The Good, the Ugly and the Ugliest From Florida’s Deflating Loss to Georgia
Photo: Florida wide receiver Eugene Wilson III; Credit: Alex Shepherd
Florida rekindled its historic rivalry with Georgia on Saturday. For the third season in a row, the Dawgs walked the Gators en route to a comfortable victory for the two-time reigning national champions.
The matchup demonstrated how far head coach Billy Napier and Co. have left to go in the Gators' program rebuild efforts required to contend with Kirby Smart's squad and other established college football heavyweights.
All Gators recaps the Gators' deflating 43-20 loss to the Bulldogs by outlining three observations in the form of the good, the ugly and the ugliest.
Good: Eugene "Tre" Wilson III
Not much good came from the Gators contest in Jacksonville, Fla. However, if one ray of sunlight were to emerge from the cloudy skies, it was the continued emergence of Eugene Wilson III as an elite weapon out wide for the orange and blue.
On Saturday, the true freshman set a new school record for most receptions by a frosh in a single game with 11 while serving as an integral component to Florida's early offensive success against the formidable Georgia defense.
Wilson was a critical factor in the Gators' well-scripted opening possession of the contest as he caught 11 balls for 75 yards and a 25-yard touchdown score to get Florida on the board first.
The usage was similar to that of the Tennessee game, where he helped UF move the ball down the field into opponent territory with six touches on the team's first series before going down with an injury on his final reception of the game.
Wilson's excelled operating in space in six games played in 2023, possessing a mixture of patience, speed and explosiveness to enhance Florida's passing attack, whether at the line of scrimmage or downfield.
He once again showcased the dynamic playmaking capability in flashes to help Florida establish a glimpse of hope against the top-ranked team in America on Saturday before the eventual collapse.
While his output largely subsided after four catches, 62 yards and a score on the first drive from scrimmage, Wilson's early impact once against foreshadowed his immense role in the offense for the next two to three seasons.
Ugly: 36 unanswered points
The Gators may have scored first, but it got ugly fast from that point forward.
It didn't take the Bulldogs long to find their footing in the contest, and when they did, they reeled off 36 unanswered to turn a 7-0 UF lead with 11:19 remaining in the first quarter into a 36-7 UGA lead with a 0:18 remaining in the third.
However, while Georgia's dominance contributed to the run, Florida's internal panic allowed the Dawgs to open the floodgates on the Gators in the first half.
There is always an understanding that to beat a team like Georgia. It is going to take more than a mere business-as-usual approach on both sides of the ball. The Gators' play calling reflected that, but they started to scramble early despite promising early success via the regularly scheduled passing and rushing games.
On the second drive, a double end around on 1st and 10 from the 50, first to Wilson, who passed it off to Ricky Pearsall, resulted in a significant loss for the Gators to put them behind the sticks. Three plays later, Florida punted the ball away.
Georgia capitalized with a 41-yard touchdown pass by Carson Beck on the ensuing drive to take its first lead of the game.
Florida, looking to answer, then faced a fourth and inches in their own territory to begin the second quarter. Rather than attempting to muscle Mertz through the front for a gain of one to keep the sticks moving, the Gators opted for trickery again.
Center Kingsley Eguakun snapped the ball through Mertz's legs into the hands of Trevor Etienne in the backfield. Etienne had a run-pass option, but the suspecting Bulldogs' defense took away both options and dropped the talented sophomore ball carrier for a loss of three yards, handing the Bulldogs the football at the UF 31-yard line.
The two attempts to catch the defense lacking backfired. Florida's offense began to snowball. Georgia took advantage to tack on points as a result quickly.
It was an unraveling of catastrophic proportions, characterized by stalled drives, short fields and turnovers caused mainly by Florida's negligence.
The gap between the two teams was clear and would've likely resulted in a similar outcome in the win and loss columns for both teams. However, the rapid progression from 7-0 to 36-7 was a byproduct of the Gators attempting to do too much when they didn't need to, and they paid the price for it in the end.
Ugliest: The talent gap
If there was a glaring realization from Saturday's bout in Jacksonville, it was that Florida still has a long way to go until it can truly contend with Georgia.
Sure, the Gators created opportunities for the Bulldogs via self-inflicted wounds to worsen the severity of the defeat. Still, the bulk of the Dawgs' success was a direct reflection of the evident gap in talent between the two rosters.
In all three phases, Georgia controlled the game. And it did so upfront.
On offense, the Bulldogs had their way on the ground and through the air. The offensive line created significant push in both areas to open holes for Daijun Edwards and Co. to exploit while keeping Beck's jersey clean by deeming the UF pass rush ineffective. The unit posted 486 total yards of offense on the day, a mark over 100 yards more than the Gators' season average for yards allowed per game.
Wideout Ladd McConckey's 41-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown highlighted UGA's high-octane offensive attack. It was one of 17 explosive plays for the Bulldogs. It proved to be the play to permanently swing momentum in Georgia's favor to open the floodgates on their aforementioned scoring run.
A similar story emerged on the other side of the football.
Florida struggled to sustain possession following the well-oiled, well-designed opening drive scripted by Napier and his offensive staff. There is a litany of reasons for the halt in productivity, including the Gators' propensity to take risks without the effectiveness to reap the reward.
But, it mainly boils down to the consistent pressure Mertz faced throughout the day. It was the most dominant outing for the Bulldogs' defense to this point in the season statistically, as the unit forced four sacks, eight tackles for loss and two forced fumbles.
That's not to mention an opportune blocked punt by Georgia in the closing minutes of the first half to give the Dawgs a 26-7 halftime lead. Their onslaught continued in the second half, setting up an insurmountable 29-point deficit for the Gators.
Ultimately, for the third year in a row, the matchup magnified the difference in personnel between the two sidelines, signaling the continued need for drastic changes for the Gators in the coming year to have an opportunity to contend with the state-line foe.
It takes perfection to overthrow the Bulldogs on the field right now, illustrated by the 25-game winning streak Kirby Smart's squad holds.
To inch closer to doing so, the Gators must first dethrone them off the field. That entails continued growth in prep recruiting — particularly in their accumulation of talent in the trenches — and taking a newfound interest in the transfer portal to expedite the talent acquisition process.
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