Kirby Smart stood before his Georgia football team, as he usually does at team meetings, and took a poll: Everyone in here who has beaten Florida, Smart asked them, please stand up.
There were a few awkward moments.
Nobody stood.
“It was sobering,” senior tight end Jeb Blazevich said. “With so much praise going on, on the outside, it’s like, ‘Guys this is where we’re at. Nobody has beaten these guys.’”
Technically, a few Georgia players were on their last team to beat Florida, but that was back in 2013, and the only holdovers were redshirting and didn’t take the field. Since then it’s been all Florida.
This year it’s expected to be all Georgia: The Bulldogs are two-touchdown favorites, unbeaten and ranked No. 3 in the country, while the Gators (3-3) are reeling on and off the field. So to counteract that potential rat poison, Smart and his staff have gone about reminding their players about the recent history of this game.
Signs have been posted around the football offices and meeting rooms featuring the scores of the past few Florida games, and pictures from those games.
“Things we don’t want to see,” junior center Lamont Gaillard said.
There's also been an effort to bolster this year's Florida team, which is three points away from being 5-1, as Georgia senior nose tackle John Atkins pointed out. (The Gators' last two games were a one-point loss to LSU and a two-point loss to Texas A&M, both at home.)
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