The Georgia Bulldogs entered last season's football game against Florida with control of their destiny in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division race.
They left Jacksonville flattened, as the Gators rushed for an eye-popping 418 yards in a 38-20 upset rout. It was the second league loss for the Bulldogs, which opened the door for Missouri to win a second straight East title.
"I don't think anybody would have predicted that going into the game," Georgia coach Mark Richt said this week. "They found something that was working, and when it's working and you get momentum doing it, you just keep doing it until the other team can stop it, and we didn't do a very good job of that at all last year."
The No. 11 Gators (6-1, 4-1) and the Bulldogs (5-2, 3-2) meet again Saturday afternoon at EverBank Field.
Florida junior running back Kelvin Taylor, who has rushed for 463 yards and only 3.6 yards per carry this season, had 25 carries for 197 yards and two touchdowns in last year's game against Georgia. Matt Jones, now a rookie with the Washington Redskins, added 25 carries for 192 yards and two scores.
Taylor entered last season's matchup with just 200 yards for the season, and the Bulldogs arrived having allowed an average of just 105.1 rushing yards per game.
"We had more in the box than they could block, but sometimes that isn't enough," Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt said afterward. "Sometimes you have to tear off and make plays, and we didn't do that today. That's on me, because we've got to be able to finish.
"They lined up and gave us a good ol' butt-whipping. They ran the power and they ran the zone - things you see every day in practice."
Florida racked up the most rushing yards on Georgia since Auburn's wishbone attack of William Andrews, James Brooks and Joe Cribbs helped the Tigers amass 430 back in 1978.
Richt said last week that he would look at the tape from last year's game. He didn't think he needed to remind his players about the outcome since they would hear it from the media.
"I think it's stuck with a lot of us who played last year," senior defensive end Sterling Bailey told reporters last week. "Having people run all over your defense like that is not good. You want your defense to be aggressive and be able to stop the run.
"I've been talking to some of the other guys about how we've got to stress the importance of this game. Yes, the SEC East is on the line, but it's so much more than that."
Florida's ground game was not overpowering before last season's trip to Jacksonville, and it hasn't been dominant since. The Gators are averaging 126.7 rushing yards per game, which ranks 107th among the 127 Bowl Subdivision programs.
The Bulldogs made an emphasis in the offseason of improving their run defense, especially at the outside linebacker position, and they are allowing 120.9 yards per game. They rank 25th nationally in that category, but they were better statistically entering last season's landslide.
"Our outside linebackers are a year older and a year stronger and all that kind of thing," Richt said, "but there were a lot of things that didn't go right that day. I'm not going to put that on them."
Odds and ends
Georgia's home game next week against Kentucky will have a noon kickoff and will be televised by ESPN, ESPN2 or the SEC Network. Richt after Monday's 90-minute workout in helmets and shorts: "The weather wasn't ideal, but it did not impact the way we practiced." Senior outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins, who missed the Missouri game with a hip injury, was able to practice.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.