GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Five games left this season for the Gators, all but one against a conference rival.
While this may not appear to be the most difficult part of Florida’s season, as only two of those teams are ranked, it is by far the most important. The Gators can’t let a loss in Baton Rouge define their season.
“Coming from a loss, a lot of people think we have our heads down, but we know that game, like [head] Coach [Dan] Mullen said, was just a fun game,” said receiver Trevon Grimes. “But this game is very much more important. We have to come out there, come out fast and do what we do, play Gator football, come out victorious and onto the next game.”
The most challenging game left on Florida’s schedule is, no surprise here, Georgia. But it’s important to remember the Bulldogs also just took their first loss of the season, and it carried a lot more weight than Florida’s.
Not only did they lose to an unranked South Carolina team whose record was 2-3 going into that game, they lost at home between the hedges.
That South Carolina team is next on the slate for the Gators, and they need to bounce back from the LSU loss and reel in a “W,” if they want a chance to play for the SEC title in Atlanta this year.
“This one loss doesn’t determine our season,” said receiver Van Jefferson. “We still control our own destiny, so you know we just gotta keep our heads up and keep going.”
And controlling their destiny starts with a win in Columbia. After that, they’ll have a bye week to rest up and get healthy again before heading to Jacksonville to take on Kirby Smart and his Bulldogs.
“We gotta put it behind us quick, cause you know we got South Carolina that beat a good Georgia team so I think we just gotta get ready for them and, you know, do the little things in practice that’s gonna make us better,” said Jefferson.
If Florida and Georgia both win the remainder of their games, it’s likely that the SEC East will be decided by that game in Jacksonville. That starts by not letting history repeat itself.
After a tough loss to the Bulldogs last year, the Gators allowed it to turn into two losses. The next week, an unranked Missouri team beat Florida by 21 points in the Swamp - that can’t happen after this LSU loss.
“Seeing it last year, knowing the feeling of how that affected our season, really we can’t let that happen again this year,” said guard Brett Heggie.
It all comes back around to mindset and morale. They have to go into this South Carolina game not thinking about the loss in Death Valley, but instead what’s on the line if they can get that win. They should look at the game this weekend as a chance to reset and get back on track for these last few games.
“As a senior, as a collective, all seniors are gonna take it upon themselves to get guys back going. Don’t let this one loss defeat us,” said Jefferson.
