The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DOGS TAKE BIG STEP
Georgia topples rival Florida, leads in race for SEC East title
JACKSONVILLE, FLA.- After an October of hand-wringing, November arrived with a clap of clarity. This might be the least gifted Georgia team of the past three years, but it’s still capable of playing for championships. The Bulldogs put them
selves in position to do that by beating Florida 24-17 here Saturday. The final score makes it sound closer than it was.
The Gators — 6½-point underdogs despite being ranked two spots ahead of No. 8 Georgia in the Associated Press poll — never led. Their first possession began brightly, only to fizzle after a false start on third-and-1 at the Georgia 40 and an incomplete pass from an empty backfield on fourth-and-1. By the time
Florida managed to score, the Bulldogs had a working lead. They’d found something that worked.
That something, it must be said, wasn’t new. His name is Jake Fromm. He has been Georgia’s No. 1 quarterback for 26 months. The Fromm narrative has lately centered on what he isn’t. (Namely, he isn’t Justin Fields.) But we saw again Saturday what Fromm demonstrably is — a big-game quarterback
who can make big-time plays.
The stat of this first half: Georgia converted on eight of 11 third downs. Six of the eight conversions were Fromm completions. Georgia’s longest catch of the half was for 17 yards, but it mattered not. The Bulldogs scored on three of their four possessions and held the ball for 19 minutes and 44 seconds. Fromm’s chain-moving got the game going Georgia’s way, and that’s really all that was required.
The Bulldogs have played nine games without facing an opponent of comparable talent. That didn’t stop them from losing to South Carolina — maybe the most inexplicable loss in Georgia annals — but it did prove that this team must mess up to lose. Fromm had four turnovers against the Gamecocks. He had none against Florida. He was himself again, which in this offense doesn’t mean airing it out so much as controlling the flow. There are better quarterbacks in college football, though not many. There’s no better game manager.
That description is often used as a demerit. It shouldn’t be. If your quarterback can’t manage a game, you’re not winning anything worth winning. Georgia’s use of Fromm this season has often stumped the band — he entered this game averaging 8.1 yards per pass, down almost a yard from his freshman and sophomore seasons — but this team wouldn’t be 8-1 without him.
There are also those who point to his receivers as substandard-for-Georgia. Whatever, Fromm has made those receivers look good enough for this team to sit atop the SEC East for a third consecutive year, which is not nothing.
For all the hype the World’s Largest Outdoor Whatever commands, the game itself is seldom riveting. For the longest time, this was another tepid example. Georgia led 13-3 at the half, 16-3 after three quarters. Its defense stonewalled Florida’s running game, which isn’t that hard to do, and made Kyle Trask, who began the season as Feleipe Franks’ understudy, throw on almost every down. Through three quarters, the Gators had minus-8 rushing yards and 175 yards, period. You’re not beating Georgia like that.
At the same time, the Bulldogs hadn’t quite pulled away. A D’Andre Swift touchdown run that would have made the score 22-3 late in the third quarter was quashed by a holding penalty on Matt Landers. A false start by Solomon Kindley on fourth-and-1 meant Georgia wound up punting from the Florida 41. With 13:51 remaining, Trask found Van Jefferson for a 27-yard touchdown. Gators within six.
Not for long, though. Georgia punched out two first downs on the ground. Then, on first-and-10, Fromm faked a handoff, dropped back and, after first looking right, found Lawrence Cager running free down the left side. The 52-yard touchdown made the score 22-10. Then it was Fromm-toCager again for the two-point conversion. The Bulldogs had their biggest lead.
(We should note that Cager — the grad transfer from Miami — missed the second half against South Carolina because of injury. He mightn’t be Gene Washington or Lindsay Scott or Andre Hastings or A.J. Green, but he’s the best wideout on this roster.)
Another Florida touchdown with 3:11 to go left Fromm one last bit of business. A penalty for delay made it first-and-15. On third-and-7, Georgia had to convert or punt. Fromm found tight end Eli Wolf for 22 yards. Ball game, y’all.
Just in time for the first set of College Football Playoff rankings, Georgia notched its biggest victory of the season. If it beats Missouri in Athens on Saturday, the Bulldogs would have to lose to both Auburn and Texas A&M not to win the East. (As we speak, Mizzou isn’t eligible to play for the conference title.) We’ve spent the past month picking nits, but Georgia is again where it needs to be, and if it keeps winning it will be back in the playoff.
Know how many Georgia quarterbacks have started in three SEC Championship games? None. Fromm would be the first. Know how many have led the Bulldogs to the CFP? That’s easy. Fromm stands alone; come December he could make it twice in three seasons. Go ahead and call him a game manager, but know this: If the Gators had him, they might have managed to win this game.