Heading into Saturday’s game between No. 8 Florida and No. 5 Georgia, each side has a few clear edges. The Gators have a superior offense. Georgia meanwhile has the upper hand on defense, even with some of the injuries to Richard LeCounte and Jordan Davis.
But there’s another area where the Bulldogs have a historical advantage between these two teams. And it comes when Kirby Smart and Dan Mullen have faced off.
The two sides have met in each of the last three seasons as head coaches, with Mullen at Florida for two of them and Mississippi State for one.
But in each of those contests, Georgia and Smart have come out victorious, including a 24-17 win in 2019. Mullen and Smart have also matched wits dating back to when the former was the offensive coordinator at Florida and the latter was at Alabama.
If you include Mullen’s time at Mississippi State and when Smart served as the defensive coordinator at Alabama, Mullen’s offenses have scored more than 20 points in a game just one time. That came in 2008 at Florida. It’s also the only time Mullen’s team has beaten Georgia.
Something has to give on Saturday though, as another Mullen loss would likely be a crushing blow to what he is trying to build at Florida. The Bulldogs have never seemed so vulnerable and with Kyle Trask at quarterback, the Gators are a very popular pick to win on Saturday.
But if Smart is able to draw up another strong game plan and slow Mullen’s offense, it could go a long way in helping Georgia pick up a fourth straight win in the Georgia-Florida rivalry.
The DawgNation team of Jeff Sentell, Connor Riley, Mike Griffith and Brandon Adams debate the game for this coming Saturday and what a win for Georgia would mean for Smart.
Among the other topics discussed include:
- Which players need to play well for Georgia to win?
- Which Georgia wide receivers step-up?
- What will Stetson Bennett’s performance look like?
- Will we see JT Daniels on Saturday?
- What are some of the great Georgia-Florida memories?
You can watch DawgNation’s Cover 4 Live every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET on the DawgNation Facebook and Youtube pages.
More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation
- National media places fate of Georgia-Florida game on Stetson Bennett
- Georgia football: Which major injury heading into Florida is tougher to overcome?
- 5 questions with Florida beat writer: How can Georgia beat Gators?
- Georgia, Florida bring new faces to skill position places in rivalry game
- Next men up: The names who will fill in for injured Georgia football players against Florida
- Georgia football podcast: Media gives UGA plenty of bulletin board material for Florida showdown
- Even with Brenton Cox at Florida, Georgia football pass rush still leading SEC in sacks
- Kirby Smart updates injury status of Georgia stars George Pickens, Jordan Davis