ATHENS — Kirby Smart knows exactly what Georgia football is up against in Jacksonville and the sort of momentum Florida’s football program is building.

The game between the rivals will play out at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday (TV: CBS) at EverBank Stadium, but the war will rage on via the recruiting trail throughout the offseason.

“I think they’ve recruited well, and we recruit against them, (and) they recruited well and they recruit hard,” Smart said, aware the Gators’ have a strong cast of commits in the 2024 recruiting class ranked No. 3 in the nation.

“They have great facilities and a great organization, (and) when you have that recipe, it’s just a matter of time.”

The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs have flipped the script in a rivalry that was dominated by Florida in the years leading up to Smart’s hire as head coach before the 2016 season.

Georgia is a 14 1/2-point favorite to win the game — down nearly 10 points from where the spread opened last summer.

But Smart knows as well as anyone how quickly momentum can change and the importance for Georgia to hold serve to maintain 2023 title hopes as well as SEC supremacy.

The Bulldogs will take the field for the first time since 2020 without the services of All-American Brock Bowers, who is out indefinitely after undergoing ankle surgery.

Quarterback Carson Beck will make his eighth career start for Georgia against Florida’s veteran transfer, Graham Mertz, who is making is 40th start and coming off a career-high 423-yard passing performance.

Ron Mertz, the father of the Wisconsin transfer, told CBS sports that even bigger things could be ahead on Saturday.

“If he goes big on Georgia, I think we’ve got something crazy going,” Ron said. “It could be a (Joe) Burrow 2019 coming out party.”

Smart acknowledges a “respectable” brand of football at Florida.

“They play a lot of the same similar schemes,” Smart said, “defensively and offensively, to what we do and the things you believe in.”

Perhaps, but without receivers like Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase, and Terrace Marshall — the best receiving corps Smart said he’d ever seen to that point of his career— the Burrow comparisons likely won’t apply against this Georgia secondary.

The pick: Georgia 33, Florida 17

Tennessee - 3.5 at Kentucky, 7 p.m., ESPN

The Vols dominated Alabama for one half of football in Bryant-Denny Stadium, flexing the sort of physical potential necessary to keep the Wildcats in check.

The pick: Tennessee 30, Kentucky 24

South Carolina at Texas A&M -15.5, noon, ESPN

Spencer Rattler gives the Gamecocks hope, but not much, as this figures to be an angry group of Aggies eager to avenge last season’s 30-24 loss in Columbia.

The pick: Texas A&M 41, South Carolina 20

Mississippi State at Auburn (-6.5), 3:30 p.m., SEC Network

Auburn fans are growing impatient and are desperate for a home win, having seen the Tigers fall to 0-4 in league play for the first time since 2012. The Maroon Bulldogs, coming off a big win at Arkansas, will make them sweat.

The pick: Auburn 17, Mississippi State 13

Vanderbilt at Ole Miss -24.5, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network

This Rebels team looks as dangerous as any in the SEC but should not overlook the suddenly chippy Commodores.

The pick: Ole Miss 39, Vanderbilt 20

BYU at Texas -18.5,. 3:30 p.m. ABC

The Longhorns will start second-year quarterback Maalik Murphy against an unpredictable BYU squad coming off a win at Texas Tech. Home field advantage will factor in heavily.

The pick: Texas 42, BYU 24

Oklahoma -9 at Kansas, Noon, Fox

The Sooners won by 10 points last season, so why would we think this year’s game would be any closer? We wouldn’t.

Oklahoma 43, Kansas 31

Last week: 6-1 straight-up, 5-2 vs. spread

Season: 66-11 straight-up, 40-32 vs. spread