The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly From the Florida Gators Win Over Georgia
Photo credit: University of Florida athletic association
Dawgs on top, no more.
Due to the Gators regime-defining victory over the Georgia Bulldogs for Dan Mullen and his coach staff Florida is perched atop the SEC East for the first time since 2016.
With a trip to Atlanta now in their sights as they progress throughout the rest of the year, the Gators are in a position to make some serious noise throughout college football this season.
However, not everything from this battle with Georgia can be looked at as a positive. As a result, let’s look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from the Gators' victory over the Dawgs on Saturday.
The Good: Offense Proved Legitimacy
Despite inferences that Florida’s offense was the real deal given the incredible numbers it had posed thus far in the year, the measuring stick game for exactly how good the offense occurred yesterday.
Facing off against a Bulldogs defense that is credited as being the best defense in all of the SEC and one of the best in the nation, Florida seemingly had their way with them throughout the game.
With Kyle Trask throwing for 474 yards, and four touchdowns for the fifth straight game of the season—two of which went to tight ends Kyle Pitts and Kemore Gamble, which ended Georgia’s streak of no touchdowns allowed to tight ends this season—he cemented himself atop the Heisman conversation with his performance.
Especially dominant in the first half after a slow start, Florida managed to tally 38 points to realistically put the game to rest as both teams trotted into the locker room for intermission.
Accumulating 571 total yards, 29 first downs, a completion percentage of nearly 70%, and 44 total points, the Gators offense proved to be amongst the best college football has to offer in Jacksonville.
The Bad: Missed Opportunities for Georgia
The 28 points on the scoreboard when the clock struck zeros for Georgia can already be misleading.
With Trask throwing an interception returned for a touchdown with just over two minutes to go in the first quarter, the Gators defense only allowed 21 points on the ball game, with 14 of those points coming in the first two drives of the game.
Although, that doesn’t necessarily mean that score was indicative of the performance of the defense. In fact, Georgia missed multiple opportunities on both sides of the ball to change the game's complexion.
Hurt by the subpar quarterback play of Stetson Bennett and D'Wan Mathis—who combined to throw nine completions on 29 attempts for 112 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions—Georgia saw a multitude of scoring opportunities fall through their fingertips due to missed execution of passes down the field.
Unable to hit the deep ball ultimately plagued the Georgia offense but aided a Gators team that found themselves out of position multiple times. That’s not to mention the late-game interception dropped by the Georgia defender that had no deterrent from him walking into the end zone.
Going forward this season, Florida won’t have the luxury of missteps when facing teams with more competence offensively. The defense played better but still wasn’t great by any means.
That performance is a confidence booster, sure. However, it’s also one that if it happens against the likely SEC West winner Alabama, it could be a long day for the Gators in Atlanta.
The Ugly: Slow Start; Slow Finish
This game's storyline continues to go back to the quick 14-0 lead Georgia jumped out to within the first four minutes of game time.
Spearheaded by a 75-yard touchdown run by Zamir White to open the game, the Gators' chances of overcoming the obstacle set in front of them looked to be bleak.
From that point on, Florida was able to find a rhythm and ended the first half on a 38-7 run with the defense not allowing another point.
Fast forward to the second half, and the defense continued to do their part in getting stops against a stagnant Georgia offense. However, the Gators offense hit a wall of sorts and turned to two field goals as their only source of scoring in the last 30 minutes of the ball game.
The slow starts and slow finishes have been an apparent issue for Florida at this point in the season.
Specifically, a slow start against Missouri last week resulted in the Tigers going up 7-6 until just over three minutes to go in the half.
A slow finish occurred against Texas A&M that ultimately led the Aggies back into the game as they capped it off with a field goal to put the Gators undefeated season hopes to bed before they really even got started.
Starting fast and ending fast are necessities in beating the best squads in America. Luckily for Florida, Georgia failed to prove they belonged in the category by being unable to put away the Gators following a two-score lead.
However, against the teams Florida hopes to be facing at the end of the year, finding the gas pedal and keeping their foot on it until the end will be crucial to how far the team can go.
In college football, any team can find themselves to come out victorious over another. As a result, there is no place for complacency in the game, no matter the size of one's lead.
