that Jarvis has at least one of the edges covered. You’ve seen a lot of room allowed to opposing
running backs in the middle of the Georgia defense. If Jarvis is back and at 100%, there won’t
be as much of this against Florida.

Florida’s dominating defense
Bowling Green is not generally thought of as a football powerhouse. Heck, most people
don’t even realize Bowling Green is a college. So when Florida struggled against the Bowling
Green Falcons, they were written off as a team that wouldn’t compete for an SEC title in 2012.
Now, Florida is ranked 2nd in the BCS standings and have more than just the SEC title on their
mind. So how are they doing it? With Urban Meyer as head coach, fans got used to seeing a
Florida team that would score 40+ points every game with a high-powered offense. Now, with
Will Muschamp at the helm of the Gators, you’re seeing a very different team. The offense struggles
when playing against any semblance of a good defense. But the defense is nasty. Real nasty.
They’ve taken on the intense attitude of their head coach and it’s showed up in a big way on the
field. With linebacker Jelani Jenkins back in the mix, the Gator’s defense is at full power heading
into Jacksonville. There is one thing that the defense is lacking though, and that’s a dominant,
pass rusher. Gator fans were hoping that guy would be Ronald Powell but he hasn’t lived
up to that billing quite yet. So that means Aaron Murray won’t be on his back most of the game
like he was against South Carolina. It will be up to him at that point to be smart with the football
and avoid turnovers to the talented Florida secondary.

Muschamp vs Richt
You would be hard-pressed to find a couple of coaches who were more different in
their coaching styles and attitudes than Mark Richt and Will Muschamp. Georgia fans have
gotten to know Coach Richt over the past 12 years and have learned that no matter, Richt
is cool, calm and collected. Even at the worst possible moment, he is able to crack a quick
joke and give that wry smile to lighten the mood. Sure, behind closed doors he gets onto
players and will give them a jawing when necessary but for the most part he keeps than even
keel. Muschamp, is the exact opposite. Perhaps the most intense man in the SEC (and that’s
saying something with Evil Nick in Tuscaloosa), Muschamp let’s that intensity fly and doesn’t
hold back. Watching him on the sidelines during games is almost as good as watching
the game itself. It’s only a matter of time before the guy pops a blood vessel by screaming
so much. Two very different styles between these two head coaches, but which one works
better? Obviously, Muschamp has only had a short time to strut his stuff and Richt has
been around for a while. As Muschamp becomes more seasoned, this will be a hot button
issues for both Florida and Georgia fans and will give them just another point to argue
about.

Intangibles
Georgia football teams are all about confidence. Always have been. Coming off a devastating
loss to South Carolina, Georgia needed a resounding win against Kentucky to gain
that confidence back. They didn’t do that. In fact, they struggled with Kentucky and will
now have to deal with questions about why they didn’t take apart Kentucky all this week
leading up to Jacksonville. Florida, on the other hand, just dismantled a top-ten team with
out hardly breaking a sweat. They have more confidence and momentum than they know
what to do with. Also, under Coach Richt Georgia has struggled in Jacksonville. Will this
year be different? Will Richt finally be able to win the game in Jacksonville when it has a
lot of meaning? It’s all on the line this Saturday and there couldn’t be a better atmosphere
to have it that way.