With half of the top ten teams in the country out on bye on Saturday, Nov. 2 the focus of the college football world was exactly where it should have been, Jacksonville, Florida for the annual match-up between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators. For the second season in a row, both teams entered the game as top ten teams, with the Dawgs coming in at No. 8 and the Gators looking strong in the No. 6 spot.
Despite the rankings, Georgia entered the game as 6.5-point favorites, but questions swirled around both teams. Could the Bulldogs contain the explosive receiving corps of the Gators? Could the Gators control the “in-your-face” running game of the Bulldogs? The answers turned out to be no and yes, in that order, as the game came down to the final drive in a 24-17 win for Georgia.
The Bulldog’s running game, behind D’Andre Swift got stronger and stronger as the game progressed but the Florida defense bottled up Swift and held Georgia to a total of 119-yards on the ground forcing the Bulldogs to rely on the arm of Jake Fromm.
Fromm delivered a gem. For the first time in his career at UGA the team won a game in which he attempted 30 or more passes as he completed 20 of 30 for 279 yards and two touchdowns versus no interceptions. Lawrence Cager, returning from injury, was his favorite target catching seven for 132-yards and a touchdown.
Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship added the remainder of the points, going a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals 31, 37 and 27 yards along with two extra points.
As he has since gaining the start, Florida’s Kyle Trask seemed to throw the ball at will to his primary targets in wide receiver Freddie Swain and tight end Kyle Pitts. Trask finished the game with 21 completions for 257-yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
Florida’s undoing was the complete lack of a running game. Georgia’s defensive front was a solid wall for the entire sixty minutes of the contest to hold the Gators to a meager 21 yards on 19 attempts.
With the win, the Bulldogs take control of the SEC East but still face a tough schedule as they wrap up their conference schedule with games against Missouri, Auburn and Texas A&M before taking on the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets in the season finale.
The loss puts a big dent in Florida’s post-season hopes as they now must count on a Georgia loss while having to win their three remaining contests against Vanderbilt, Missouri and Florida State.
College Football Scoreboard:
No. 1
LSU
Bye
No. 10
Oklahoma
Bye
No. 17
Cincinnati
Bye
No. 2
Alabama
Bye
No. 11
Auburn
20
No. 18
Wisconsin
Bye
Ole Miss
14
No. 3
Ohio State
Bye
No. 19
Iowa
Bye
No.4
Clemson
59
No. 12
Baylor
17
No. 20
Appalachian St
21
Wofford
14
W Virginia
14
Ga Southern
24
No. 5
Penn State
Bye
No. 13
Minnesota
Bye
No. 6
Florida
17
No. 14
Michigan
38
No. 21
Boise St
52
No. 8
Georgia
24
Maryland
7
San Jose St
42
No. 7
Oregon
56
No. 15
SMU
48
No. 22
Kansas State
38
USC
24
No. 24
Memphis
54
Kansas
10
No. 9
Utah
33
No. 16
Notre Dame
21
No. 23
Wake Forest
44
Washington
28
Virginia Tech
20
NC State
10
No. 25
SDSU
Bye
