By beating Gators, UGA wins decade

Decade title represents a significant redirection in the series for the Dogs.

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA — Other than the final score, the Georgia Bulldogs dominated Florida in almost every way Saturday at TIAA Bank Field. Gators coach Dan Mullen saw it otherwise.

Saturday’s 24-17 win by No. 8 Georgia — its third in a row for the seventh time since the series moved here in 1933 – gives the Bulldogs a 6-4 edge for the decade that will close with the year 2019. And with the way Kirby Smart has the team finishing this decade, the Bulldogs faithful surely have their eyes on the 2020s.

That might seem only a small thing, but considering the Gators won eight games in the 2000s and nine in the 1990s, it represents a significant redirection in the series for Georgia. As it is, the Bulldogs extend their overall series lead to plus-10 games at 53-43-2.

Yet Florida’s second-year coach insists his side is closing the gap in the series. Asked how far his team was from running down Georgia, Mullen snapped, “seven points.”

He also added that this year’s SEC East race is not over.

“There’s a lot of football left to be played,” he said. “The division hasn’t been clinched by anybody.”

That’s a fact. But Georgia (7-1, 4-1 SEC) will be able to clinch an SEC Championship game berth if it can beat Missouri (5-3, 2-2) next Saturday at home and either Auburn or Texas A&M after that. Florida will need the Bulldogs to lose two of their final three SEC games.

Some other takeaways from Saturday’s proceedings:

Hey, Georgia can pass: Smart also was on the defensive about his offense, and offensive coordinator James Coley and quarterback Jake Fromm, in particular.

The narrative coming in Saturday was that the Bulldogs’ offense was predictable and lacked imagination and that Fromm couldn’t pass when he had to. While Geor

gia didn’t exactly light up Florida’s stout defense — it finished with 398 total yards and just 24 points — but Fromm was 20-of30 for 279 yards and two touchdowns passing, the Bulldogs were 8-for- 12 on third down and Coley was the one calling the plays on all of that.

Asked about the Bulldogs’ quick answer to Florida’s fourth-quarter scoring drive with a 7-play, 75-yard scor- ing drive of their own, Smart made a point of pointing out the good work of his beleaguered coordinator.

Jacksonville outlook

Now that the Bulldogs have won three of the last four in the Florida series, there’s reason to believe that Smart might want to rethink his stance of preferring it’d be played as a regular home- and-home.

The Golden Isles were covered up with UGA fans as usual, and their presence was strong at the end of Saturday’s game, as the Bulldogs’ side stayed full with revelers celebrating the vic- tory with the team.

Smart was walking back on that narrative after Saturday’s win, which came a week after the schools extended their agreement to play in Jacksonville another four years, with an option for two more.

“I want to reiterate what a privilege it is to play in this game,” Smart said during his postgame news conference.

Florida run ‘suffocated’

Georgia’s victory extended to 14 games the streak in which the team that runs the football better wins the game. But that was more a product of the Bulldogs stuff- ing the run than it was them running over the Gators.

Actually, Florida did a decent job of containing UGA’s SEC-best rushing attack. The Bulldogs’ 119 yards on 37 attempts (3.2 YPC) was a season low. They averaged 236.9 yards per game coming in.

But that was countered by Georgia’s ability to shut down the Gators’ run game. They managed just 21 yards on 19 carries (1.1 YPC). That was no accident. “We wanted to suffocate the run and make them one-dimensional,” Smart said.

The Gators did have 257 yards passing and two touch- downs. Freddie Swain led the way with 8 catches for 91 yards.

Wolf comes through

Tight end Eli Wolf wasn’t the primary receiver for the Bulldogs Saturday. That distinction goes to Lawrence Cager and his 7 catches for 132 yards, both career bests. But he definitely made the biggest catch of the game.

The grad transfer from Te n nessee hauled in a 22-yard throw from Fromm and third-and-seven at Geor- gia’s own 35 in the final seconds of the game. With Florida out of timeouts, it ensured victory.

Mizzou up next

Georgia will be a heavy favorite again when Missouri visits Saturday for what will be another night kickoff at Sanford Stadium (7 p.m., ESPN). The Tigers (5-3, 2-2) have been hard to figure out this season, losing to Wyoming in the season opener, then beating West Virginia (38-7) and South Carolina (34-14) handily before dropping their last two SEC road games to Vanderbilt (21-14) and Kentucky (29-7). But one thing Missouri does well is throw the football, with quarterback Kelly Bryant at the controls. The Clemson transfer is averaging 230.6 YPG passing, with 14 TDs and 5 interceptions.

Jake Fromm