Florida coach Billy Napier is feeling good about his Gators, as big of a challenge as he knows they have ahead of them.
“(Our) mindset has shifted a little bit .. I like the makeup of our team, I think we’re a lot better in that regard,” Napier said on Monday.
“We played better the last few weeks, a little bit more like we anticipated playing as a team, certain parts of our team in particular,” Napier said. “But, yeah, I have a respect for the attitude and the effort of the group, the resiliency of the group.”
The Gators (4-3 overall, 2-2 SEC) have won three of their past four games entering into the 3:30 p.m. clash with No. 2 Georgia (6-1, 4-1) in Jacksonville.
Florida’s three losses this season have come to Top 10 teams that have a combined 21-2 record: No. 5 Miami, No. 7 Tennessee and No. 10 Texas A&M.
The Bulldogs, coming off a 30-15 win at previously No. 1-ranked Texas, figure to be better than all of those teams.
“Offensively it starts with the veteran quarterback (Carson Beck) and a veteran offensive line, just a multitude of skill players at every position,” Napier said. “I do think defensively they have an identity and it starts with the personnel, the height, length of the personnel. Certainly speed at the second, third level as well.
“Then the kicking game. They’ve got really good specialists. Kicker, punter, snapper, obviously returners, and they have good variables there that can cause some problems for you. The entirety of the team obviously makes this thing a challenge.”
The Bulldogs won last year’s game by a 43-20 count, jumping out to a 26-7 lead at halftime.
“Starting fast in general in the game of football is really important I would say, it’s a contributing factor from an analytics standpoint,” Napier said. “If you took a deep dive into that you would see starting fast is very important.
“The key is that we are ready to play from a fundamental standpoint so that we can win some of these one on ones. These games are about point of attack wins and then you have to have a certain mindset and mentality and be ready to go.
“This one will be no different than the ones from the past.”