ATHENS — This is not the first time that Georgia has wondered whether or not it will face Aaron Philo in a game.
Back during the 2024 season, Georgia had to prepare to face the local product who set state passing records at Prince Avenue Christian School and Haynes King when the two were at Georgia Tech.
Philo ended up not playing in that game, as the Yellow Jackets nearly rode King to an upset win over Georgia. The Bulldogs were ultimately able to prevail in a 44-42 eight-overtime victory.
Philo is now at Florida after he followed offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner from Atlanta to Gainesville, Florida.
The Gators started Philo for the first six games of the season. He threw for nine touchdowns to just three interceptions while adding three rushing touchdowns.
But Philo missed Florida’s most recent game, an upset win over Texas. Tramell Jones started in his place, engineering a 27-24 win. He threw for 150 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 41 yards on 10 carries.
In no small part due to how Jones sparked the Florida offense in the win, there are plenty of questions about which quarterback Georgia will see.
Philo missed the Texas game due to a shoulder injury, while Sumrall noted that Jones picked up a few bumps and bruises in what was his first-ever collegiate start.
The first-year Florida coach didn’t name a starter when speaking to the media on Monday morning.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart knows that regardless of who plays, they’re more than capable.
“Both very talented,” Smart said. “One beat Ole handily. One beat Texas on the road. They’re both completely capable good players. Known about both of them for a long time. In terms of their ability, they’re both plenty capable, especially in Buster’s offense.”
Sumrall did note on Monday that the Florida offense shouldn’t be significantly impacted by his decision on who starts.
“The offense doesn’t change really with one or the other. I mean, Tramell, Philo both have similar skillsets,” Sumrall said. “One may do one thing a little better, one may do the other thing a little bit better. It’s not like they’re drastically different players where you’re playing with a true run-threat quarterback that can’t throw it, and then you have another guy that’s a pocket passer that can’t run. They’re both skill sets that have more similarities and differences.”
Georgia has had some issues of late when it comes to defending running quarterbacks. Auburn’s Byrum Brown ran for 115 yards and a touchdown against Georgia, with the Tigers springing a 27-24 upset win in Athens.
Florida, with Philo at quarterback, scored 44 points in a win over Auburn earlier this season.
Both teams did have this past week off, allowing both sides to get healthier. That helps give Philo more time to recover from an injury he first suffered against South Carolina.
As for Georgia, it opens the possibility of getting safety KJ Bolden back from injury. He did not play in the loss against Auburn.
“We had good practices all week last week, and then leading into this week, we’ll find out more about where they are today and through the injury report information we have,” Smart said. “But our team, not our team, but some of our players needed recovery more than they needed just to get better. We all need to get better, but we’ve got some guys that need to get well and get healthy. Hopefully we’re able to do that some.”
The Bulldogs have won five consecutive games against Florida, with the last loss to the rival Gators coming back in 2020. Georgia had to play multiple quarterbacks in that loss, as Stetson Bennett suffered a shoulder injury early in the game.
Saturday’s game against Florida is set for a 3:30 p.m. start on ABC. This will be the first time the rivalry game is played in Atlanta.
