Perspective PieceFlorida vs. Georgia, Oct. 29By Matthew Zemek
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Oklahoma-Texas, one of the three great neutral-site, split-field rivalries in college football, didn’t offer much of anything this season, much to everyone’s surprise. Maybe Army-Navy will be tight this year.Georgia-Florida, on the other hand, doesn’t figure to disappoint in 2005. This year’s version of The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, now that it’s finally at hand, offers a level of drama worthy of this SEC classic... even though D.J. ---College Football---
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Shockley’s injury means we could see a repeat of Alabama’s 6-3 win over Tennessee, forcing Verne Lundquist and Todd Blackledge to think hard about the last time they saw good offense by two SEC teams in the same game..History, intrigue, coaching questions, revenge, visions of an upset—these and other time-honored components of this border war in Jacksonville are on full display in the Cocktail Party, a rivalry that has been ruthlessly and consistently competitive over the past several seasons. 1998 was the last time these two teams didn’t play a game that was competitive in the fourth quarter. ---College Football---
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The cutthroat nature of Dawgs-Gators suggests that even with Georgia’s pedigree and legitimate national title aspirations, the boys from Athens will get a fierce test... yes, even from a Florida team that is struggling to find its footing under first-year coach Urban Meyer.There are a few years you need to keep in mind when contemplating this year’s Cocktail Party and the backdrop that accompanies it.Saturday’s Georgia-Florida game could be compared in many ways to 1980. A great Georgia team entered unbeaten against a solid but nicked up Florida squad.---College Football---
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The Gators took the fight to Herschel Walker, Buck Belue and the rest of Vince Dooley’s charges, but with the Dawgs on the ropes in the waning moments, UGA receiver Lindsay Scott outjuked and outran the Florida secondary en route to a stunning 93-yard touchdown reception for a 26-21 win. The three most memorable words in the history of this storied rivalry are Larry Munson’s; merely mentioning “Run, Lindsay, run!”, an echo of the Bulldog radio announcer’s unforgettable call of Scott’s play, makes Georgia fans taste heaven while sending Gator Nation into a dark, hellish depression. ---College Football---
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1980 has a clear connection to this year’s game because a Georgia team that will wear the designated road whites (just as it did 25 years ago) will be gunning for an undefeated season and a national championship. Dawg fans hope their team will come out on top once again.Another year to remember with respect to this season’s Party is 2002. This is the flip side of 1980.---College Football---
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Like the “Run, Lindsay, run!” game, Georgia strolled into Jacksonville without a blemish against a struggling, sagging Gator team. On this occasion, however, Florida managed to stop the Dawgs on the strength of a clutch defense and a resilient Rex Grossman. As an especially fitting counterbalance to 1980, the game was made memorable by UGA receiver Terrance Edwards’ anti-Scott exhibition, a drop of a pass that could have produced a tying touchdown in the game’s final minutes. Without that loss to the Gators, Mark Richt’s 2002 SEC champions just might have found themselves playing Miami in that season’s Fiesta Bowl instead of Ohio State. ---College Football---
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But as things turned out, the Gators played the spoiler role in ’02, doing what Charley Pell’s boys failed to do 22 years earlier. 2002 is also significant because it marked Ron Zook’s first Cocktail Party as a head coach; much of Gator Nation has reason to be confident heading into this game because Meyer, despite some first-year growing pains, has clearly demonstrated much more aptitude, acumen and all-around competence than Zook did in his three seasons in Gainesville. ---College Football---
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If the Zooker could make use of the bye week the Gators regularly have before the Cocktail Party (a big reason why they’ve been able to thrive even as an underdog in this series), Gator fans think that Meyer will be able to do even better.---College Football---
But then there’s 2004, another Party to remember when contemplating this rivalry and Saturday’s renewal of it. Florida had the same hope that its hex was about to work wonders again. Despite the program’s enormous struggles and the knowledge that Zook would not be coach after the end of the season, Florida still had the ability to reach into the well for one game, recall the power of their mental whammy over the Dawgs, and give Georgia a battle. However, those hopes were dashed, as David Greene—a senior in need of a win over Florida before his career in Athens ended—made enough plays, particularly to tight end Leonard Pope, to carry the Dawgs to victory.---College Football---
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Florida realized that it couldn’t count entirely on history to defeat Georgia; an identity crisis and a general lack of execution doomed the Gators in a rivalry where their deficiencies caught up to them.It’s that last package of realities that magnifies this year’s game. With Georgia having won last season, Florida’s players can no longer count on a history of dominance to propel them in battle. Furthermore, the Gators and Chris Leak enter Jacksonville with more questions than certainties, more of a track record of sloppiness than a portfolio of potency. ---College Football---
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The Gators can’t play a B-minus football game and expect to beat the Dawgs, which is what often happened in the Steve Spurrier era. Even with Joe Tereshinski and not Shockley at quarterback, Leak and the rest of the Gators will need to be in top form against a team, a head coach and a defensive coordinator—UGA’s Willie Martinez—who have authoritatively answered every challenge that’s come their way in 2005.

With Shockley out, it’s merely one more chance for the Dawgs to thumb their noses at the doubters, to find an even deeper source of motivation on the journey to Atlanta and beyond.1980 points the way to a perfect regular season for Georgia.2002 shows that Florida, with a first-year head coach, has been able to ruin the Dawgs’ season before.2004, though, reveals the most important thing about Dawgs-Gators: Florida is a deficient team whose offense needs to bring its A-game against a world-class defense.You can expect a competitive game, but unlike past years, you can’t expect Florida to naturally take control in the fourth quarter while the Dawgs make mistakes. ---College Football---
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The landscape of this series has changed, the mental whammy is absent in Athens, and Mark Richt’s team has a surer sense of self as it confronts its old enemy near the banks of the St. John’s River.One will raise a toast, the other will cry in its beer. Which history will win out? Will Chris stop the Leakage in his up-and down season? Time to find out at a Cocktail Party that is likely to deliver a lot more drama than the Sooners and Longhorns provided in Dallas a few weeks ago. The crowd—just like the verdict on this game—might be split, but it’s just about unanimous that this should be a tight and dramatic game that will be decided in the final minutes.
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