After a tough loss to LSU, the Georgia Bulldogs are hoping to bounce back against the Florida Gators. Can Georgia’s offensive line hold up against Florida’s intimidating pass rushers?
With a handful of teams not playing this weekend, all eyes will be on Saturday biggest game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators in Jacksonville. Plenty of eyes in NFL draft circles will be keeping an eye on Florida’s pass rushers.
Expectations are still as high as ever for Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs, with the team hoping to make another College Football Playoff run. They will now be facing an uphill battle, however, after falling to the LSU Tigers in embarrassing fashion, losing 36-16.
One of the big storylines from that game was how much the Bulldogs struggled to keep pressure away from quarterback Jake Fromm. The Tigers finished with four sacks and two QB hurries in the game. Fromm had arguably the worst game of his career, going just 16-of-34 for 209 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
Losing offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn to the NFL this offseason definitely didn’t help, and now opposing teams are realizing that in order to beat Georgia, they’re going to need to get in the face of Fromm.
That’s a good sign for Gators fans, because their pass rush has looked formidable so far in 2018. Florida currently ranks tied for 18th in the nation with 21 sacks in seven games, in large part thanks to the work of future NFL edge rusher Jachai Polite.
Florida DE Jachai Polite was turning it upppppp in the 2nd half! pic.twitter.com/ng1Wl8saDM
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) September 30, 2018
A promising speed rusher, Polite has already racked up seven sacks and four forced fumbles this season. The Gators have a number of other talented players that can get to the quarterback in that front seven, including the likes of Cece Jefferson and Jabari Zuniga.
There are more than a few matchups to watch in this game, especially when it’s a contest of two top-10 teams. However, if the Gators can consistently get to Fromm and make him uncomfortable, they should have a legitimate chance to pull out a win and take control of their destiny in the SEC.