Florida’s latest week has circled back to the same message that has carried it through a season of swings: keep the focus on the next game, not the noise around it. That matters even more now, with Georgia looming and the rivalry carrying the kind of emotion that can blur everything else.
Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner put it plainly while talking about how Florida should handle the buildup.
“It’s about execution. Don’t make it bigger than it is,” Faulkner said.
“You’ve been playing the game for a long time, since you were little. It’s still the same game.
Don’t forget it’s a game.”
For Florida, that execution has to start with staying on schedule. The Gators want the run game involved early, whether that comes through the quarterback or through star back Jadan Baugh. Tramell Jones Jr. ran for 41 yards in Florida’s win over Texas, while Baugh handled 25 carries for 91 yards and a touchdown.
That ground game is more than just balance. It’s the best way for Florida to avoid obvious passing situations and keep Georgia’s defensive front from teeing off.
“When you play them, the one thing that you’ve got to do is you’ve got to be efficient in all facets of the game because they’re going to be efficient,” Faulkner said. “It’s not necessarily about how many plays [you run] when you play them. It’s staying on schedule, staying ahead of the chains and you’ve got to score touchdowns in the red zone to have a chance to beat them.”
Faulkner also made sure not to turn the quarterback spot into the headline. Whether Aaron Philo or Jones starts Saturday, he said, “it’s about the Florida Gators. It’s not about one guy.”
The challenge on the other side is a Georgia offense that has been rolling. Led by quarterback Gunner Stockton, the Bulldogs are averaging 43 points per game, the most in the SEC. Florida will need to disrupt that rhythm with pressure and force Georgia out of its comfort zone.
“He’s a winner. He’s tough,” White said of Stockton.
“I had to face Stetson Bennett for all those years. Very similar in terms of that nothing rattles them … everybody on that offense believes in him and that he’s going to make the right decision.”
White’s defense just turned in one of its strongest performances of the season against Texas, holding the Longhorns to seven points in the second half and sparking a 24-point run in Florida’s first top-10 road win since 2012. The Gators got to Arch Manning five times and limited him to 173 passing yards, his second-fewest this season.
Georgia brings a different kind of problem. The Bulldogs are averaging 6 yards per carry, which ranks second in the country behind Army’s 6.4.
Their 213 rushing yards per game rank third in the SEC, and they have three backs who have already gone over 200 yards: Dwight Phillips Jr., Nate Frazier and Bo Walker. Phillips leads the group with 348 yards.
The passing game is loaded too. Craig Dandridge had 88 receiving yards against Auburn on Oct. 17, his best output of the freshman year so far, and leads the young receiver group with 310 yards on the season while averaging 18.2 yards per catch. White pointed to Dandridge and sophomore Talyn Taylor as two of Stockton’s most dependable options downfield.
“The wide receivers don’t get enough credit for how talented they are,” White said. “I don’t think people quite know the names yet, but they will. They’re talented, they’re fast, they’re all willing to block, they understand the scheme, they understand their role and it doesn’t matter which one’s in and they go deep.”
Florida’s defense will need more than just flashes if it wants to slow this offense down. The Gators were exposed in the air during their two-game skid, with Missouri’s Austin Simmons throwing for 340 yards and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers piling up 279 passing yards. Stockton has averaged 224.2 passing yards per game and has thrown for more than 245 in three straight games.
White said he wants to see his unit keep building from there.
“I want this defense to continue to grow because I know what they can be, and I want everybody to see what they can be,” White said. "They’ve only seen flashes."
In Other News...
Florida Still Has A Guard Question Heading Into Miami
Boogie Flands absence for Floridas exhibition against Stetson gave the Gators an early look at how the backcourt might have to adapt if the starting point guard is unavailable. Denzel Aberdeen slid over to point guard, Urban Klavar moved into the starting lineup at shooting guard, and Florida still handled business in an 85-68 win, with Klavar and Aberdeen carrying much of the scoring load.
Even with the result in hand, the setup left the bigger question hanging as the Gators shift their attention to the regular-season opener against Miami. Todd Golden praised the way his team performed, but the illness that sidelined Fland added another layer to Floridas guard rotation picture, and the staff now has a short window to sort out how it wants the backcourt arranged when the games start counting for real. [Read more 🡒]
Florida-Georgia Just Lost The Rivalry Feeling Fans Loved Most
For the first time in 31 years, the Georgia-Florida game is leaving Jacksonville, with this years meeting set for Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta because of construction at EverBank Stadium. The setup changes more than the location on the schedule. It strips away the strange, enduring charm that made this rivalry weekend feel like its own holiday, from the old tailgating scenes to the beach gatherings that have long defined the trip for fans on both sides.
The move also comes with a 50-50 ticket split between the schools, and the matchup is already mapped out to land in Tampa in 2027 before returning to Jacksonville through 2031. Even with a path back to the river city, the rotation underscores how much is lost when Florida and Georgia are not meeting in the place that gave the rivalry its distinct personality, and it has plenty of fans and former players thinking about what used to make the weekend feel bigger than just another SEC game. [Read more 🡒]
Floridas Best Shot Vs Georgia Comes Down To One Brutal Test
With Florida and Georgia heading into another rivalry meeting at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the spotlight is on a familiar kind of uncertainty for the Gators: quarterback play. ESPN analyst Greg McElroy expects No. 3 Georgia to bounce back from its recent loss, while Florida is still sorting out its own answer under center, with Jon Sumrall yet to name a starter between Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. It is the kind of week where every practice rep matters and every hint from the coaches gets parsed for more than it probably should.
Georgias quarterback situation adds another layer, even if the Bulldogs appear to be in better shape overall. Kirby Smart said Gunner Stockton dealt with a shoulder stinger after the last game but did not show concussion symptoms, which at least eases one concern for a team trying to steady itself after a loss. For Florida, though, the bigger issue is simpler and more pressing: finding the quarterback who can handle the moment in a game where one rough stretch can quickly tilt the whole afternoon. [Read more 🡒]