GAINESVILLE, Fla. –
Dan Mullen and Urban Meyer are forever linked on the game's coaching tree. They first worked together on Bob Davie's Notre Dame staff in 1999 and later made stops together at Bowling Green and Utah prior to winning a pair of national titles at Florida.
Twenty years later, Mullen has quickly resurrected the Gators the way Meyer did. Mullen has won 17 of his first 21 games as Florida's head coach – the same record Meyer posted in his first 21 games after he took over the program in 2005 and brought Mullen along as his offensive coordinator.
When the No. 6 Gators (7-1, 4-1) face No. 8 Georgia (6-1, 3-1) on Saturday in Jacksonville, the clash stands as the biggest game yet for Mullen in his two seasons back in "The Swamp." While Mullen has many similarities to Meyer when the headsets go on, they differ as team leaders.
A psychology major as an undergraduate at the University of Cincinnati, Meyer often played mind games with his teams as a means of motivation. Meyer's methods produced results. He was at his best in rivalry games, going 16-2 against Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State.
Mullen majored in education at Ursinus College and takes a different approach that works for him.
Mullen is 3-1 against those schools since returning to UF, his only loss a 36-17 defeat to Georgia last year that knocked Florida from contention to win the SEC East. With Saturday's winner set to move into the driver's seat in the division and a potential berth in the SEC Championship Game, Mullen was asked this week if he would perhaps dip into Meyer's motivational playbook.
"Nah, I don't have to,'' he said.
Mullen then expounded.
"This is a big game,'' he said. "If our guys aren't juiced to play in the game, they've got problems. You come to Florida to play in big games, to play in rivalry games like this. If I have to go motivate our team, it ain't much of a rivalry game then."
Valid point.
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In Florida's most important game in the national championship conversation since a loss to the Bulldogs seven years ago when it entered with a 7-0 record and No. 3 national ranking, Mullen's message appears to have resonated with his target audience.
The Gators don't need post-it notes in their lockers to understand what's at stake.
"If you can't show up in this type of game, it's just disappointing for you as a team,'' junior cornerback
Marco Wilson said.
Graduate transfer defensive lineman
Jonathan Greenard, set to return to the lineup after missing the South Carolina game and most of the LSU game due to a high-ankle sprain, wasn't around for last year's game against the Bulldogs. He was injured and out for the season for Louisville.
He transferred to Florida to have an opportunity to play in games like this.
"This game changes everything,'' Greenard said. "If we win, we get where we want to be. We just got to do our job from that point on. We lose, it makes it that much harder, and the place we want to go, that window gets very slim."
For the Gators, a victory Saturday earns them more respect nationally and a clear road to Atlanta if they can defeat Vanderbilt at home and win at Missouri in their final two SEC games. If they were win out in the conference, that would mean a potential rematch with No. 1-ranked LSU or matchup against No. 2 Alabama for the conference title at Mercedes-Benz Stadium the first Saturday in December. LSU and Alabama play next week.
First, the Bulldogs must be tamed.
Georgia has won the last two meetings between the border rivals and has outscored the Gators 78-24. In last season's loss, the Gators led 14-13 in the third quarter before turnovers doomed Florida, which allowed the Bulldogs to score 23 of the game's final 26 points.
The urgency level in Athens this week is the same as at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. This is the first time since the 1983-84 seasons that both schools are ranked in the top 10 in back-to-back seasons at the time of their meeting. The Bulldogs bounced back from an overtime loss to South Carolina with a home win over Kentucky two weeks ago, keeping their division hopes intact.
The consensus SEC East favorite at the start of the season, Georgia remains the favorite Saturday despite recent inconsistency on offense. Head coach Kirby Smart is 2-1 against the Gators since taking over the Bulldogs in 2016 and having played in the rivalry as well as a Georgia defensive back, he shares a similar view as Mullen on the game standing on its own merit.
"You've got so much at stake," Smart said. "I really don't think it would matter if was about the SEC East or not. It's Georgia-Florida. That, in and of itself, carries a lot of weight. The game, the history, the tradition, the fact that you've got a Hall of Fame for the game alone and players can be remembered for their performances."
With Greenard and fellow defensive end
Jabari Zuniga back from injury, the UF defense is better equipped for the challenge of limiting a Bulldogs offense averaging 36 points and 471.3 yards per game behind quarterback Jake Fromm and running back D'Andre Swift.
Not letting Swift, a 5-foot-9, 215-pound junior averaging 6.8 yards per carry, get cranked up behind Georgia's offensive line is a key concern for Florida.
"He was a great recruit out of high school," Mullen said. "He plays with speed, he plays with power, and he has the quickness to go make you miss. If you've got one guy there, he can make the one guy miss. Or he can run him over or he can run away from him. You've got to bring a bunch of guys to the party if you're going to tackle him."
Offensively, the Gators have junior receiver
Kadarius Toney back in the mix. Toney has missed the last six games due to a shoulder injury but returned to practice during the bye week. Toney provides another weapon for quarterback
Kyle Trask, who has passed for 1,391 yards, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Trask has not played in a Florida-Georgia game. His first one has the feel of a playoff game in the division and national championship race.
"It very well could be,'' he said.
As the Gators attempt to climb another step on the ladder back to national prominence, they are following Mullen's lead.
"He told us he knows how to win and he's proven it to us," cornerback
CJ Henderson said. "You don't get these opportunities always, so we've got to take advantage of it. We've got a chance to make the SEC Championship. It starts with this game."
What more motivation do they need?Â
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