Georgia runs into Florida D in 24-10 loss
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Raise a glass to Florida's defense. Maybe even the whole bottle.
The 14th-ranked Gators used a dominant defensive effort — maybe their best of the season — to dismantle Georgia 24-10 on Saturday.
The unit stuffed Nick Chubb, holding him to 20 yards on nine carries, and rattled freshman quarterback Jacob Eason. The Bulldogs finished with a season-low 164 yards — about 239 below their average.
"Defensively, what do you say?" Florida coach Jim McElwain asked.
Playing just their second game in four weeks, the Gators won their third straight in the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." It was Florida's 21st victory against the Bulldogs in the last 27 years.
McElwain toasted his defense after the latest one.
"We wanted to try to make them as one-dimensional as possible, and the dimension we wanted was to try to make them throw the ball," he said. "Our gap control in the run game was pretty spot on."
The Gators ( 6- 1, 4- 1 Southeastern
Conference) forced seven threeand-outs and stopped two fourthdown plays on Georgia's final two drives.
The biggest mismatch was up front, where Florida's defense controlled the line of scrimmage. That's nothing new for Georgia (4-4, 2-4), whose O-line has been a target for criticism all season.
The Bulldogs lost for the fourth time in their last five games, and first-year coach Kirby Smart fell to 1-6 in the series as a player and coach.
McElwain improved to 2-0, including a win against his former colleague and close friend . Smart and McElwain worked at Alabama (2008-11) together, and the Tide went 48-6 and claimed two national championships with them as coordinators.
Florida did nothing spectacular offensively, managing 231 yards on a warm, sun-soaked afternoon.
"People pick this team apart quite a bit and this and that," McElwain said. "Guys, this is a good football team. The Florida Gators are a good team, all right?
I'll go with these guys against anybody and we'll figure out a way to get it done, and that's the way they are in that locker room."
The Gators scored three touchdowns thanks partly to solid field position — Smart called his punt unit "a thrill a minute" — and that proved to be plenty for the defense.
"It's just frustrating," Chubb said. "We couldn't really get things going. I felt like it was always three-and-out and we weren't getting in a rhythm or anything, so it feels pretty bad."