JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Sedrick Van Pran was born and raised in New Orleans. He knew next to nothing about Georgia and Florida’s annual border clash here on the banks of the St. Johns River before signing with the Bulldogs in 2020.
But he learned about it quickly.
“When you get here, you’re told about Georgia-Florida,” said Van Pran, who has started at center in 37 consecutive games at Georgia. “You’re told about the game, what it means, the history, the guys who have played in it. But I also think it’s upon each individual to kind of do their own research.”
So, Van Pran turned to the Internet. And, clicking on YouTube, oh, what a treasure trove he found!
Van Pran learned that Jarvis Jones, now Georgia’s player connection coordinator, had a pair of monster games against the Gators as junior and senior outside linebacker (18 tackles, 7 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 2 recoveries). He saw the 2007 game, where the entire Georgia team rushes the field after scoring the game’s first touchdown on the opening drive. He saw Belue-to-Scott in 1980 and Tim Worley ripping off an 89-yard TD run in a colossal upset of No. 1-ranked Florida in 1985.
At this point, Van Pran believes he could write a pretty good paper on the past four decades of the Georgia-Florida rivalry.
“Watching those old games and knowing some of the stats, that level of understanding helps you when you play in these games,” Van Pran said. “Having played in it now, you know in order to have a successful season you have to go through those guys. Everything we want to accomplish goes through that team.”
And vice versa, of course.
For every Georgia peak, there has been a valley. The year after the infamous “Gator Stomp” the Bulldogs pulled in ‘07, Florida whipped them 49-10, with coach Urban Meyer unloading his entire sack of timeouts in the final seconds. The Gators shattered the hearts of some really good Georgia teams in 2002, ‘03 and ‘05. Nobody can reasonably explain what happened in 2014, when the Gators ran roughshod over the Bulldogs to the tune of 418 yards rushing in a 38-20 victory.
And then there was Steve Spurrier.
The Florida coach Georgia fans came to call “the Evil Genius” flipped the script when he took over the program in 1990. The Gators would win 11 of the next 12 against the Bulldogs. With more wins over UGA than any other single coach in history (16), Spurrier certifiably became Georgia’s greatest villain.
Most of the time, Spurrier had the clearly superior team in Jacksonville, but not every time. The 1992 Bulldogs were favored and had their eyes set on the school’s first SEC championship in a decade. Then they lost 26-24.
“Oh, yeah, we singled out Georgia because they were always bragging about beating us,” Spurrier said. “Georgia had gotten the best of Florida for the last 20 years. We knew we had to beat them to get where we wanted to go.”
Now Kirby Smart has wrested control of the series again for Georgia, which leads the 101-game series 55-44-2. Smart is 5-2 against the Gators, with the Bulldogs winning five of the past six. Only the 2019 victory was close (24-17). The average margin in the other four victories is 25.8 points.
“Our players love playing in this neutral-site game,” Smart said this week. “It’s just kind of different in terms of the start of it, the fans, the split crowd. It seems to be a momentum-flow type of game because of that.”
It’s probably no coincidence that Florida is on its third coach since Smart’s 2016 arrival. Billy Napier, an Alabama assistant alongside Smart for three years in Tuscaloosa, has been charged with getting this thing turned around.
In Year 2 with the Gators, Napier sounded a lot like Smart and Nick Saban this week as he talked about attitude and culture and process. Coming off a 41-39 fourth-quarter, comeback win over South Carolina the last time out Oct. 15, he feels like his team is in a much better frame of mind to face this Georgia juggernaut.
“We believe in preparation,” Napier said. “I think it allows the players to play with poise and have confidence. I think if you’re intentional and you’re detailed in everything you do as you approach a game like this, it gives you the opportunity to be that kind of player.”
Because of impending SEC expansion, 2023 is the last year of divisions. As Eastern Division colleagues, Georgia and Florida’s annual late October bloodletting often has had direct implications on getting to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game. That’s the case again this year.
The Gators (5-2, 3-1 SEC) would own the tiebreaker over the Bulldogs with a win. But the real motivation for them is simply wrecking Georgia’s audacious streak of perfection – 34 consecutive regular-season wins, 23 consecutive conference games, 24 consecutive games of any sort.
Of this, the Bulldogs are acutely aware. They know it because they know how much they want to beat Florida. It’s been bred into them.
Under Smart, Georgia has built the most geographically diverse roster the school has ever seen. Players have come in droves from the Northeast, Midwest, Southwest and as far west as California to play for championships and get groomed for NFL careers.
Soon after arriving, they also learn they’re here to beat Florida.
“It means everything,” said junior linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson, a Hyattsville, Maryland, resident. “(Smart) emphasizes that it’s going to be a physical game, that they’re just like us, they preach on the same things we preach on.”
Receiver Dominic Lovett is an Illinois native who just this year transferred to Georgia from Missouri. “(Teammates) told me this game means something to both programs, and it’s going to be a physical war,” he said.
The majority of Georgia’s roster is made up of in-state residents, but the second-largest representation (12) hails from Florida. Most notably Saturday, that group includes junior quarterback Carson Beck. He grew up 18 miles from EverBank Stadium.
“I mean, obviously, it’s super cool,” Georgia’s first-year starter said after the Vanderbilt game.
“I know it’s special for them as well,” Milledgeville product Javon Bullard said of all his teammates from Florida. “Me being a Georgia boy, it’s damn sure special for me. We have to do whatever we can to come out with the victory. …
“If this game doesn’t get you amped up to play football, I don’t know what will.”
