ATHENS - This top-25 matchup between Georgia football and the Florida Gators will be one for the history books. Not only will the game be played in Atlanta, but it will be the first game against Georgia for new Florida football head coach Jon Sumrall.

That's where Georgia's major advantage comes into play. Kirby Smart knows this game. He knows the rivalry, and he's owned it with an impressive 8-2 record. And due to player retention, most of Smart's roster has experience playing not only in this rivalry, but in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. If there was ever a true home-field advantage the Bulldogs would ever have in this rivalry, this is it.

"Half our roster has never been in this game. Most of their roster has because they've done a good job of layering. Our roster, there's a lot of guys playing Saturday that I'm teaching them what this game needs to mean to us. We haven't had a recent history of the success we need to have in this rivalry to make it as competitive as it should be."

In case you were wondering, he Dawgs lead the all-time series 58–44–2. But that has bothing to do with Sumrall. This is his first experience coaching in one of the best rivarlries in the game. If Florida wants to leave town with a win, Sumrall knows hiw team needs to be at their best.

"We have to play our best to have a shot in this one," Sumrall said. "You don't see weakness. It's year 11 for Kirby there. You can tell they have layered development. They've recruited great players and they've done that year-in and year-out for the entire time he's been there. It's been built over time. It's a big-time game, as we all know. Florida-Georgia is different. Anybody that says otherwise is insane. So it's the task of helping our guys embrace what the rivalry and the history of it is - because it is different. It's different for both fan bases. It's what makes college football great."

For the Gators, their big challenge is to play with discipline. This is an extremely heated rivarly, and with their backs against the wall, they'll have to keep their composure if things don't go their way. They're one of the more penalized teams in the league and rank 104th overall across the country.

This is a new environment, a new challenge, and a different rivarly for a lot of the Gator coaches and players. That matters. In a possible road-game environment, playing the underdog role, with a new staff and roster, that's a lot to overcome. The Bulldogs have several advantages in this one, but one of them is clearly the experience and familiarity of what they're heading into this weekend.