As such, Georgia Football and Florida don’t need much motivation for their annual meeting in Jacksonville.
This rivalry is ingrained in players’ minds as soon as they set foot on their respective campuses. Many Dawg fans consider Florida to be Georgia’s biggest rival and vice versa.
These two teams first met in 1904 (1915 if you ask the Gators) and have played every year since 1926 except for 1943 due to World War II. The game has had many names over the years: Georgia-Florida, Florida-Georgia, World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, and River City Showdown (we can forget the last one).
Some of the most memorable moments in Georgian football history happened against the Gators, such as Buck Belue’s touchdown pass to Lindsay Scott in 1980 and the iconic “Gator Stomp” celebration in 2007. This clash is expected every year, regardless of the records of each team at the time.
Georgia Football Adds More Bulletin Board Footage From The Gators.
That being said, the Georgia players already have some bulletin board footage for their 2022 matchup against Florida. Former Bulldog and current Gator linebacker Brenton Cox Jr., who announced his return to Florida back in January, posted some combative words on his Instagram Story yesterday:
This isn’t the first time Cox has been vocal before the Georgia-Florida game. In a 2020 interview with 1st and 10th Florida, He said this game was “personal” for him, but also expressed that he couldn’t wait for Florida to win. That year he recorded three tackles in a 44-28 win over Georgia.
As of that game, Florida is 10-10 overall while Georgia is down 18-1.
Cox volunteered with Georgia as part of the 2018 recruitment course. He played in 13 games as a true freshman before moving to Florida in 2019.
He won’t be the only former Bulldog with the Gators that day. Defenseman Jalen Kimber announced his decision to move to Florida a few days after the national championship game.
With all due respect to Cox, Kimber, Billy Napier and the rest of the Gators, “cruelty to animals” probably won’t happen to the Dawgs when these two teams play.
Despite losing key talent to the NFL, Georgia is bringing back several contributors from the 2021 National Championship season, including Brock Bowers, Nolan Smith, Jalen Carter, Kelee Ringo, and Stetson Bennett, who passed Cox in a game last year:
There will be enough talent on this team to possibly lead Georgia to the college football playoffs for the second year in a row. Florida, meanwhile, faces a rebuild as they attempt to once again become an SEC and National title contender.
I’m sure we’ll be hearing about it again as we get closer to the showdown between these two SEC rivals. Georgia fans, players and coaches don’t forget such things.
The Georgia-Florida game is scheduled for October 29 at 3:30 p.m. It will air on CBS.
