Georgia-Florida Rivalry Faces Change as Game Returns to Jacksonville in 2028
ATHENS – Jordan Hall is accustomed to things moving around when Georgia and Florida are involved.
The defensive tackle,and Jacksonville,Florida native,used to have to play high school games on Thursday as of the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
“I grew up a Bama fan,so the rivalry really didn’t mean much to me until I got to high school as we had to play all our games on Thursday because they needed,like,more security at the stadium around Friday and on the game on Saturday because tailgating is crazy,” Hall said. “So that’s really one of the biggest things.”
Saturday’s game between Georgia and Florida will be played in Jacksonville, taking place for the final time in EverBank Stadium. The city has already started a massive renovation on the stadium and surrounding area, projected to cost over $1.4 billion and finish in August of 2028.
The project will move the series for the next two seasons. The 2026 game will be played in Atlanta, while the 2027 game moves to Tampa. The series will return to Jacksonville in 2028.
From a Georgia perspective, Saturday’s game is the end of an era. But much like the construction around the stadium, Florida is already looking to tear down what had been built and move on to something better.
Florida fired Billy Napier following the team’s last game. Interim coach Billy Gonzales, who has worked at Florida for three different head coaches, takes over for now.
Gonzales will be the fourth different coach Smart has faced off against since he took over the Georgia job in 2016. Since his arrival, Smart has flipped the rivalry, going 7-2 in his time in charge. He’s outlasted both Napier and Dan Mullen and ensured that no player experiences the agony of losing to florida as often as Smart did as a player.
“Coach Smart has done a great job of implementing how much this rivalry means,” Hall said. “Coach Schumann put up an edit inside a team meeting room when Coach Smart first got here. He asked all the guys in the room, ‘Who all in here has beaten Florida?’ I think one person stood up. So since then I guess it’s been a big deal when it comes to Coach Smart implementing how much this rivalry means to him because he lost to Florida a lot when he was here.”
Even with an eye to the future, for both programs, it’s clear this rivalry and Saturday’s game mean a great deal to both sides.
For Florida, this game is its Super bowl. No game will matter more to this team than the Georgia contest.
As for Smart’s team, it’s the chance to go out as a winner in this version of the stadium and continue on the team’s march back to the College Football playoff.
2025/10/31 03:51:49