Bulldogs Beat

Florida’s firepower too much for Georgia as Gators roll in critical SEC East showdown

By Jed May
Jacksonville, Fla.

It appears offenses have finally caught up to Georgia’s defense.

That’s a phenomenon that’s been brewing for a while. LSU sliced and diced the Bulldogs in last season’s SEC Championship Game, and Alabama did the same three weeks ago to a unit hailed as one of the nation’s best.

The offensive overtaking of defense has never been more evident than on Saturday afternoon in Jacksonville, where an explosive passing attack from Florida (4-1) paired with a banged-up Georgia defense to shred the Bulldogs (4-2) and hand them their second loss of the season by a score of 44-28.

Georgia jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first 3:16 of the game. Redshirt sophomore running back Zamir White got the game going with a 75-yard touchdown jaunt on the game’s opening play, and the Bulldogs followed with a 32-yard scoring strike from junior quarterback Stetson Bennett to freshman receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, who suffered a nasty leg injury on the play.

After that, however, Florida’s offense erupted.

The Gators answered with touchdown drives of 75 and 80 yards to tie the score at 14. After a Georgia pick-six from junior cornerback Eric Stokes, Florida scored the final 24 points of the half to take a 38-21 lead into intermission.

Florida outgained Georgia 411 to 166 in the first half, including a 341-75 advantage in the passing game. Meanwhile, Georgia’s offense mustered just 30 yards after scoring on its first two possessions.

The defense held up better after halftime, albeit with much of the intensity taken out of the game. A quarterback switch from Bennett to redshirt freshman D’Wan Mathis provided a bit of a spark, as the signal-caller fired his first career touchdown, but it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs limped to the blowout loss carrying the weight of even more questions at the quarterback position.

The defeat also makes it very unlikely for Georgia to claim its fourth straight SEC East title. Unless the Bulldogs win out and Florida loses two of its final five games, the team will be watching the title game from their couches.

Georgia-Florida: Stars of the game

Kyle Trask — Trask took advantage of a depleted Georgia secondary, basically completing passes at will in the first half. He connected on 20-of-26 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns in the first 30 minutes, making several perfect throws against tight Georgia coverage to create big plays. He finished 30-of-43 for 474 yards, his career high and the most Georgia has allowed in the Kirby Smart era, as well as a record for a Florida quarterback against Georgia. Trask also recorded his fifth straight game with at least four touchdowns.

Kyle Pitts — Florida’s outstanding junior pass catcher exited the game in the first half after taking a massive hit from sophomore Georgia safety Lewis Cine that earned a targeting flag. Still, just his presence in the first half attracted plenty of attention and allowed other Gators to make plays through the air. He still got his, though, as one of his catches went for a touchdown and another set up a Florida score.

Kemore Gamble — Pitts’ understudy still hurt the Bulldogs through the air. He recorded three catches for 51 yards, adding a touchdown to his resume as well.

What’s up next

The Bulldogs play away from Athens for the third straight week when they travel to Missouri to face the Tigers next Saturday. With another SEC East title seemingly a long shot. We’ll see how much energy the team brings to an 11 a.m. local kickoff.

Georgia Florida scoring plays, stats

First Quarter

UGA—Z.White 75 run (Podlesny kick), 14:48.

UGA—Rosemy-Jacksaint 32 pass from Bennett (Podlesny kick), 11:44.

FLA—Shorter 14 pass from Trask (McPherson kick), 8:20.

FLA—Pierce 2 run (McPherson kick), 1:43.

Second Quarter

UGA—Stokes 37 interception return (Podlesny kick), 12:17.

FLA—K.Pitts 25 pass from Trask (McPherson kick), 11:38.

FLA—Gamble 24 pass from Trask (McPherson kick), 7:44.

FLA—FG McPherson 50, 1:44.

FLA—Grimes 14 pass from Trask (McPherson kick), :11.

Third Quarter

FLA—FG McPherson 51, 11:48.

UGA—Ke.Jackson 25 pass from Mathis (Podlesny kick), :41.

Fourth Quarter

FLA—FG McPherson 34, 1:19.

Attendance—19,210.

  • First downs: UF 29-12
  • Total yards: UF 571-277
  • Time of possession: UF 37:26 to 22:34

RUSHING—Florida, Pierce 15-52, M.Davis 9-21, E.Jones 2-17, Wright 5-15, (Team) 1-(minus 1), Toney 3-(minus 2), Trask 2-(minus 5). Georgia, Z.White 7-107, Cook 6-26, Milton 2-18, Mathis 7-11, Bennett 3-6, Burton 2-3, (Team) 2-(minus 6).

PASSING—Florida, Trask 30-43-1-474. Georgia, Bennett 5-16-1-78, Mathis 4-13-2-34.

RECEIVING—Florida, Toney 7-42, M.Davis 5-100, Wright 3-71, Gamble 3-51, Shorter 3-32, K.Pitts 2-59, Pierce 2-41, Grimes 2-27, Whittemore 2-12, Zipperer 1-39. Georgia, Ke.Jackson 3-48, Cook 3-17, Rosemy-Jacksaint 1-32, Burton 1-8, Z.White 1-7.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—Florida, McPherson 44.

Georgia football 2020 schedule

This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 12:32 PM.

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