Kirby Smart serves updated take on Georgia-Florida neutral-site venues

ATHENS — Kirby Smart appreciates the Georgia-Florida rivalry as much as anyone, but he explained his feelings on playing the game at a neutral site are not so black and white.

“I’m all for Georgia, OK?” said Smart, who has maintained the value of playing rivalry games in campus and once pointed out that playing the Gators at a neutral site cost UGA a recruiting weekend.

“And I’m all for our kids having a positive experience. There are positives in both scenarios.”

The No. 5-ranked Bulldogs will play Florida at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, before the rivalry moves to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2026, and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in 2027, while $1.4 billion renovations take place at Jacksonville’s “Stadium of the Future” — where the game will return in 2028.

Smart had the unique experience of playing against Florida at Sanford Stadium in 1995 in the second half of a home-and-home after UGA played in Gainesville in 1994 while the then-Gator Bowl was undergoing renovations.

Smart made it clear that the importance of recruiting weekends — which have been somewhat diminished by the financial nature of NIL and transfer-portal dealings — were not his only consideration when discussing the benefits of on-campus rivalry games.

“I don’t know that I ever thought that (recruiting) was the exclusive reason to play home and home. … It was one of the many factors,” Smart said. “You know, the opportunity to play on these campuses and play in the location that the other teams play, Florida and the other teams play Georgia.

“I think there’s something lost on that, you know? Our kids will never travel to those two locations, and you know, I did that when I played here, and I thought it was something special within that.”

That said, Smart doesn’t want anyone to make any sweeping generalizations about his thoughts on the neutral-site nature of the Georgia-Florida rivalry.

“I’m not looking to give a quote of, ‘Kirby wishes it was this’, or ‘Kirby thinks it’s this’ — I don’t,” Smart said. “I think there’s positives and negatives to both.”

Things to know for Saturday’s Georgia-Florida game

• When: 3:30 p.m., Saturday

• Where: EverBank Stadium (cap. 76,666)

• Rankings and records: No. 5 Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC); Florida (3-4, 2-2)

• TV/radio: ABC/Georgia Bulldog Sports Network and SiriusXM 84

• Weather: Sunny with a high of 69 degrees at kickoff and a low of 48

• Series: Georgia leads 56-44-2. Georgia won in Jacksonville last season, 34-20.

• Availability report: Georgia — WR Colbie Young (leg) is out; WR Talyn Taylor (collarbone) is out; DB Kyron Jones (foot) is out; TE Ethan Barbour (ankle) is out; DB Ondre Evans (knee) is out. Florida — RB Treyaun Webb (out); WR Vernell Brown lll (out); DE LJ McCray (out); WR Aidan Mizell (out); DB Aaron Gates (out): RB Ja’Kobi Jackson (out); DB Dijon Johnson (out); DL Caleb Banks (out); RB Duke Clark (questionable); DB Javion Toombs (questionable).

• Last meeting: Georgia rallied from a 13-6 halftime deficit to win 34-20 for its fourth-straight win against Florida, its longest winning streak in the series since winning six in a row between 1978 and 1983. Carson Beck passed for 309 yards and two touchdowns, making what Kirby Smart said were some “big-time, elite throws,” while overcoming three interceptions.

• Betting line: Georgia opened as a 7.5-point favorite, but the line dipped to 7 points.

• Tickets: The game is sold out. Tickets on the secondary market having been selling starting at $105 in the upper level and $133 each in the lower deck.

Storylines for Saturday’s Georgia game

Focus on faster start

Georgia has led at halftime in only one of its past 11 games against Power 4 opponents dating back to last season’s game with Florida, going 7-3 in the other 10 games where it trailed or was tied at halftime with losses to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl and Alabama earlier this season.

Florida interim staff

Longtime Florida receivers coach Billy Gonzales is the Gators’ interim head coach in the wake of Billy Napier’s firing. Gonzales was on Urban Meyer’s 2006 and 2008 national title teams. Offensive coordinator Russ Callaway — son of former Georgia offensive coordinator Neil Callaway — will be calling plays in collaboration with QB coach Ryan O’Hara from the coaching booth, with Steve Spurrier Jr. elevated from offensive analyst to sideline work communicating with quarterback DJ Lagway. The defensive staff and operations remains unchanged.

Gunner for Heisman

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton enters the game sixth among the Heisman Trophy favorites at +1800. The players ahead of Stockton, per DraftKings.com:

• Fernando Mendoza, Indiana, +260

• Ty Simpson, Alabama, +360

• Julian Sayin, Ohio State, +380

• Marcel Reed, Texas A&M, +600

• Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt, +850

Expert take

ESPN’s Gene Chizik, a former national championship coach at Auburn, shared the advantages each team has entering the rivalry game.

Gonzales’ advantage as an interim head coach, Chizik said, is “he can see what wasn’t working, and now he has the autonomy to change that, with nobody to answer to. There’s no pressure on Billy Gonzales. If the players see just a couple of tweaks here and there … something different, to give them a little edge and a little spark.”