OGT: FLORIDA vs Georgia -- November 2, 2024 -- 3:30 (ABC)

Since GatorGrowl is unavailable this week, I'll do an OGT . . . but it won't be nearly the same. We miss you Growl!

We'll start the day with SEC Nation in Jacksonville:

 

Florida Gators (4-3, 2-2 SEC) vs #2 Georgia Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC)

November 2 // 3:30 p.m. ET // Jacksonville, Fla. EverBank Stadium (76,600+)

Play-by-Play: Chris Fowler
Analyst: Kirk Herbstreit
Reporter: Holly Rowe



NUMBERS OF NOTE 40/20

True freshman QB DJ Lagway has finished with five completions of 40-plus yards in each of his first two career starts (Week 2 win vs. Samford, Week 8 win vs. Kentucky). No other Florida quarterback has completed five passes of 40-plus yards in a game in the last 20 years.

 

THE STORYLINE:

• Florida and Georgia are facing off for the 102nd time in the 92nd meeting between the two teams in Jacksonville.
• Georgia leads the series, 55-44-2, and holds a 49-41-1 advantage in Jacksonville.
• The Gators are 22-12 vs. the Bulldogs since 1990, with the last win coming in the form of a 44-28 victory in 2020.
• Florida faces a non-undefeated Georgia team for the first time in four seasons - since the Gators’ 2020 win.
• Prior to this season, Georgia was a combined 21-0 in the previous three meetings from 2021-23 (4-1 in 2020).
• This is the third meeting (0-2) between HC Billy Napier and UGA’s Kirby Smart as head coaches (more on Page 11).
• Florida is the only three-loss team in the nation with a perfect record vs. teams ranked outside the current AP Top 10.
• In the Week 8 win over UK, Florida started a true freshman at both quarterback (DJ Lagway) and running back (Jadan Baugh) for the first team in program history, and is one of two FBS programs to do so this season (Stanford).
• In his first-career start, Baugh scored the first-five rushing touchdowns of his career and finished with 22 carries for 106 yards to produce his first-career 100-yard game.
• Baugh’s five rushing TDs are tied for the most in a game in program history (Trey Burton vs. UK in 2010, Tim Tebow vs. South Carolina in 2007) and are the most ever by a Gator in his first-career start.
• Florida is the only team in the country with two qualified receivers averaging 20.0 yards per catch in WR Elijhah Badger (first - 23.8) and WR Chimere Dike (16th - 20.0).
• The Florida defense is fresh off its first three-interception game since Nov. 28, 2020 vs. Kentucky.
• The Gators posted multiple takeaways for the second-straight game and have a takeaway in six of seven contests.
• Led by first-year senior analyst Joe Houston, Florida ranks fourth in the FBS in punt return average (19.62), fifth in net punting (44.65) and 37th in kick return average (22.20), and has been inside the top-13 all season in ESPN’s SP+ metric.
• Florida enters Week 10 ranking second in the SEC behind Ole Miss (173.9) and 11th in the FBS in passer rating (164.1) while coming in at 35th nationally in passing offense (263.6).
• C Jake Slaughter grades as the No. 6 center in the FBS (77.7) highlighted by the 10th-best pass block grade (84.4).
• The Gators have allowed just 10 sacks on the season, which ranks third in the SEC and t-34th nationally.
• Since the 2018 season, Napier is tied for 13th in the FBS with 55 total wins alongside Lane Kiffin and Mario Cristobal, ahead of Mike Gundy (54), Mike Norvell (51), Sonny Dykes (51) and Mark Stoops (50) in that time.
• The Gators have won 16 of their last 22 games in The Swamp (including 11 of 16), but are 3-17 in their last 20 contests outside The Swamp and 3-13 in their last 16 true road games.
• Florida has scored in 455-consecutive games dating back to 1988 - an NCAA record and 53 games longer than any other college football team in the history of the sport (TCU, 402-straight games, active streak).

 

WARNING: LAGWAY IS HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE:

• QB DJ Lagway made his second-career start in the Week 8 win over Kentucky, throwing for 259 yards and one interception on 7-for-14 passing to finish with a 191.1 rating.
• Through seven games (two starts), Lagway has completed 54-for-86 passes (62.8%) for 1,024 yards, (146.3 YPG), five touchdowns and five interceptions.
• Lagway’s 170.4 rating ranks third in the SEC and 10th in the FBS among quarterbacks with at least 80 passes.
• Lagway has had five completions of 40-plus yards in each of his first two career starts (vs. Samford, vs. UK).
• No other Florida quarterback has completed five passes of 40-plus yards in a game in the last 20 years.
• Unsurprisingly, Lagway entered the bye week leading all FBS quarterbacks with a 63.2% completion % on 20-plus-yard throws downfield.
• Lagway led his third 90-plus-yard scoring drive of the season vs. Kentucky.
• In his first SEC road game at MSU, Lagway led two scoring drives starting inside UF’s 10-yard line, becoming the first freshman QB to lead a pair of 90-plus-yard drives in a road SEC tilt since Jalen Hurts in 2016.
• Lagway replaces experienced QB Graham Mertz, whose 64 career passing TDs rank 12th among active players.
• Mertz has started all 48 games he has played since 2020, ranking t-fourth among active FBS QBs in that time.
• Making his first-career start in the Week 2 win over Samford, Lagway passed for the most yards ever (456) by a Florida true freshman quarterback, breaking Chris Leak’s mark of 269 vs. Kentucky in 2003.
• Lagway’s 456 passing yards are the tied for the fourth-most in the FBS this season and rank ninth all-time at Florida (most since Emory Jones threw for 464 yards vs. Samford on Nov. 13, 2021).
• Lagway completed 18-of-25 passes (72.0%) highlighted by three touchdowns and a 264.8 rating.
• Lagway became Florida’s first true freshman starter at quarterback since Treon Harris in the 2014 Birming- ham Bowl (UF’s seventh true freshman starter at quarterback overall).

 

TRIPLE THREAT IN THE 2024 WR ROOM:

• Through seven games, six different UF wide receivers and eight total Gators have caught a TD.
• The trio of receivers Elijhah Badger, Chimere Dike and Eugene Wilson III is perhaps the best in the SEC.
• All three Gators are averaging over 60.0 yards per game and 14.0 yards per reception.
• Badger leads the FBS with 23.8 YPC and paces UF with 524 receiving yards (sixth in SEC) and 22 grabs.
• Dike (20.0) ranks fifth in the SEC and 11th in the FBS in YPC while Wilson III sits 26th in the SEC (14.0).
• Florida is the only team in the country with two qualified receivers averaging 20.0 yards per catch.
• Badger ranks seventh in the SEC with 74.9 receiving YPG while Dike ranks 14th with 60.0 YPG.
• They represent one of three SEC wide receiver duos averaging over 60.0 YPG apiece (Ole Miss and LSU).
• After going for 40 yards in Week 8, Wilson III passed 800 career receiving yards.
• Badger recorded a reception for the 33rd-consecutive game with a 50-yard grab to set up a TD in the second quarter against Kentucky (t-12th-longest streak nationally).
• Badger reached 100 yards receiving for the second time this season (sixth of career), finishing with three catches for a career-high 148 yards (49.3 YPC) in the Week 8 win over Kentucky.
• Each of Badger’s three grabs against Kentucky went for 40-plus yards (50, 58, 40).
• In Week 7 at UT, Dike led UF in receiving yards (76) for the second-straight week (88 vs. UCF).
• Badger, Dike and Boardingham are all tied for the team lead in receiving TDs with two.
• WR Tank Hawkins set career highs with a team-high seven receptions for 60 yards receiving in Week 6.
• Florida had two 100-yard receivers vs. Samford in Wilson III (6 catches, 141 yards) and Badger (3 catches, 123 yards) for the first time since Nov. 19, 2022 at Vanderbilt (Daejon Reynolds & Justin Shorter).

 

EUGENE "TRE" WILSON BACK IN ACTION:

• WR Eugene Wilson III hauled in one 40-yard grab in Week 8 in his second game back in action.
• Wilson III returned from injury in Week 7 at Tennessee for the first time since Week 2, catching five passes for 35 yards.
• Wilson III has caught at least five passes in 10 of his last 12 games.
• In his last 10games, he has produced 636 yards on 55 catches including six TDs.
• Wilson III led all FBS true freshmen in receptions per game (6.1) in 2023 while ranking second in catches (61), t-second in receiving TDs (six), fourth in receiving YPG (53.8) and seventh in receiving yards (538).
• Wilson III was the first Florida true freshman to eclipse 500 receiving yards since Antonio Callaway in 2015.
• In Week 10 vs. Arkansas, Wilson III became the first true freshman receiver at Florida to record multiple touchdowns in a contest since Riley Cooper recorded three vs. Western Carolina on Nov. 18, 2006.
• Against Georgia in 2023, Wilson III set a UF freshman record with a career-high 11 receptions.

 

NOTABLE GAMES:

• Nov. 9, 1940 - Florida won 18-13, though many Florida fans arrived late due to road closures. The Gators held Georgia to 19 rushing yards and forced six turnovers. The Gainesville Daily Sun (now just The Gainesville Sun) dubbed it “the most exciting game ever seen in the series.”

• Nov. 7, 1970 - The Gators trailed 17-10 in the fourth quarter, and with the Bulldogs headed in for another touchdown, Jack Youngblood stripped Georgia’s Ricky Lake at the goal line and recovered the fumble. Quarterback John Reaves followed the takeaway with a pair of touchdown passes to Carlos Alvarez in the final five minutes, leading the Gators to a 24-17 victory. “I just snatched it away,” Youngblood said after the game, noting he didn’t know who he stripped. “Heck, they do it all the time in the pros.”

• Nov. 8, 1980 - Run, Lindsay, Run. Lindsay Scott’s 93-yard catch and run for a touchdown--on third-and-11, with roughly a minute left in regulation to boot--saved Georgia’s unbeaten and national championship season. The touchdown gave the Bulldogs a 26-21 win. Oh, and future Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker rushed for 238 yards as a freshman.

• Nov. 10, 1984 - The No. 10 Gators shut out No. 8 Georgia, and then-freshman walk-on quarterback Kerwin Bell capped the 27-0 win with a 96-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Nattiel. Florida fans tore down the goal posts after the game.

• Oct. 30, 1993 - Freshman cornerback Anthone Lott signaled for timeout just as Georgia attempted to snap the ball--and the play continued, with Eric Zeier throwing what was believed to be the game-tying touchdown pass. However, Florida was granted the timeout. Zeier and the Bulldogs had two more shots into the end zone, but connected on neither, and Florida held on for a 33-26 win.

• Oct. 28, 1995 - Steve Spurrier was told no one had ever scored 50 points in Georgia’s Sanford Stadium. Danny Wuerffel threw five touchdown passes, and backup quarterback Eric Kresser continued to throw late in the game, even with UF well ahead. “We wanted to try and make it a memorable game for the Gators, and it was,” Spurrier said. In the two years the rivals played a homeand-home due to stadium renovations, Florida outscored Georgia 104-31.

• Nov. 2, 2002 - Georgia entered 8-0 and ranked fourth, while the Gators were 5-3 and unranked. Guss Scott had a pick-six, and Rex Grossman threw a touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter to give the Gators a 20-13 upset.

• Nov. 1, 2008 - In its 42-30 win the year before, the entire Georgia team ran onto the field and celebrated its first touchdown of the game. The fifth-ranked Gators responded in 2008 by calling two timeouts in the final minute of a 49-10 rout of the eighth-ranked Bulldogs. “Rules say you get three timeouts a half, and they only used two,” UGA head coach Mark Richt said.

 

Top Florida Performances vs. Georgia:

Rushing Attempts
41 - Errict Rhett, 1993
26 - Jordan Scarlett, 2016 and Rick Casares, 1952
25 - Kelvin Taylor, 2015 and Kelvin Taylor, 2014 and Matt Jones, 2014

Rushing Yards
197 - Kelvin Taylor, 2014
192 - Matt Jones, 2014
183 - Errict Rhett, 1993
174 - Chuck Hunsinger, 1949
143 - Elijah Williams, 1995

Receptions
12 - Carlos Perez, 2002 and John L. Williams, 1983
11 - Eugene Wilson III, 2023(UF freshman record)
10 - Tyrone Young, 1980

Receiving Yards
183 - Tyrone Young, 1980
171 - Richard Trapp, 1971
143 - Jabar Gaffney, 2001
141 - Darrell Jackson, 1999
138 - Jabar Gaffney, 2000

Passing Attempts
49 - Kerwin Bell, 1985
46 - Rex Grossman, 2002

Passing Completions
36 - Rex Grossman, 2002
33 - Kerwin Bell, 1985
30 - Kyle Trask, 2020

Passing Yards
474 - Kyle Trask, 2020
408 - Kerwin Bell, 1985
407 - Rex Grossman, 2001
344 - Shane Matthews, 1990
339 - Rex Grossman, 2002

Passing Touchdowns
5 - Danny Wuerffel, 1995
4 - Kyle Trask, 2020 and Danny Wuerffel, 1996 and Shane Matthews, 1991

Team Records
Rushing Attempts: 60, 2014
Rushing Yards: 418, 2014
Passing Yards: 474, 2020
Total Yards: 584, 2001

 

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