Georgia beats Florida, and takes control of the SEC East

For the second year in a row, the Georgia Bulldogs are victorious in Jacksonville, beating the rival Florida Gators 36-17. The final score looks a tad lopsided, but Florida was not as hapless as they were in the 2017 meeting. The Gators did fight, but faded in the end.

For the Dawgs, it was the story of getting results when they had to have them. While nine plays across three drives inside the Florida 7-yard line yielded only nine points, the Dawgs did pull off four touchdowns on third down, two of which came on third-and-long. Georgia was clearly the better team in this Cocktail Party again. Now, UGA is firmly in the driver’s seat of the SEC East with Kentucky up next. A win by the Dawgs would just about book their ticket to the SEC title game.

Georgia 36, Florida 17

4:29: Georgia 36, Florida 17

Ball game.

The 33-yard touchdown run by Deandre Swift should just about do it for the Dawgs. All four Georgia touchdowns have now come on third down.

8:39: Georgia 29, Florida 17

The Dawgs have been excellent at keeping Florida at an arm’s reach all day. Every time the Gators get close, UGA answers the bell. They did so excellently here with this 24-yard touchdown pass from Jake Fromm to Terry Godwin.

11:12: Georgia 23, Florida 17

Gators chip away with a 42-yard field goal. It’s not a one-possession game again.

:07: Georgia 23, Florida 14

Somehow, Florida holds for a six-play goal line stand and limits the Dawgs to a field goal. If Florida is able to mount a comeback in this game, remember this:

4:05: Georgia 20, Florida 14

HUGE play by UGA. After a big punt by Georgia pins Florida in the shadow of its goalposts, Feleipe Franks is just trying to make a play but doesn’t succeed. A disastrous fumble has the Dawgs knocking on the door. It’s close, but was ruled a fumble on the field so would need more conclusive evidence than this to overturn anyway.

10:33: Georgia 20, Florida 14

A short-lived lead for the Dawgs as UGA drives right down the field and Jake Fromm throws this dart for a score.

Fromm loves finding Jeremiah Holloman in that end zone, it’s the second time they’ve hooked up in that corner.

13:35: Florida 14, Georgia 13

Say what you will about Feleipe Franks, but this throw to put Florida up a score shows what his arm can do when pocket conditions are perfect.

It’s on Georgia now to hassle Franks with more pressure. Let’s see what Kirby Smart can dial up. It’s the first time Florida’s led in this matchup in six quarters.

:02: Georgia 13, Florida 7

The Dawgs have some interesting clock management late in the second quarter. Georgia didn’t call a timeout after stopping Florida on a third down. Then they got the ball back and drove it all the way down to the 5-yard line with a bit of time and ran one play that failed. With six seconds left, the Dawgs arguably could have taken a quick shot to the end zone, but instead opt for the field goal.

We head into the break with UGA up six points.

:50: Georgia 10, Florida 7

Not sure if I’ve ever seen this. The punt hits the SkyCam wire and drops straight down. It’s ruled a re-kick.

9:57: Georgia 10, Florida 7

The Gators answer back with a long drive of their own, and Feleipe Franks plunges in for a short score.

But the play that set it up is an example of hard running by Florida running back Jordan Scarlett.

A separate angle showed Scarlett might have scored, but it didn’t matter as Franks plunged in on the next play. It was the end to a methodical drive by the Gators, and included a fourth down conversion to keep the chains movings due to a penalty. Georgia’s opening drive went 12 plays, Florida’s scoring drive went 14.

6:07: Georgia 10, Florida 0

This is the problem with giving pretty much any offense a short field. Florida turns the ball over on its first drive of the game, giving the Dawgs the ball on the 13-yard line. Three plays later:

This was third-and-long too, a question for the Dawgs coming in after Jake Fromm’s poor performance against LSU. So far, so good against UF.

8:11: Georgia 3, Florida 0

Dawgs get to the doorstep of the end zone, but Florida turns them back forcing a Rodrigo Blankenship field goal.

The world’s largest outdoor cocktail party is back, and for the first time in what seems like decades, it could have national championship game implications. No. 9 Georgia and No. 7 Georgia will meet on the sorta-neutral ground of Jacksonville Saturday. The winner will add another quality win to their College Football Playoff resume; the loser will be all but disqualified from the NCAA Championship race.

Both the Gators and Bulldogs stand at 6-1, locked in a three-way tie atop the SEC East with an upstart Kentucky team. Another defeat will push either somewhere to the middle of this year’s first CFP rankings (which come out Sunday), and the road up to the top four will be long, perilous, and potentially pointless — especially if that two-loss team can’t find an unlikely path to the SEC title game.

A win in northeastern Florida would set the stage for one of these teams to follow UGA’s path to the national championship. So who comes out on top?

The S&P+ ratings slot Georgia in as the nation’s No. 5 team, with Florida sliding in at No. 14. But the Gators have the more impressive resume thanks to wins over Mississippi State and the LSU team that just notched a 36-16 win over the Bulldogs. Florida’s got plenty of reasons to feel confident Saturday afternoon, and while UGA is no easy out, this could be another marquee win for Dan Mullen in his first season in Gainesville.

1) It’s Florida.

2) It’s Jacksonville, where good Bulldog football seasons go to die.

3) It’s Todd Grantham. How long can we continue to beat this guy? He’s going to win one eventually.

The Bulldogs had their college football playoff hopes thrown into flux last fall thanks to a double-digit loss to a top-15 SEC West program on the road. They came back stronger than ever, avenged that loss to Auburn in the conference championship game, and went on to play for a national title that winter.

This year’s UGA team is coming off a 20-point stomping at the hands of then-No. 13 LSU, but instead of getting a weak Kentucky team as their follow up, Georgia has to rebound against one of the best Florida teams in years. The Gators have allowed fewer than 17 points per game this fall — but that number’s likely to rise against a stacked Bulldog offense.