ATHENS, Ga. - The feel-good story that has been Georgia's 2017 football season took quite a jolt Sunday night when second-year Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart gathered his players for a meeting.
Smart asked the players to perform a simple task - stand if they had defeated Florida during their careers. Nobody stood, which quickly relegated Georgia's 7-0 start and No. 3 national ranking as secondary compared to this week's challenge of stopping a three-game losing streak to the Gators.
"It was sobering," senior tight end Jeb Blazevich said Monday afternoon. "With so much praise on the outside, it's like, 'Guys, this is where we're at. Nobody has beaten these guys.' It was a call to action to get back to work after the bye week.
"Sometimes you need to get cranked up, but we've already done that."
Georgia once held a commanding 44-22-2 series advantage over Florida, but then Steve Spurrier took over as the coach of the Gators and led them to an 11-1 record in the rivalry. Ron Zook and Urban Meyer combined for a 7-2 mark against Georgia, and current Florida coach Jim McElwain has won his first two meetings in the series after Will Muschamp won in his last opportunity in 2014.
The Gators will enter Saturday's showdown at Jacksonville's EverBank Field having won 21 of 27 games in the series to pull Florida within 50-43-2 all-time, with the last three matchups decided by the average score of 30-11.
"I think trends are pretty common," Smart said when asked about this rivalry in recent years. "It has a lot to do with who the quarterback is and who the players are. At the end of the day, it boils down to players and guys making plays. It's about not turning the ball over and how you respond to adversity.
"I don't get into who won last year or the year before that. It's a whole lot more about what we're going to do this year, because that's what we can control."
While Georgia players were controlling their comments Monday, the Gators were speaking freely in Gainesville. When asked about this season's Bulldogs, sophomore receiver Josh Hammond said, "They might be the No. 3 team, but they can't beat Florida."
Gators sophomore safety Chauncey Gardner was asked about Georgia freshman quarterback Jake Fromm, who leads the Southeastern Conference in efficiency, and responded, "He's throwing simple passes. I get it. Anybody can throw a slant."
Fromm is trying to become the first Bulldogs quarterback to defeat Florida in his first try since Greg Talley in 1989.
Georgia's last victory over Florida occurred in 2013, when the injury-ravaged Gators were bottoming out in a 4-8 season. The Bulldogs took a 17-0 lead but had to hold on for a 23-20 escape.
Noseguard John Atkins and defensive back Aaron Davis were redshirting that season, so they have experienced a win over Florida. They just haven't played in one, and that is a big difference.
"With me nearing the end of my career, you want a win against Florida," Atkins said. "That's how you and the team will be remembered. The road to the East goes through Florida. You've got to be able to beat Florida to win the East."
Said Davis: "It's something guys can certainly use to channel energy and as motivation."
Georgia's veteran players were well aware of their futility against Florida, even before Smart sharpened the picture. The Bulldogs also are walking around the Butts-Mehre athletic complex and spotting signs that remind them about the failures of past trips to Jacksonville.
"It's an every-game thing that they do," junior center Lamont Gailllard said, "but when it's this game, it sticks."
Odds and ends
Georgia's home game on Nov. 4 against South Carolina will be televised by CBS with a 3:30 kickoff. CBS has two games next week and will televise LSU at Alabama at 8 p.m. When asked about a trio of defensive linemen who have missed time, Smart said Trenton Thompson and David Marshall are good to go and DaQuan Hawkins-Muckle is "battling back." The Bulldogs practiced indoors Monday afternoon.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.