Gators Try to Bounce Back Against Georgia

There are a lot of doubters about the strength of this year's University of Florida football team going into this Saturday's big rivalry match-up with Georgia. After all, following a big buildup when they easily won their first four games, the Gators have stumbled with three straight losses. Admittedly, they were expected to lose to Alabama and then LSU, the top two ranked teams in the country. But then Florida played Auburn, known for their extremely porous defense, and could only score six points against them. It appeared to me that after being stomped by 'Bama and LSU, many Gator players had lost their confidence, playing more tentatively then with the boldness that epitomized their earlier efforts.

That having been said, first-string quarterback John Brantley, out since the first half of the Alabama game on October 1, will be back, as will explosive speedster running back Jeff Demps. Hopefully, with Demps back, Chris Rainey will go back to his high-yardage efforts. Although Florida isn't known for its wide receivers, I don't think that they are really all that necessary as Brantley is good with the short passes to his tight ends and running backs, who know how to turn short receptions into long gains.

The defense has taken some heat lately, but that is primarily due to the fact that they were outmatched during those two games against obviously more talented and larger teams. Although UF lost to Auburn, its defense actually did a pretty good job containing this team known for its explosive offense and high scoring. Their main problem, as I see it, is their pass defense and their tendency to pile up a lot of penalties.

Although the odds-makers have Florida as a three point underdog to Georgia, I believe that they have a very good chance to reestablish much of that earlier confidence and good feeling about themselves with a victory Saturday. Then again, Georgia hasn't been all that predictable so far this year either, making the game's outcome dependent, I suppose, on which team decides to show up (and play to win)...