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Georgia Bulldogs Vs. Florida Gators: When Florida Has The Ball, Don't Sleep On Jeff Demps

BY THE NUMBERS
Florida's offense: Averaging 186.9 yards per game passing (82nd nationally), 142.1 yards rushing (74th).
Georgia's defense: Allowing 207.5 yards per game passing (57th), 99.3 yards rushing (12th).

REASONS TO BE EXCITED
You thought Georgia's offense was a mess without A.J. Green? Florida has all their playmakers on the field and they still can't get out of their own way, posting the worst numbers the Gators have seen since Urban Meyer's first year in Gainesville. One of the primary problems seems to be that they're trying to cram the square peg of John Brantley into the round hole left by Tim Tebow, but Brantley just doesn't have Tebow's wheels (he's got 35 rushes on the season for a net -52 yards) or his passing ability, at least at the moment. Really, none of Florida's playmakers have been put to anywhere near their best use by the current game plan, which is the reason offensive coordinator Steve Addazio might be the most despised man in Gainesville right now.

REASONS TO BE WORRIED
They haven't been put to their best use, but there's no denying there's still plenty of talent on this offense, particularly at running back. Jeff Demps, still the Gators' leading rusher despite nursing a bum wheel the past few weeks, has had a bye week to heal up and stands to be a big part of the game plan on Saturday; despite Urban Meyer's transparent misdirection tactics, expect Chris Rainey, suspended from team activities since the "Time to die" text-message incident a few weeks ago, to return as well. Meyer has a history of using these bye weeks to draw up new wrinkles for the game plan, particularly when his back is up against the wall to whatever extent, so there are bound to be at least a few surprises in store for the Dawgs -- one of which might be Trey Burton, who established himself as an intriguing change-of-pace option at QB (and, potentially, the Tim Tebow that Brantley just can't ever be) after shredding Kentucky for five rushing TDs a month ago. With Georgia currently giving up third-down conversions by the bucketload -- albeit mostly via the pass -- they just can't take anything for granted no matter how rickety the Gator offense appears.

KEY MATCHUP
Georgia LB Akeem Dent vs. Florida RB Jeff Demps. 
Dent has emerged as one of the most ferocious linebackers in the country -- he's currently second in the SEC in tackles with 77, and has also notched 2.5 sacks -- and is a big part of the reason why Georgia's run defense has improved so dramatically over the past month. Of course, another big part of that improvement involves Georgia having the good fortune to go up against mediocre running games for three straight weeks. Florida's ground game is statistically mediocre as well, but Demps has still managed to average 6.5 yards per carry, and he stands to be a focal point of whatever trickery Urban Meyer cooked up over the Gators' bye week. Demps has been a versatile (if underused) component in the passing game, which should worry a Georgia defensive unit that has been flat miserable on third-down conversions this year.

Photographs by coka_koehler used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.