Florida plans to pressure Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton

Florida coach Billy Gonzales said his Gators are bringing energy to their preparation for their annual rivalry game with Georgia in the wake of Billy Napier’s firing on Sunday.

“They were excited about just getting on the field, getting back on the grass, and it went well,” said Gonzales, who has been promoted from receivers coach into the interim head coaching role.

“So, we’re obviously getting ready for this week’s game, and guys are working hard right now.”

Florida opened as a 7 1/2-point favorite, but the line has dipped to 7 points, an indication that the majority of the early money is being bet on the Gators in their 3:30 p.m. game against the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs on Saturday in Jacksonville.

Gonzales wasn’t shy about how Florida planned to attack Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, who has led Georgia to a 6-1 start that’s including a 4-1 mark in SEC play.

It’s a Florida defense that sacked Texas quarterback Arch Manning six times in a 29-21 win over a Longhorns team that was ranked No. 9 at the time of the teams’ meeting, on Oct. 4.

“I’m looking at some of the stats, you know, we just got done talking about completion percentage, and looking at his last game (Stockton) was 26 of 31 for four touchdowns, so he does a great job of making great decisions,” Gonzales said at his press conference on Monday, referencing Stockton’s performance in his most recent outing, a 43-35 win over Ole Miss.

“The main thing is for us is to hopefully be able to cause some pressure to him, and to cause pressure means being able to coverage in the back end as well.”

Gonzales knows Stockton has plenty of help, too, starting with playmaking receiver Zachariah Branch, UGA’s clear No. 1 target with a team-high 35 receptions for 362 yards.

He’s extremely explosive …. watching him on film, he’s a guy that you can get the ball and he’s quick,” Gonzales said. “He’s got a great first step, accelerates from zero to five extremely fast. A playmaker. They’ve got a bunch on the perimeter.”

It will be the Bulldogs first game without receiver Colbie Young, who suffered a fractured leg on the opening series of UGA’s win over Ole Miss and is out indefinitely.

Georgia acquired Texas A&M transfer Noah Thomas through the transfer portal and he’s considered among the top options to replace Young as a perimeter threat, despite his relatively limited production (4 catches, 54 yards) to this point of the season.

Smart indicated the Bulldogs have several other options, including the usage of additional tight ends in various alignments.

“We know about their tight ends — they’ve had some good tight ends there,” Gonzales said.

“They’ve got some great athletes.”

Gonzales also noted how Georgia backs Chauncey Bowens and Nate Frazier are of similar size and production and run behind a big offensive line.

“They’ve got some playmakers on the perimeter,” Gonzales said, “but I know we’ve got some great players on the defensive side that are excited to go against them as well.”