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Gators, Dawgs battle inconsistency, each other today

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Joe Haden's interception and return helped turn last year's Florida-Georgia contest into a rout.

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By DAVID JONES/Florida Today

Published: October 31, 2009

JACKSONVILLE When you are unbeaten but struggling in some areas, what better motivation to clean it up and play better than to face a bitter rival?

Florida (7-0, 5-0 SEC) has a nation-leading 17-game winning streak and continues to have one of the best defenses in the nation. But offensively, the Gators are struggling in the red zone, have too many turnovers and even 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow hasn't looked especially impressive in recent weeks.

It's a Florida team that some think is overrated. At the same time, the Gators face a Georgia team that has been inconsistent. In which team will the tension of playing a rival bring out the best? We'll find out at 3:30 p.m. today at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

"They are very, very talented," Georgia coach Mark Richt said of the UF defense. "(Gators defensive coordinator) Charlie (Strong) does a great job coaching them up. They are difficult to deal with. They've got guys at just about every spot that are better than the average bears. They are just going to be a great challenge for us, no doubt."

Richt hopes to keep his offense out of obvious passing downs and realizes the Gators are a team you can't fall behind against early.

"The biggest concern is to (avoid getting) into a situation where they know you have to throw in order to succeed," Richt said. "That's when things get very, very difficult to protect. And it's difficult to move the ball when there's no threat of a run."

The Bulldogs have been impressive at times and have struggled at others.

"This season we've been up and down, there's no doubt about that," Richt said. "We haven't played really that consistently well in really any game. The game we came closest to putting it all together was Vanderbilt (where the) offense, defense, special teams I thought did pretty darn good overall. But all the other games, we've had one unit do well and the other unit not do so well. That's been the story of the season for us."

Georgia (4-3, 3-2) beat the Commodores 34-10 before having an open date last week. Richt has spent much of that time watching Tebow, who had a pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns in last week's 29-19 victory at Mississippi State.

"I've said Tebow is one of the finest players in college football, and my opinion of him hasn't changed a bit," Richt said.

This is a special game for the senior because it will be his last college game in his hometown as a Gator.

"When you're playing a rivalry game, it doesn't matter the record, it doesn't matter the stats, it doesn't matter where you're ranked," Tebow said. "Everybody's going to go out there and they're going to play their best in this game. It'll be exciting. It'll be passionate. It'll be hard-hitting. It'll be a tough game."

Last week, Tebow tied former Georgia star Herschel Walker with his 49th career rushing touchdown. He can break Walker's career SEC mark today against the Bulldogs.

"It's an honor to be even mentioned or tied with Herschel," Tebow said. "That's pretty cool, and it's actually very humbling and when you sit back to think about it, like, 'Wow, Herschel Walker, I'm tied with him.' ... To break (his record) versus Georgia would be really cool and special."

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