Those who fail to study history....

This week is why college football is the greatest sport in our country.

Georgia/Florida is one of the classic rivalries in all of college football, and even when it doesn’t matter, it matters. Played on a neutral site in Jacksonville, this game is one of the must see events in American sports. Formally known as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, this game always features hard hits, high stakes, and tons of emotion. You can guarantee at least 4 personal fouls, and there could be more, especially if the game gets out of hand.

This year, the game matters to both teams, but for very different reasons.

For Georgia, all of their goals are in front of them. Win out, win the SEC title game, and advance to the college football playoff. It’s that simple.

For Florida, this might be the last of the last chances for embattled coach Will Muschamp. The former Georgia player has had a rocky ride in Gainesville, and the only hope he has of surviving the season, is upsetting the Dawgs, and even then, it probably won’t be enough.

For the past twenty years, Florida has dominated this series. Since 1990, Florida is 18-6 against Georgia. That is by far their most dominating run in the series’ history which dates back to 1904. 

When you consider that Georgia has won the past three meetings, it shows just how bad things had gotten for Georgia in Jacksonville.

After the retirement of Vince Dooley following the 1989 season, Georgia hired he who must not be named to take over as head coach. He did terrible things in Athens, and thus, we do not speak his name. He never beat Florida, and he managed to make the divide between the two programs wider than it had ever been. The lowest of low points came in 1995, when Georgia hosted the Gators in Athens because the stadium in Jacksonville was being renovated. Steve Spurrier and Florida hung “half a hundred” on the Dawgs. When asked why Florida continued to run the score up late in the game, Spurrier just said that no one had ever scored 50 on Georgia in Athens, and he wanted to be the first to do it.

Jim Donnan managed to beat Florida once, in 1997, but his inability to win any game of significance led the Mark Richt being hired in 2001. Richt changed the culture in Athens, upset Tennessee in 2001, and won the SEC in 2002, but the Gators still had a hold over Georgia.

The theme that repeats itself throughout Mark Richt’s tenure as Georgia coach is one that should cause Georgia fans to pause as we head towards the weekend. While Richt has managed to close the talent gap with the Gators, Georgia has not always played up to their potential against the Gators.

In 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2010, Georgia was more talented than Florida but still managed to lose to the Gators. In 2002 and 2005, Georgia won the SEC but lost the Cocktail Party.

The past three years have been a different story. Georgia has managed to win three in a row in the series for the first time since winning six in a row from 1978 to 1983. Florida was ranked number two in the nation in 2012 when Georgia beat them for their only regular season loss. Last season, Georgia looked like they might put a Spurrier-type of beating on the Gators, until Florida fought back in the second half to make the game closer than it should have been.

This year, Georgia is the far better team. With or without Todd Gurley, Georgia should be more than capable of not only winning the game, but winning it comfortably.

However, if history has taught us anything, it is that this game will be closer than the experts think. This is Florida’s season. Just like when Georgia played South Carolina earlier this season, the Dawgs are going to get the Gators’ best game. Will Muschamp will rally his players, and they will give a great effort.

If Georgia doesn’t play at their best, the Gators will win again. A loss on Saturday would not only be the worst loss Georgia has suffered under Mark Richt, but it would be the worst loss for Georgia since losing to Penn State in the 1983 Sugar Bowl to lost the national title. 

Older Georgia fans still feel sick about that January night, and Georgia fans young and old will know their pain if the Gators pull off the upset this Saturday.