Florida-ECU isn’t the marquee matchup of the bowl season by any means. ECU comes in with an 8-4 record, while the Gators are just a hair above .500 at 6-5.

Despite the mediocrity of these two teams throughout 2014, one of the best matchups up the season can be found within this game — All-American wide receiver and ECU senior Justin Hardy will be forced to go up against the vaunted Florida secondary.

Led by two-time All-American cornerback Vernon Hargreaves, the Gators have developed into one of the more suffocating secondaries in the SEC. Following a historically bad performance against Alabama in which the Gators allowed 449 passing yards and five passing touchdowns, Florida has pulled a complete 180-degree turn.

In the eight games following Alabama, the Gators have allowed more than 225 passing yards in a game only once and have achieved a touchdown to interception ratio of  5:9.

Hardy, on the other hand, is no slouch. Not only does he lead the nation with 9.2 receptions per game in 2014, but his 376 career receptions is the most ever in NCAA history. W

When the Gators faced another elite receiver earlier in the year — Alabama’s Amari Cooper — they struggled, to say the least. Cooper burned Florida on several big plays, en route to 10 receptions, 201 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

One aspect working in the Gators’ favor for Saturday is the differences in Hardy and Cooper. Not that Cooper isn’t great at everything, but it’s clear that his biggest strength is his speed — he can outrun anyone.

Hardy, however, is much more of a possession receiver — hence the career receptions record. In 2014, he has the second-most receptions nationally with 110 receptions, but he averages just 12.1 yards per reception, a good two yards less than Cooper. Also, Hardy’s longest reception of the season is just 38 yards.

With Hardy’s strengths lying in route running and possession, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the likes of Hargreaves and freshman corner Jalen Tabor doing their best to press Hardy at the line of scrimmage. Both Florida DBs are very physical at the line and trying to knock Hardy off of his route long enough at the initial start of the play may be Florida’s best bet to affect ECU’s Air Raid offense.

The emergence of Florida’s younger defensive backs should also work in the Gators favor. When Florida had that disastrous effort against the Crimson Tide, players like Tabor and fellow freshman Quincy Wilson had yet to really make an impact.

However, it was that game against Alabama that forced Muschamp to try some different things in the secondary, which led to more playing time for Tabor and Wilson. Despite being true freshman, those two have really solidified the Gators’ secondary and pass defense in the latter half of the 2014 season.

This should allow Florida the flexibility to throw multiple coverages at Hardy and not just stick Hargreaves on him every time. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Hardy still rack up several catches, given the sheer volume of passes ECU throws in one game.

But with the talent of the Gators’ secondary, I think Florida is more than capable of limiting Hardy from doing any real damage in Saturday’s game.