Perhaps one of the more interesting facets of the Georgia-Florida game is the manner in which players are able to verbalize their wealth of ill feelings toward their opponents.
“This is just a big trash-talking game,” said tight end Isaac Nauta, who grew up in Jacksonville before moving to Gwinnett County. “The last two years I’ve played in it, that’s the way it’s been, and I think it will always be. Good old-fashioned hate between two teams that don’t like each other.”
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Given the stakes and the high emotions that will be on parade Saturday (3:30 p.m., CBS; News 95.5 and AM-750 WSB) at TIAA Bank Field, keeping one’s cool is going to be a difficult but necessary ingredient for success.
When asked if maintaining composure is as important as it appears, Nauta said, “I would say so. They don’t like us, and we don’t like them. But this game’s about composure, too. You can’t get caught out of control and next thing you know you’re costing your team because you can’t keep your mouth shut. There are some words swapped during the game, for sure.”
Receiver Mecole Hardman indicated that he’s not worried about Georgia’s ability to keep all its gaskets intact.
“It’s what we thrive on anyway – composure, discipline and physicality,” he said. “We just make sure we stay composed at all times because undisciplined penalties in a game can kill you, especially on a drive or a key down.
“We always push composure in our practice and it translates to the game. … (Trash talk is) more a mental thing than a physical thing. Guys who keep their composure and stay calm are the guys that are doing things right in practice before the game.”
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