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Florida vs Georgia is the PERFECT Chance for Jon Sumrall to Do Something Gators DESPERATELY Need... · A Peek Inside Gators Football: A Show About the Florida Gators

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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to A Peek Inside Gator Football. I'm Allie Peek.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: It is Rivalry Week, guys. Florida, Georgia. I am so
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: excited about it. This video is brought to you by PrizePix.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Don't forget, new users can download the app, play a
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: $ 5 lineup, and use our code. It's HMA. If you win,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: you'll get $ 150 in lineups instantly. Guys, I am excited.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: There are certain games on the college football schedule that
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: mean more than just another win or loss. And for Florida,
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  Speaker 1: Georgia is absolutely one of those games. But this year,
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  Speaker 1: I think this matchup has the potential to mean something
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  Speaker 1: even bigger. John Summerall has already done some pretty remarkable
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  Speaker 1: things in his first season at Florida. He's beaten a
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  Speaker 1: top five Ole Miss team. He's gone on the road
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  Speaker 1: and knocked off a top 10 Texas team. He's taken
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  Speaker 1: a program that desperately needed a new direction and given
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  Speaker 1: Florida fans some real reasons to believe. But here's the thing.
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  Speaker 1: There is a difference between showing improvement and announcing you've arrived.
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  Speaker 1: And Coach Summerall has let us all know all season
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  Speaker 1: long that Florida has not yet arrived. But if Florida
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  Speaker 1: can find a way to beat Georgia on Saturday, I
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  Speaker 1: think it could completely change the trajectory of this program.
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  Speaker 1: Not just for this season, not just for recruiting, but
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  Speaker 1: for the entire relationship between Florida and Georgia going forward.
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  Speaker 1: Because for the better part of the last decade, Georgia
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  Speaker 1: has been everything Florida's wanted to be. National champions, SEC champions,
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  Speaker 1: consistently recruiting, elite player development, and most importantly, a program
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  Speaker 1: that expects to compete for championships every single year. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: Florida has spent much of that time trying to find
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  Speaker 1: its footing. So what happens if John Summerall, in his
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  Speaker 1: very first opportunity against Kirby Smart, finds a way to
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  Speaker 1: beat Georgia? I think it could supercharge Florida's turnaround in
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  Speaker 1: a way that very few other wins could. And today
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  Speaker 1: I want to explain why. First, you have to understand
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  Speaker 1: just how dramatically this rivalry has changed. There was a
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  Speaker 1: time when Florida absolutely owned Georgia. When Steve Spurrier took
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  Speaker 1: over at Florida in 1990, he didn't just change the
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  Speaker 1: Gators program. He changed this specific rivalry. Florida won seven
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  Speaker 1: consecutive games against Georgia from 1990 through 1996. And between
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  Speaker 1: 1990 and 2010, the Gators won 18 of 21 meetings.
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  Speaker 1: Think about that. For an entire generation of Florida fans, me,
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  Speaker 1: my generation, Georgia wasn't a team that you hoped to beat.
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  Speaker 1: Georgia was a team you expected to beat. In 1995,
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  Speaker 1: Spurrier famously took his Gators into Athens and scored 52
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  Speaker 1: points against the Bulldogs in Sanford Stadium. The following year,
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  Speaker 1: Florida beat Georgia 47-7. And of course, those Spurrier teams
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  Speaker 1: weren't just beating Georgia, guys. They were competing for SEC
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  Speaker 1: and national championships. Later, Urban Meyer continued that success with
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  Speaker 1: Florida winning five of six against Georgia from 2005 through 2010.
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  Speaker 1: And somewhere along the way, the balance of power shifted.
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  Speaker 1: And Curvy Smart has a huge part in that. Georgia
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  Speaker 1: has won the last five meetings between these two programs.
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  Speaker 1: Florida's last victory comes in 2020 when the Gators beat
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  Speaker 1: Georgia 44 to 28. Thank you, Dan Mullen. Since then,
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  Speaker 1: Georgia has won by scores of 34-7, 42-20, 43-20, 34-20,
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  Speaker 1: and most recently, 24-20. And that last score is important.
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  Speaker 1: Florida wasn't completely outclassed last year. The Gators had opportunities.
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  Speaker 1: They were right there. But once again, Georgia found a
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  Speaker 1: way to win. And to me, that's one of the
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  Speaker 1: biggest differences between where these two programs have been. Georgia
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  Speaker 1: expects to win games like this. Florida's been trying to
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  Speaker 1: figure out how to finish them. Georgia has won two
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  Speaker 1: national championships under Kirby Smart, built one of the deepest
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  Speaker 1: rosters in college football, and established a standard of consistency
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  Speaker 1: that Florida simply hasn't matched. And you don't erase all
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  Speaker 1: of that with one victory. But you can absolutely start
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  Speaker 1: changing the dynamic. Now let's look at where these two
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  Speaker 1: teams are coming into Saturday. Georgia is 6-1 and ranked
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  Speaker 1: third in the country. Florida's 5-2 and ranked 17th. The
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  Speaker 1: Bulldogs open as a 10.5-point favorite, and frankly, I understand why.
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  Speaker 1: Georgia has one of the most complete statistical profiles in
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  Speaker 1: college football. The Bulldogs are averaging 43 points per game,
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  Speaker 1: nearly 470 yards of offense, and just under 200 rushing
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  Speaker 1: yards per game. Defensively, they're allowing fewer than 16 points
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  Speaker 1: per game and 276 total yards. That's an enormous challenge
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  Speaker 1: for the Gators. But here's where things get interesting. Georgia
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  Speaker 1: isn't coming into this game undefeated. The Bulldogs lost their
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  Speaker 1: last game to Auburn 27-24 after starting the season 6-0.
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  Speaker 1: That was the same Georgia team that went on the
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  Speaker 1: road and beat Alabama 20 to 17 just a week
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  Speaker 1: before that. So we know how good Georgia can be,
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  Speaker 1: but we've also seen that Georgia isn't unbeatable. And Florida, meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: is coming into this game with a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: a renewed confidence. Remember where the Gators were just a
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  Speaker 1: few weeks ago. Florida started 4-0, including an impressive 52-28
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  Speaker 1: victory over Ole Miss. Then came that 45-17 loss to Missouri.
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  Speaker 1: Then a 38-19 loss to South Carolina. And suddenly, all
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  Speaker 1: that optimism surrounding John Sumrall's first season was disappearing. Florida
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  Speaker 1: was struggling offensively. The defense was getting exposed. There were
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  Speaker 1: questions about execution and personnel and whether this team was
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  Speaker 1: actually as improved as it appeared. Then Florida traveled to Austin.
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  Speaker 1: And with Aaron Filo dealing with a shoulder injury, Tramell
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  Speaker 1: Jones Jr. making his first career start, and the Gators
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  Speaker 1: trailing Texas 17-3 in the second quarter, things looked pretty bleak.
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  Speaker 1: But Florida didn't fold. The Gators scored 24 unanswered points,
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  Speaker 1: rallied to beat the seventh-ranked Texas team 27-24, and delivered
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  Speaker 1: one of the biggest road victories this program has enjoyed
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  Speaker 1: in years. Jones was poised. Jaden Baugh ran hard. The
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  Speaker 1: defense pressured Arch Manning and recorded five sacks. And Florida
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  Speaker 1: dominated in the middle portion of that football game. More importantly,
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  Speaker 1: when things went wrong, this team responded. That's something we
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  Speaker 1: haven't always seen from Florida in recent years. And to me,
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  Speaker 1: that is where John Summerall deserves a tremendous amount of credit.
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  Speaker 1: The turnaround isn't just about X's and O's. It's about
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  Speaker 1: changing what a team does when adversity hits. But now
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  Speaker 1: comes the next challenge. Can Florida take the same mentality
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  Speaker 1: into a rivalry game against one of the best programs
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  Speaker 1: in America? Beating Texas showed us Florida can get up
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  Speaker 1: after they've been knocked out on the mat. Beating Georgia
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  Speaker 1: would show us that Florida might already be starting to
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  Speaker 1: change the pecking order a little bit. We're gonna take
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: a quick break from this video to give a little
• 6:31
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• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Alumni Hall for all their support. Let's get right back
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  Speaker 1: into it. I want to talk about what a victory
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  Speaker 1: would actually mean. And I want to start with recruiting.
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  Speaker 1: I think this is potentially one of the biggest benefits.
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  Speaker 1: Florida and Georgia recruit a lot of the same players.
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  Speaker 1: They compete for elite talent in Florida, Georgia, and throughout
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  Speaker 1: the Southeast. And for years, Kirby Smart has been able
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  Speaker 1: to point to something very simple when recruiting against the Gators. Results.
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  Speaker 1: Georgia's been winning championships, producing NFL talent, and beating Florida
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  Speaker 1: on the field. That's an awfully strong sales pitch. Now,
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  Speaker 1: one Florida win is not erasing Georgia's championships or its
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  Speaker 1: track record, and that's certainly not what I'm saying. But
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  Speaker 1: imagine being John Summerall on the recruiting trail after beating
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  Speaker 1: Ole Miss and then beating Texas on the road and
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  Speaker 1: then knocking off Georgia in your first season. Think about
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  Speaker 1: what that conversation would be with a recruit. He's not
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  Speaker 1: selling what he hopes to build. He's pointing to what
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  Speaker 1: he's already accomplished. And I think that's a really different
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  Speaker 1: recruiting pitch, especially for players who want to be a
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  Speaker 1: part of bringing Florida back. The message becomes pretty simple.
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  Speaker 1: We're not asking you to take a leap of faith.
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  Speaker 1: We are showing you the evidence. And in today's college
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  Speaker 1: football world, where recruiting and roster retention are so closely
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  Speaker 1: tied to winning, that matters. But it goes beyond recruiting.
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  Speaker 1: Think about what it would mean inside Florida's locker room.
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  Speaker 1: There are players on this roster who have experienced some
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  Speaker 1: really difficult seasons. Players who have been a part of
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  Speaker 1: this program when things weren't going well. Players who have
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  Speaker 1: experienced Georgia's dominance firsthand. Now imagine those players walking off
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  Speaker 1: the field in Atlanta with a victory over the Bulldogs.
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  Speaker 1: after already beating Ole Miss in Texas. Think about the
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  Speaker 1: confidence that creates. Think about the buy-in. A coach can
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  Speaker 1: spend all off-season talking about accountability and toughness and preparation
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  Speaker 1: and culture. But when players start seeing those things translate
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  Speaker 1: into victories against elite competition, the message becomes a whole
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  Speaker 1: lot more powerful. And that's how winning starts to build
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  Speaker 1: on itself. That's how a turnaround accelerates. And there's another
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  Speaker 1: part of this that I don't think we should overlook.
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  Speaker 1: Florida doesn't need to convince anybody that it's a historic
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  Speaker 1: college football program. The Gators have national championships, Heisman Trophy winners,
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  Speaker 1: SEC titles, one of the best stadium environments in college football.
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  Speaker 1: The history is there. But what Florida has needed is
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  Speaker 1: somebody who can bring that level of success into the present.
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  Speaker 1: And beating Georgia would give Summerhall one of the most
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  Speaker 1: convincing arguments yet that he's capable of doing exactly that. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I don't want this to sound like I'm suggesting Florida
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  Speaker 1: should be favored to win Saturday because the Gators should
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  Speaker 1: not be. Georgia has earned the benefit of the doubt.
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  Speaker 1: But I do think Florida has a path. And it
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  Speaker 1: starts with something this team has struggled with at times
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  Speaker 1: this season. Consistency. Florida's averaging almost 40 points and 451
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  Speaker 1: yards per game. Those are impressive numbers. Jaden Baugh has
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  Speaker 1: rushed for 763 yards. Aaron Filo has thrown for 1,341 yards.
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  Speaker 1: And we saw what Tramiel Jones Jr. was capable of
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  Speaker 1: doing against Texas. There is talent on this offense. But
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  Speaker 1: against Georgia, Florida can't afford the kind of stretches we
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  Speaker 1: saw against Missouri and South Carolina, where the offense struggled
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  Speaker 1: to establish the running game and the pressure on the
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  Speaker 1: quarterback became a major problem. Georgia allows just over 91
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  Speaker 1: rushing yards per game. So if Florida wants to control
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  Speaker 1: the clock and sustain drives and keep Georgia's offense on
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  Speaker 1: the sidelines, it's going to have to earn every yard.
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  Speaker 1: And whether it's Philo or Jones at quarterback, Florida cannot
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  Speaker 1: consistently put itself in third and long situations. But I'm
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  Speaker 1: even more interested in Florida's defense. Against Texas, we saw
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  Speaker 1: what that unit is capable of when the players execute
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  Speaker 1: and tackle and get pressure on the quarterback. Georgia quarterback
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  Speaker 1: Gunnar Stockton has completed about 74% of his passes this
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  Speaker 1: season with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. He's efficient, he's experienced,
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  Speaker 1: and he's surrounded by talented players. Georgia's been averaging nearly
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  Speaker 1: 198 rushing yards per game. So Brad White and his
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  Speaker 1: defense are going to have to find ways to make
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  Speaker 1: Georgia uncomfortable. And that is a big ask. Florida has
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  Speaker 1: allowed an average of 28 points and nearly 376 yards
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  Speaker 1: per game this season. Those numbers are not exactly going
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  Speaker 1: to scare Kirby Smart. But that defense that showed up
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  Speaker 1: in Austin, that defense has a chance to make things interesting.
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  Speaker 1: And here's another thing. Florida has to play a cleaner game.
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  Speaker 1: The Gators are averaging nearly 75 penalty yards per game.
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  Speaker 1: Georgia's averaging 53. The difference may not sound enormous. But
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  Speaker 1: against a team as good as Georgia, one penalty can
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  Speaker 1: extend a drive, erase a big play, or turn a
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  Speaker 1: manageable third down into a nearly impossible one. Florida cannot
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  Speaker 1: afford to be its own worst enemy. You can't beat
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  Speaker 1: Georgia if you're constantly giving the Bulldogs extra opportunities. And
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  Speaker 1: that's going to be another test of the culture Summerall
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  Speaker 1: is trying to establish. Discipline, preparation, and execution aren't just
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  Speaker 1: things that you talk about. They have to show up
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  Speaker 1: on Saturdays. For the first time in more than 30 years,
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  Speaker 1: Florida and Georgia won't be playing their annual rivalry game
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  Speaker 1: in Jacksonville. Instead, they're going into Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
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  Speaker 1: And next year, the game moves to Tampa before returning
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  Speaker 1: to Jacksonville in 2028. And for the first time in
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  Speaker 1: a while, there's an opportunity for Florida to make a
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  Speaker 1: major statement about where this rivalry is headed. Now, I'm
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  Speaker 1: not saying beating Georgia means Florida suddenly becomes the better program.
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  Speaker 1: It does not mean that. Georgia has earned it standing
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  Speaker 1: through the years of sustained success. But these rivalries don't
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  Speaker 1: remain the same forever. There was a time when Georgia
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  Speaker 1: dominated Florida. Then Steve Spurrier arrived and changed everything. Later,
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  Speaker 1: Georgia found its answer in Kirby Smart. And now Florida
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  Speaker 1: is hoping John Summerall can begin another shift. Nobody knows
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  Speaker 1: whether that will happen, and we certainly can't say that
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  Speaker 1: after seven games that Florida has completely turned a corner
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  Speaker 1: or anything. The losses to Missouri and South Carolina are
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  Speaker 1: reminders that there is still plenty of work to do.
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  Speaker 1: But I do think we can acknowledge something. This Florida
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  Speaker 1: team has already shown it can beat really good football teams.
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  Speaker 1: The Gators have already shown they can respond to adversity.
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  Speaker 1: And Summerall has already shown that he can get his
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  Speaker 1: players to buy into something bigger than themselves. Now imagine
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  Speaker 1: adding a win over Georgia to that resume. Imagine going
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  Speaker 1: from a program that finished last season searching for answers
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  Speaker 1: to a program that beat three highly ranked opponents in
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  Speaker 1: its first eight games of a new coaching era. That's
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  Speaker 1: how you change expectations. That's how you change recruiting conversations.
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  Speaker 1: And that's how you change the level of belief surrounding
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  Speaker 1: a program. That's how you begin to change your rivalry.
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  Speaker 1: Florida doesn't have to beat Georgia on Saturday for this
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: season to be considered progress. But if the Gators do,
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  Speaker 1: I think this turnaround could go from promising to something
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  Speaker 1: much more significant. John Summerall isn't just trying to get
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: Florida back to winning football games. He's trying to get
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  Speaker 1: Florida back to competing for championships. And for the Gators
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  Speaker 1: to truly get to where they want to go, eventually,
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  Speaker 1: they're going to have to start going through Georgia. Why
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  Speaker 1: not start right now? So I want to hear from you.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think beating Georgia would be the biggest win
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: of John Summerall's young Florida career? Or do you think
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  Speaker 1: this turnaround is already happening regardless of what takes place
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: on Saturday? And more importantly, do you believe that Florida
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: can actually pull the upset? I cannot wait to watch.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys for tuning in, and I appreciate
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: PrizePix for all their support. Don't forget, guys, download the app.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: If you're a new user, play a $ 5 lineup and
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: use our code. It's HMA. If you win, you'll get
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: $ 150 in lineups instantly. Make sure you guys are subscribed
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: to the channel. I've got tons of new content coming
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: your way this week. It is a rivalry week. We're
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: gonna be here every single day. As always, go Gators.