JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Steve Spurrier kicked back in a luxury suite at Jacksonville's TIAA Bank Field, watching the Florida-Georgia game he used to dominate.
Dan Mullen now knows the feeling.
Mullen picked up his first victory in the heated rivalry as Gators head coach in Spurrier-esque fashion, led by a quarterback wearing the No. 11 Spurrier made famous during his playing days.
No. 8 Florida's resounding 44-28 victory over the No. 5 Bulldogs Saturday snapped the Gators' three-game skid against Georgia and gave UF a commanding lead in the SEC East title race.
The game also put quarterback Kyle Trask in the race for the Heisman, college football's top individual prize won by Spurrier back in 1966.
With a national TV audience tuned in, Trask extended his streak of at least four touchdown passes to five games, a first during the storied history of the SEC. The redshirt senior showcased his trademark resiliency to rally the Gators (4-1).
Trask started the game 0-for-3 passing while Georgia (4-2) built a quick 14-0 lead, beginning with a 75-yard run by Zamir White on the game's first play from scrimmage. Trask later had a pick-six to give the Bulldogs a 21-14 lead.
Yet, when Trask headed to the locker room he was 20-for-26 passing for 341 yards and four touchdowns, including three during the second quarter as the Gators scored 24 unanswered points to seize control of the game.
Trask finished with 474 passing yards — a career-high — and the most by UF quarterback during a regular-season game.
Trask spread the wealth against a Georgia defense leading the SEC but also missing three defensive starters, including star safety Richard LeCounte.
Four different Gators caught a touchdown, including a 25-yard hook-up with Kyle Pitts. The team's star tight end outmuscled a helpless Bulldogs defensive back for the ball near the end zone pylon for Pitts' eighth touchdown catch — a UF record for a tight end.
Pitts did not get a chance to add to the total. A vicious hit on a crossing route by Georgia safety Lewis Cine knocked Pitts out of the game and earned Cine an ejection for targeting.
Without Pitts, the offense lost its most dangerous weapon but did not immediately skip a beat as the Gators ended the first half with 38 points — the most in a half by Florida in series history.
The Gators, however, were unable to deliver the second-half knockout punch, managing just six points on a pair of Evan McPherson field goals during the game's final 30 minutes.
But the Bulldogs could not capitalize due to lackluster quarterback play from former walk-on Stetson Bennett IV and redshirt freshman D'Wan Mathis, who replaced Bennett after he injured his shoulder. Bennett and Mathis finished a combined 9-of-26 passing for Georgia.
A 25-yard touchdown pass from Mathis to Kearis Jackson cut the Gators' lead to 41-28 with 41 seconds to go in the third quarter. The score was Georgia's first offensive points since a 32-yard touchdown pass from Bennett to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint fewer than four minutes into the game.
Leading 41-28, Mullen tried to leave nothing to chance. Rather than looking to run out the clock, the Gators attack stayed aggressive. The strategy almost backfired when Trask's pass intended for Jacob Copeland nearly ended up in the hands of Georgia defensive back Mark Webb deep in Gators territory.
When Florida's fourth-down try from the Georgia 28 failed, Georgia took over the ball. Four plays later, Florida safety Shawn Davis intercepted a throw by Mathis to effectively end the Bulldogs' slim comeback chances.
The Gators and a limited crowd at a game typically dubbed the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party celebrated the breakthrough win that now puts UF in the driver's seat as the team chases an SEC East crown.
