JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It was a game that would’ve made Vince Dooley proud.
Never mind the imperfection in Georgia’s 42-20 victory over Florida. The victory kept the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs undefeated on the season and continued their domination of the Gators under coach Kirby Smart.
Georgia also dominated the Florida series under Dooley, who died at the age of 90 on Friday in Athens. The Bulldogs dedicated Saturday’s game to the legendary Hall of Fame coach.
But Georgia didn’t make its fifth win in the past six easy. The Bulldogs seemed to be in total control of the game when the teams adjourned to the locker room at halftime. The Bulldogs scored with 17 seconds remaining in the first half to go ahead 28-3.
But the first 14 minutes of the third quarter all belonged to the Gators. After recording only two first downs in the first half, they started the second half with a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that was aided by a personal-foul penalty against Georgia freshman defensive lineman Bear Alexander. He didn’t hear the whistle on a fourth-down play in which coach Kirby Smart called a pre-snap timeout and ran into quarterback Anthony Richardson, who had stopped his drop-back.
Then Georgia caught the turnover bug. On the Bulldogs’ first possession of the second half, running back Kenny McIntosh had the ball yanked loose from behind linebacker Amari Burney, and Florida’s Trey Dean recovered at the Georgia 27. It took seven plays to go 18 yards, but the Gators got a field goal out of it.
Next Bulldogs’ possession, Georgia moved quickly down the field with two McIntosh runs totaling 33 yards. But after on the third play of the drive, Bennett severely underthrew running back Daijun Edwards on a wheel route. Burney dove for the interception, which also came with a personal-foul penalty against the Gators. That backed them up to their 18-yard line.
On third-and-6, receiver Xzavier Henderson ran free down the right sideline on a busted coverage by freshman safety Malaki Starks. The 78-yard touchdown was the longest play of Henderson’s career and made it a one-score game at 28-20.
The Bulldogs answered with an offensive possession that surely had Dooley high-fiving Erk Russell in heaven. Georgia ran the ball five times on a six-play drive that ended with a 22-yard touchdown run by Edwards.
It was Edwards’ second touchdown run of the game and the Bulldogs’ fourth of the game. At the point Georgia had gained under 200 yards rushing. It would finish with 240.
The victory was the Bulldogs’ fifth in the past six meetings with Florida under Smart. Nonetheless, he still wants to see the game moved to a home-and-home series.
There were many flaws exposed for Georgia, within the third quarter in particular. The Bulldogs’ secondary continues to give up explosive plays on deep pass plays down the sidelines. That’s not good news with the No. 3-ranked Tennessee Volunteers and their fleet-footed passing game coming to Athens next week. And while Georgia’s offense played well, with another 40-plus point effort and 555 yards offense, Bennett’s play was spotty against a Gators’ defense that came in ranked last in FBS in third-down conversions. Bennett finished with 316 yards passing and two touchdowns, but threw two interceptions and completed only 50% of 38 passes.
Georgia’s defense, which had allowed only two first downs in the first half, gave up four times that in the third quarter alone. The Gators finished with 371 yards and 16 first downs.
On Georgia’s fifth offensive possession of the game, Bennett unleashed a throw toward tight end Brock Bowers, who was tightly covered by Burney stride-for-stride running down the left sideline in front of Georgia’s bench. Burney swatted at the ball and fell down in the process. Bowers eventually hauled in the pass, but only after bobbling the ball several times. When Bowers finally gained control, there was nobody between him in the end zone. The 73-yard touchdown catch gave Bowers the Bulldogs’ three longest scoring plays this season. He already had a 78-yard TD reception and a 75-yard TD run.
———
