georgia football florida mike griffith edgar thompson

ATHENS — Georgia coach Kirby Smart knows to expect a challenge from Florida, and he’s not shy about admitting it.

This Gators’ offense, featuring a two-headed, dual-threat quarterback rotation of Anthony Richardson and Emory Jones, will be presenting the Bulldogs with unique challenges.

Consider, the Florida quarterbacks combine to average more than 140 yards rushing per game. Jones averages 5.8 yards per carry, and Richardson is even more dangerous, averaging 12.4 yards per carry.

“It’s very different than teams we’ve seen, because I think Dan (Mullen’s) scheme is different,” Smart said at his Monday press conference. “He’s very flexible in what he can do—he’s not one dimensional. I think last year, you could argue they were a pass-first team (and) had really good weapons.

“They still have weapons now, they’re different in the quarterback position, and as I said earlier, he’s using their strengths,” Smart said. “He’s using their strengths to the tune of 500 yards of offense a game, which is pretty special.”

The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs (7-0, 5-0 SEC) opened as a 14.5-point favorite over the Gators (4-3, 2-3) in the 3:30 p.m. clash at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville on Saturday (TV: CBS).

“They’re a very explosive team,” Smart said. “In terms of what they do, their run game has been very special because you talk about the quarterback in the run game, plus their ability to get the ball to three good backs.”

Florida ranks ninth in the nation with 501.7 yards per game on offense, and it’s fourth in the nation with 254.3 of those yards coming on the ground.

Georgia leads the nation in total defense (208.3), and the Bulldogs are second in the nation in rushing defense, allowing 63.5 yards per game on the ground.

Something has got to give.

Orlando Sentinel beat writer Edgar Thompson shared his thoughts on this year’s edition of the rivalry game, predicting that Florida will indeed find some offensive success against Georgia’s elite defense.

“Dan is going to have a plan,” Thompson said during the On the Beat Show (below). “I think they’ll cover the spread.”

Many believe Mullen’s back is against the wall, making this a chips-all-in sort of game where Florida can and will play with reckless abandon.

Smart is preparing his defense to be ready for anything.

“They’re gonna take shots … we got to play well on the perimeter, we got tackle well, we got affect their quarterback,” Smart said. “We got to do all the same things we got to do every week. It’s easy to sit here and say one thing has happened… in order to do that, we’ve got to affect the quarterback, whether that’s through pressure or getting home.

“But a lot of this year comes around to being able to control the run game and stop the run, because they’re tremendous at both.”