Georgia.

Always a fun week leading up to this rivalry. At the same time, it’s not without tension.

The Gators obviously own the Bulldogs. It’s not an argument. Even Georgia fans accept it.

Florida has won 15 of the last 17. I don’t think we’ve adequately expressed our rage and irritation at losing in ‘97 and ‘04. Consider a victory in 2007 to be yet another small payment towards assuaging the pain of those losses.

But yeah: there’s tension. Why? Unlike Kentucky, against whom I felt totally confident predicting a win, I never feel that way about the ‘Dawgs.

On the surface, that makes no sense. Kentucky is far superior to Georgia this year, and we played the Wildcats on their home turf rather than Jacksonville.

On paper, it ought to be a blowout. Odds aren’t out yet, but everyone will favor the Gators.

But It’s Rarely That Easy

However, this game always carries with it the horrible possibility of breaking ‘the streak.’ I know that the streak’s been broken twice in seventeen years, but 2004 felt like an off year due to the fact that Ron Zook had just been fired a few days prior to the game. I’m glad Zook was given his walking papers after the Mississippi State loss, but it seems pretty obvious that it played a major role in Florida’s defeat that year. Plus, it was a strong Georgia team: Davids Greene and Pollack contributed to a fairly complete offensive and defensive effort. Florida fell behind early and then rallied, almost pulling out the win, but in the end they were just too emotionally shot to make it happen.

Still, by coming right back and winning two straight thereafter, the “streak” was alive. When reporting on the game, the media never says that Florida has won 2 of the last 3 or 4 of the last 5. They always bring up the big, bad mofo: 15 of the last 17. That’s a streak.

And make no mistake about it, the Gators are in Georgia’s heads. As Gator fans, it’s impossible to imagine our team being owned by anyone. We expect our boys to win any game, anywhere, any time, regardless of the circumstances. (Go ahead and make the Auburn jokes here, Tiger fans, but remember that since 1995 we’ve beaten you 4 out of 7 games… so forget any flights of fancy regarding ownership.) Just try to imagine what this streak has been like for Georgia fans.

Every year, their hopes rise slightly; then their dreams are dashed with another loss to the mighty Gators.

That’s inconceivable to us. It’s a reality for Georgia fans.

2007 should be no different. Florida’s team is weaker defensively than it was in ‘06, but is very powerful when it lines up behind the ball. Georgia’s team is just flat out weak across the board. It’s the same old story: their receivers can’t catch, their O-line can’t block, their defense can’t stop anyone and their quarterback is inconsistent. Put it this way: the Dawgs are so bad they made the Vols look good. (Tennessee beat the Georgia 35-14 earlier in the month.)

However, this year, there is a difference.

Bye Bye… Bye

Traditionally, Florida has reserved a bye week prior to the Georgia game. This year, that bye came before the Gators played Kentucky.

This year, Georgia pulled a bye… the week before they drew the Gators.

Therefore, it is more important than ever to keep the streak alive. Yes, there’s the obvious #1 reason: to win the SEC. That remains goal numero uno. But if you want to hear the world’s biggest excuse machine, listen to Georgia fans after yet another loss to Florida. Popular excuse #1: Jacksonville is in the state of Florida. (Never mind that they won there plenty in the eighties.) Popular excuse #2: Florida’s bye week prior to the game.

Excuse #1 is simply insipid and deserves no response. It is a pathetic excuse, one that I truly believe Georgia fans are ashamed of in their more rational moments, but they have to hold on to something. Excuse #2 can be shot down with another powerful victory by the Good Guys on October 27.

But I always rate the odds of winning somewhere around 60/40. No matter how good we are, no matter how poor Georgia is, this game is usually very close. The contest has been decided by 3, 4, or 7 points in every one of the last five games. Why that is, I couldn’t say. But both of the last two victories were a lot closer than they should have been given the difference in talent on both sides of the ball.
Therefore, I’m calling for more of the same in ‘07. Gators 31, Georgia 24. Shouldn’t be that way, but it probably will anyway.

Go Gators. Beat the crap outta the Dawgs. Remember why it’s still important to hate Georgia. Keep the streak alive. Keep the dreams of another SEC title and a BCS bowl alive. And put our golden boy up in lights in New York City, to win the prestigious award we all know he should win.