COLLEGE FOOTBALL No. 7 Georgia tops No. 9 Florida

No. 7 Bulldogs shred ninth-ranked Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jake Fromm threw three touchdown passes, ending speculation about freshman Justin Fields supplanting him as the starting quarterback, and No. 7 Georgia beat ninth-ranked Florida 36-17 on Saturday.

The Bulldogs took advantage of three Florida turnovers and an injury to cornerback C.J. Henderson to win the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” for the second straight season and the fifth time in the last eight years.

Georgia (7-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) scored all four touchdowns on third down, gut-punching the Gators (6-2, 4-2) time and time again.

“That’s seven plays on the day that’s going to make a rough day for you,” Florida coach Dan Mullen said.

Fromm completed 17 of 24 passes for 240 yards, including scoring tosses of 16 and 12 yards to Jermaine Holloman. There had been talk that Georgia coach Kirby Smart would get highly touted freshman Fields more snaps following a 20-point loss to LSU. Fromm smashed those rumors.

“There’s no other way to say it. We had to get better all around, including myself,” Fromm said. “We wanted to come out and make a statement. We had to win this football game. Our backs were kind of against the wall, and we had to win to keep every goal we want.”

Said Smart: “Jake is a high-quality kid who works his tail off every day. I’m sure he felt and heard the noise.”

D’Andre Swift delivered the knockout blow with a 33-yard TD run with 4:39 remaining, sending Florida fans scrambling for the exits.

“It feels more special,” Fromm said, comparing this victory to last season’s 42-7 romp. “This year it was a fight. We were able to enjoy it and respect it a lot more.”

Holloman beat C.J. McWilliams twice in the same corner of the same end zone. The Bulldogs clearly picked on the sophomore after he replaced Henderson (back) on the first series. Fromm seemed to search for him on third down.

“When you can’t get off the field, you get the results we got today,” Florida defensive end CeCe Jefferson said.

Florida took a one-point lead early in the third quarter — Feleipe Franks threw a perfect, 36-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Swain — but Georgia answered with the second Fromm-to-Holloman TD connection, a 12-yarder, and then pulled away late.

The Gators failed to get a stop when they needed it in the fourth.

Curtis Compton The Associated Press Georgia’s Jeremiah Holloman beats Florida’s C.J. McWilliams for the first of his two touchdown receptions and an early 10-0 lead in Jacksonville, Fla.