SEC PREVIEWS: Lot on the line for UGA, UF in Jacksonville today; Auburn travels to Ole Miss

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Georgia’s slide happened in September. Florida’s plunge came in October.

Now, they’re out of the national championship picture, out of the polls and nearly out of chances to make the season special.

But thanks to the SEC’s topsy-turvy Eastern Division, though, both remain in the hunt for a spot in the league title game — at least until after today.

When the Bulldogs (4-4, 3-3 SEC) and Gators (4-3, 2-3) meet in Jacksonville for the 75th time in the last 78 years, it will essentially be an elimination game in the East. Sure, the loser still will be technically alive in the division race. But it would need plenty of help down the stretch to get to Atlanta.

“If we don’t win this game, then we’re going to be in a lot of … there’s going to be a lot of disappointed faces,” Florida center Mike Pouncey said. “We really need this win.”

Even though the Gators have won 17 of the last 20 in the series, they seem to be the more desperate team.

Florida has lost three consecutive games for the first time since 1999, a slump that dropped coach Urban Meyer’s team from the rankings, left his staff searching for answers to its inept offense and had most of college football wondering what happened to a program that won two of the last four national championships.

“People like for us to lose, people like us to be down,” safety Ahmad Black said. “Everybody’s bashing us right now.”

The Gators, coming off a bye week, spent the extra time evaluating their offensive problems. The unit ranks ninth in the SEC and 89th in the nation.

Meyer blamed the “severe issues” on turnovers, a lack of big plays, dropped passes, missed blocking assignments and inefficiency in the red zone.

“It doesn’t look like us out there,” he said.

But can the Gators really fix their problems in two weeks?

“We have modified quite a bit,” Meyer said.

Meyer is 31-3 in his coaching career, including 15-1 at Florida, with more than a week to prepare. His record includes season openers, bowls and games after open dates. He’s 2-0 against the Bulldogs with an extra week.

Not coincidentally, Georgia’s last win in the series (2007) followed a bye week.

“If you’re going to try to make a fairly radical change, that’s the time to do it,” Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said. “I’m not saying they’re going to do that.

“But you can definitely do a lot more in an open date because you have more time to think things though and then you have more time to prepare your players and get the reps that you might need if you’re going to make a change. … We know that there may be a little bit different look, and we’re trying to predict what the new looks might be.”

Chris Rainey will be one wrinkle. Rainey was suspended the last five games after he was charged with aggravated stalking. Meyer partially reinstated Rainey two weeks ago — after the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor — then cleared him to play Thursday.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, could have a different look at tailback. Starter Washaun Ealey sprained a ligament in his right knee last week and has been slowed in practice since. Caleb King, coming off a two-game suspension for failing to take care of a speeding ticket, could play a pivotal role against the Gators.

Georgia doesn’t want to change much else. After a four-game losing streak early in the season, the Bulldogs have won three straight conference games to get back in the mix in the East.

With quarterback Aaron Murray playing efficient and error-free, and receiver A.J. Green back from a four-game suspension, the Bulldogs have averaged 42.7 points during their winning streak — more than Florida has scored (42 points) in its losing streak.

“All the things we’ve been doing the last three weeks we want to continue to do,” Richt said. “We’ve grabbed a lot of positive momentum and we just want to keep it going.”

If so, the Bulldogs could end up salvaging what looked like a lost season and getting to Atlanta for a shot at something special.

If not, the Gators would get a chance to turn things around and possibly win the East for a third straight year.

“The moment I put the standings of the SEC East and they (saw) what’s going on … it lifted my spirits and I think it lifted a lot of guys’ spirits around here,” Meyer said.

———————-

AUBURN TRIES TO STAY PERFECT AT OLE MISS:

OXFORD, Miss. — Now what, Auburn?

The third-ranked Tigers have taken over the coveted but precarious top spot in the BCS standings going into Saturday’s game at Mississippi. Occupants of college football’s penthouse, No. 1 either in the polls or the BCS, have stumbled three weeks running.

Auburn (8-0, 5-0 SEC) is hardly resigned to the fate of Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

“If we do our job, we can cut that statistic out,” quarterback Cam Newton said. “Our coaches do an excellent job of preparing us for our games, so we won’t have the coaches to blame. It’s going to be up to us as players to be able to come in and know their weakness and know what they’re good at and be able to attack them in every single direction.”

The Tigers are trying to keep it about football, not national title positioning or the considerable Heisman Trophy hoopla swirling around Newton. The Rebels (3-4, 1-3), meanwhile, can play the spoiler’s role possibly on both counts after dropping two straight games.

They are modest seven-point underdogs despite coming off back-to-back road losses to No. 6 Alabama and No. 19 Arkansas to start the SEC West’s version of murderer’s row. Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt has thrived in this role during his career, upsetting five teams ranked in the top 5 (in 14 tries) — all when Nutt’s team was unranked. That includes a 50-48 triple-overtime win over No. 1 LSU in 2007.

The Rebels finally get to take on one of those Top 25 West teams at home.

“They know who they are playing,” Nutt said. “Their name is going to be across ESPN and every station, so they know that. But I’m more concerned about us. I’m more concerned about us eliminating mistakes, taking care of the ball, everybody knowing who to block. Let’s be better fundamental tacklers. Let’s play a full 60-minute game and get our kicking game right.

“There’s more concentration on that,” Nutt said, “because no matter who you play in this league, you’d better be ready.”

The Tigers haven’t put any SEC team away before the fourth quarter. They’ve eked out three-point wins in each of their first two league road games, at Mississippi State and Kentucky.

Oklahoma debuted atop the BCS rankings, a week after Ohio State’s cameo leading the Top 25. Before that, defending national champion Alabama’s run ended with a loss at South Carolina.

With a No. 1 BCS ranking for the first time, it’s Auburn’s turn to become the target. There’s no more hiding for a team that has ridden Newton on a surprising surge up the rankings.

“Everybody reads it, everybody sees it and everybody hears it,” Tigers coach Gene Chizik said. “We fully expect to get everybody’s best shot.”

Chizik’s players insist they’re not getting caught up in rankings.

“It doesn’t matter after Week 8 if you’re No. 1,” Newton said. “There’s only one week it really matters, and that’s at the end of the year. It’s kind of pointless for us even to be talking about it.”

But as Chizik pointed out, there’s no escaping it.

If staying focused and levelheaded is Auburn’s biggest challenge, stopping Newton has to be tops for the Rebels. They rank last in the SEC in scoring defense and 101st nationally. Auburn brings the league’s most potent offense and hottest quarterback, who just torched LSU and the league’s top defense for 217 yards rushing and already has more this season than any SEC quarterback in history.

“He’s a triple threat all the way around because of handing off, running, throwing,” Nutt said. “To me, he has brought the offense alive because you have that type of weapon back there and leader and all the other intangibles.

“He’s just been awesome.”

The Rebels counter with their own dual-threat quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli, and a dose of the option. He’s one of only four quarterbacks nationally averaging at least 180 yards passing and 50 rushing.

“He’s a guy that’s fun to watch,” Newton said. “Just what he can do, it’s a scare for defenders and for me just looking out on the field.”

Neither defense will rest easy when the opposing quarterback can’t find an open receiver.

“They can give you a lot of problems just by their ability to make things happen when maybe something isn’t necessarily there,” Chizik said. “They both do that.”