SEC TV game times, picks: Florida, Georgia share ‘bloody Tuesdays’

First-year Florida coach Jon Sumrall wants to make sure his Gators are for real, every week, with “bloody Tuesday” practices.

“It’s bloody Tuesday, like, it’s like you got to pay the toll,” Sumrall said. “And so, if guys are ready to go pay the toll tomorrow, and compete and be physical, and do it outside the whole time, and get dirty a little bit, get some dirt underneath their fingernails, and I feel like, all right, we got a shot.”

Georgia coach Kirby Smart has publicly referred to his Tuesday practices with the same phrase since at least the 2021 CFP championship season, but the terminology actually goes back to former Ohio State and Florida coach Urban Meyer.

“The two-hour-plus, full-contact practices strained his players’ mental and physical wills while developing the mentality to produce a 47-7 record and two national titles from 2006-09,” penned Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel.

A former Florida player, Ahmad Black Sr., came out on social media to back that up.

Sumrall, whose Gators are coming off a 52-28 win over previously No. 4-ranked Ole Miss, is looking to get Florida off to its first 5-0 start since 2019 with a win at No. 25-ranked Missouri on Saturday.

The Tigers (3-1, 0-1 SEC) are hosting the Gators for their homecoming week and have beaten Florida in each of its past two trips to Columbia, Missouri.

“I have zero concerns about anybody’s homecoming, our homecoming, it’s a football game,” Sumrall said. “I don’t care who their homecoming king, or queen, or any of that is.”

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, who has 11 new defensive starters this season, has obvious concerns about trying to stop the Florida offense, which ranks second in the nation to Georgia with 53.5 points per game.

The Gators are fourth in the nation with 29 plays of 20 yards or more, fifth in yards and eighth in yards per play, much of which can be attributed to tailback Jadan Baugh, whose FBS-best 11 touchdowns are the most by an SEC player through the first four games since the league’s 1992 expansion to 12 teams.

“Super talented roster that’s really good in all three phases, (and) I think when you watch them play, you see complementary football … “ Drinkwitz said. ”Their offensive coordinator does a tremendous job. Their offensive line is playing at an elite level, and then, obviously, they got Florida speed at both the running back position and the skill positions.

“You know they’ve got a lot of different weapons. Defensively, great scheme that you know; their defensive coordinator we’ve gone against before. He’s been in this league a long time. Understands how to defend this league, what it takes to play good defense in this league, they’re built up front.”

Here’s a look at this week’s games involving SEC teams, the TV start times, channels, odds and the AJC’s pick:

Alabama (4-0, 2-0 SEC) -5.5 at Mississippi State (4-0, 2-0 SEC), Noon, ABC

• Pick: Alabama 31, Mississippi State 26

Vanderbilt (3-1, 0-1 SEC) at Georgia -24.5 (4-0, 2-0 SEC), 12:45 p.m., SEC Network

• Pick: Georgia 38, Vanderbilt 13

Florida (4-0, 2-0 SEC) -4.5 at Missouri (3-1, 0-1 SEC), 3:30 p.m., ABC

• Pick: Florida 30, Missouri 27

Auburn (3-1, 1-1 SEC) at Tennessee -7.5 (3-1, 0-1 SEC), 3:30 p.m., ESPN

• Pick: Tennessee 38, Auburn 20

Kentucky (3-1, 1-1 SEC) at South Carolina -2.5 (2-2, 0-2 SEC), 4:15 p.m., SEC Network