It’s fitting that the biggest game of the year in the SEC East will take place at the World’s Largest Cocktail Party. After all, at the final gun of Week 9’s rivalry contest between Florida and Georgia, we’ll likely know who to raise our glasses to as 2015’s presumptive division champion.

The pathway to representing the SEC East in the conference title game is one that is no stranger to this 93-game rivalry, which settled the division as recently as 2012, when Georgia upended No. 2 Florida. The Bulldogs (5-2, 3-2 SEC) enter this year’s tilt at Jacksonville’s EverBank Field trailing Jim McElwain’s program by a game in the standings.

The Florida-Georgia rivalry is one that has seen its share of dominating rushing performances and this year’s squads are no different — even without injured star running back Nick Chubb in the UGA lineup.

With both teams looking to establish the run — Florida with Kelvin Taylor and Georgia with a slightly-banged-up Sony Michel (hip pointer) — generating some offense in the passing game will be vital for a Bulldogs team that has struggled at times to move the ball in the air with Greyson Lambert. Defensively, Mark Richt’s squad needs to contain a speedy Gators offense that posts 31.6 points-per-game. That means getting some players healthy in Georgia’s linebacking corps.

Lambert (64.1 passing percentage) has struggled at times, but the Georgia wide receivers aren’t short on talent. They go up against a strong Florida secondary on a defense that returns seven players from last season, led by DB Vernon Hargreaves III.

“We like our receivers,” Richt said at his Tuesday press conference. “We know we have good route runners and some good speed. But these guys (Florida) have handled some of the best receivers in the league over time. And they’re very impressive with what they do. But there’s been times when balls have been caught on them. I mean, no one’s perfect. Our guys aren’t perfect; their guys aren’t perfect. So it will just get down to competition. I imagine there will be some plays we’ll make and there will be some plays they make. That’s kind of how games go and competition goes. But they are impressive. It does allow them to — if they choose to put a bunch in the box — to stop the run, they’ve got good reason to believe they can hold up on the edges. We’ll just see how they decide to play it.”

Malcolm Mitchell leads Georgia with 505 yards and four touchdowns. The senior is very familiar with stepping up and handling the Florida defense, as well as what will be a loud, raucous atmosphere. It was Mitchell who made an enormous 45-yard touchdown catch against Florida midway through the fourth quarter of that 2012 contest.

“From what I’ve seen on film, they don’t really highlight a receiver,” Mitchell said at Tuesday’s presser. “They just play their respective sides so I guess depending on the formation will depend on how much I get a chance to see (Hargreaves). I think he’s a great player. Obviously, he’s made a lot of great plays there and is considered one of the best in college football. It will be a good challenge and opportunity to compete with somebody like that.” Georgia should also benefit from the return of wideout Isaiah McKenzie, the team’s leading punt-returner (119, TD).

Georgia has its work cut out for them on the other side of the ball in stopping a Gator offense powered by quarterback Treon Harris. The sophomore has accounted for 90 percent of Florida’s offense this season, including 540 passing yards and no interceptions since taking over the full-time duties after the suspension of Will Grier.

Richt is hopeful the Bulldogs defense will return LB Jordan Jenkins and NT John Atkins to the lineup. Getting pressure on Harris will be vital and having Jenkins, who leads the team in sacks (3.0), tackles-for-loss (7.0) and quarterback hurries (9), would go a long way toward slowing Florida. The Georgia defense has been vulnerable of late to big plays in losses to Alabama and Tennessee. Still, Richt’s defense only yields an average of 187.0 YPG in the air.

Not helping matters for Georgia is a first-half suspension to DB Dominick Sanders, who is suspended for the first half after being ejected for targeting in Week 7 against Tennessee.
Ultimately, the game will come down to who can make plays (obviously) and who can stay the healthiest. That’s not something the bodes well for the Bulldogs, who are dealing with nagging injuries (Chubb, Jenkins, LB Reggie Carter) even after coming off a bye week.

Then again, it wouldn’t be a Georgia-Florida rivalry without some bruises. Fortunately, it’s the World’s Largest Cocktail Party. Someone’s bound to have some ice in a cooler.

FLORIDA GATORS CLOSER LOOK

Top returning player, offense: Kelvin Taylor, Jr., RB – The son of former NFL great Fred Taylor is 102 yards shy of eclipsing his 565 yards rushing from last season. Taylor has only gone over 100 yards rushing just twice in his career, but one of them was a 197-yard, two-touchdown performance against Georgia last season. The junior’s 568 all-purpose yards and eight touchdowns are both team highs.

Top returning player, defense: Antonio Morrison, Sr., LB – Antonio Morrison led the Gators with 101 tackles in 2014, but a knee injury suffered during Florida’s Birmingham Bowl win over East Carolina was thought to jeopardize his senior campaign this year. The linebacker proved all doubters wrong, leading the Gators this season in tackles with 54 take downs.

Top returning player, special teams: Brandon Powell, So., WR/KR – Brandon Powell leads Florida with 622 all-purpose yards. Of those yards, 315 have come on kick-returns, with another 294 coming on receptions. Despite the success in the return game, Powell is still looking for his first-career kick-return for a touchdown.