Grading Georgia Football Units in Big Win Over Florida Gators in Atlanta

The Georgia Bulldogs beat down on the Florida Gators and won the Invesco QQQ Atlanta Gridiron Classic in Mercedes-Benz Stadium 27-8. The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is on pause while EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville undergoes renovations. The roof was closed in Atlanta, so the party continued inside once the game started.

The lede shall not be buried: The Dawgs dominated this game defensively. This was one of those signature defensive wins for Kirby Smart and this Georgia program. Georgia’s offense and special teams struggled a bit on Saturday.

Let’s grade all three Georgia units for their performances on Saturday afternoon against Florida.

Offense: B-

There was good and there was bad for the Georgia offense on Saturday. That brings the grade to a B-. This was far from Georgia’s best day on that side of the football, but there were bright spots that need to be noted.

First, the bad. Georgia only passed for 101 yards. Gunner Stockton was just 13-of-23 passing and was inaccurate on a couple of balls, including his 34-yard completion to Craig Dandridge (the biggest passing play of the night).

The only turnover from Georgia came in the passing game as well. Talyn Taylor fumbled in the red zone when Georgia was trying to go up 31-0.

There was good though. Georgia ran for 217 yards and two scores on a 5.2 yards per carry rate. Nate Frazier looked a lot better on Saturday than he did in his return from injury against Auburn. Bo Walker and Dwight Phillips Jr. made some nice runs. Stockton was effective with his legs.

There was also some meh from Georgia, but context matters. Georgia’s defense gave the Dawgs some short field, but they still only drove the length of the field three times. One drive ended in a touchdown, one in a field goal and the other was the one where Taylor fumbled.

Georgia’s offense will likely need a more complete performance on the road against Ole Miss next week.

Defense: A

This was about as dominant of a defensive performance as it can get. There is only one thing holding it back from earning an A+ grade, and that is that Florida was able to get into the end zone off of the short field created by Georgia's fumble. If it wasn’t for that, it would have been a borderline perfect performance.

Georgia forced three turnovers. They picked off Aaron Philo twice and Tramell Jones Jr. once. Another interception was called back. Quintavious Johnson and Gabe Harris Jr. both fumbled on sacks. Florida recovered one of them, but Chris Cole picked up the other and took it to the house for a 66-yard scoop-n-score, which was his second on the season.

Georgia also held the Gators to only 48 rushing yards. Jadan Baugh only had 38 yards on 17 attempts.

This was dominance. Three interceptions, four sacks, 11 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, one touchdown.

Georgia’s defense is arguably the best unit in all of college football.

Special Teams: B-

Like the offense, there was some good and some bad, so the special teams earned the same grade.

The good: Peyton Woodring connected on two field goals. Drew Miller kicked a 61-yard punt and pinned Florida inside the 20. He also pinned Florida at the one yard-line, but a roughing the kicker call gave Georgia an automatic first down.

The bad: Woodring missed a 43-yard field goal on Georgia’s opening drive, and he missed it badly. Sacovie White-Helton almost lost a punt that was bouncing his way. A turnover right there would have given Florida the ball inside of the Dawgs’ 20 yard-line.

Georgia has had some elite special teams games. Saturday was not one of them.

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