JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In a game that was more a survival of the fittest than a Georgia-Florida classic, the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs overcame another rough outing by quarterback Carson Beck and came from behind to score a 34-20 victory over the resurgent Gators.
Georgia overcame three more interceptions by Beck — that’s six in the past two games — but saw the senior from Jacksonville throw two second-half touchdown passes as the Bulldogs’ rallied from a 10-3 second-quarter deficit to record their fourth consecutive victory over archrival Florida.
The final score belies what a hard-fought, closely contested game this was. The game did not turn until the Bulldogs scored the final 14 points in the final four minutes of play.
A seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive highlighted by Beck’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Dominic Lovett on a third down broke a 20-20 tie with 4:01 to play.
That was followed 14 seconds later by Georgia linebacker CJ Allen’s interception of the Gators’ third-string quarterback Aidan Warner. Aided by a tripping penalty against Florida, the Bulldogs took over at the Florida 7 and scored two plays later on Dwight Phillips’ 4-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep right. In less than one minute, Georgia turned a tie score into a 14-point lead.
Able to secure victory from there, the Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 SEC) defeated their SEC archrivals for a fourth year in a row for the first time since the 1983 season. They’ll head to Oxford, Mississippi, to take on No. 19 Ole Miss on Saturday. The Rebels (7-2, 2-2) annihilated Arkansas 63-31 on Saturday in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“That was a tough one; we didn’t play our best game,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “The difference in the game was the second half, obviously. The difference in the game was our fans gave us some momentum and energy. You can’t turn the ball over and beat good teams, and Florida is a much-improved team.”
In its third season under coach Billy Napier, Florida falls to 4-4 and 2-3 in league play. The Gators are on the road at Texas next week.
“The objective today was to come here and put fanatical effort on the field,” Napier said. “We wanted to ramp up the intensity. We wanted to play with better effort. We wanted to out-finish, out-compete, out-hustle, out-physical, and we knew there would be poise and composure needed. We knew there would be momentum in the game that would challenge the resiliency of the team. Certainly that was the case.”
Beck finished 25-of-40 passing for 309 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. His six picks in the past two games are the same number he threw in 14 games last season. He has 18 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions for the season.
“I made two bad decisions,” said Beck, who had 11 consecutive completions at one point in the second half. “I was trying to make a play, scrambled out and didn’t see the guy underneath. Probably should have gone to the check-down on the second one. The third one I get hit while I’m throwing. ... No matter what, I’m gonna keep coming.”
Freshman running back Nate Frazier led the Bulldogs with 82 yards rushing on 19 carries as Georgia practically doubled the Gators in offensive production at 455 yards to 228. Frazier logged every rushing attempt but one among the Bulldogs’ backs after Etienne left the game with a first-half injury.
It was Frazier’s 2-yard touchdown run that capped an eight-play, 83-yard scoring drive that tied the score at 13-13 midway through the third quarter. However, Frazier also made a slash-throat gesture after the score that resulted in a 15-yard taunting penalty against the Bulldogs.
“Just don’t be stupid,” Smart said he told the freshman from Compton, California. “... Nate’s a great kid. He’s a super talent, and he wants to do well. He didn’t do it with the intent of getting a penalty. You know, ‘act like you’ve been there,’ and he ain’t there enough.”
Florida lost its starting quarterback DJ Lagway to a leg injury late in the second quarter. It was the second time this season the Gators’ lost their QB1. Fifth-year senior Graham Mertz was sidelined for the season with an ACL injury against Tennessee on Oct. 12. Meanwhile, four Gators defensive backs were sidelined with injuries in the game.
Still, Florida managed to hang with Georgia to the midway point of the fourth quarter. That’s when Warner, redshirt freshman walk-on, led the Gators on a five-play, 55-yard scoring drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown run by Ja’Kobi Jackson.
Georgia also benefited from a bad snap on what would have been a 51-yard field-goal try by Florida’s Trey Smack. The play resulted in a 31-yard loss for the Gators and set up a three-play, 36-yard drive that was capped by Cash Jones’ 22-yard touchdown reception with 1:20 to go in the third quarter.
It was Allen’s interception and 6-yard return with 3:47 to play that proved the back-breaker for the Gators. Allen, a sophomore inside linebacker, read Warner’s eyes as he tried to hit a receiver on a quick hitch in the flat.
“When I saw (Allen) had it, my mouth dropped completely,” said linebacker Jalon Walker, who had five tackles and a fumble recovery. “That’s what we needed. We needed that momentum swing to finish out that game. It was great to see coming from the linebacker room.”
Linebackers Allen and Raylen Wilson led the Bulldogs with eight and seven tackles, respectively. The Bulldogs had to play the first half without safeties Dan Jackson and Joenel Aguero, who were suspended for the half because of targeting penalties in the second half of the previous game, Oct. 19 at Texas.
Georgia had its own injury issues. The notable storyline of running back Trevor Etienne starring for the Bulldogs against his former team went by the wayside when the junior was sidelined with a rib injury in the second quarter and did not return.
“It really hurt him that he couldn’t continue,” Smart said during ABC’s broadcast. “He’s fine, just dealing with a rib injury.”
Lagway was carted off the field at the 5:01 mark of the second quarter with what looked like a hamstring injury. Florida was leading 10-3 at the time. The freshman finished 2-of-6 passing for 47 yards and a touchdown and had another 18 yards rushing. Warner was 7-of-22 for 66 yards passing.
Another disappointing first-half performance by Georgia’s offense and Beck sent the Bulldogs to the halftime locker room trailing 13-6. It was the third time this season that Georgia trailed an SEC opponent at the half (the other two were 6-3 at Kentucky, 30-7 at No. 4 Alabama). The Bulldogs came back to beat Kentucky 13-12 after trailing 6-3 and lost to No. 4 Alabama 41-34 after falling behind 30-7 in the first half.
Beck threw two more interceptions in the opening 30 minutes. That gave him five in his past six quarters against no touchdowns – and had nearly as many incompletions (12) as completions (13).
The Bulldogs outgained Florida 222-150 in the first half, but the Gators scored 10 points on short fields off of Beck’s two turnovers. The first one came when Beck inexplicably threw into double-coverage for split end London Humphreys. Cornerback Devin Moore intercepted the pass and returned it to the Georgia 43.
Lagway would need one play to hit paydirt. Florida’s Aidan Mizell got behind Georgia safety Malaki Starks, who bit on a play-action fake, and trotted into the end zone with a perfectly thrown pass for a 43-yard touchdown. That put the Gators ahead 7-3.
Just two minutes after his first interception, Beck threw another one. This one was severely underthrown for Dillon Bell over the middle. Safety Aaron Gates returned the interception 30 yards down the field, setting up the Gators at midfield with 11:47 to go in the second quarter.
This time, the Gators needed 10 plays to score. They reached the Georgia 13 before the Bulldogs held and forced a 32-yard field goal. Trey Smack was happy to convert for a 10-3 Gators’ lead at the 7:22 mark.
The teams traded punts when Florida lost Lagway on what seemed like an ordinary play. Though there was no contact with Lagway’s lower extremities by Georgia’s KJ Bolden, the freshman quarterback immediately clutched his left leg. A medical cart eventually was sent on the field to retrieve Lagway, who appeared to have suffered a hamstring injury. With 5:01 remaining in the half, the Gators lost their starting quarterback for the second time this season.
While he didn’t have an opportunity to do much with his first two possessions, Warner looked like an experienced veteran on Florida’s final offensive series of the half. He led the Gators 40 yards in eight plays to set them up for a 53-yard field-goal attempt with three seconds remaining in the half. Smack made it with plenty of room to spare.
Smack’s kick was made possible in part because Beck couldn’t move Georgia’s offense its previous possession. Smart had brilliantly managed the clock, using all three timeouts with the Bulldogs on defense to get the ball back at the Florida 48 with 1:13 to go.
What did Beck do with that? After a first-down completion to Jones for 13 yards: incomplete, incomplete, incomplete (almost intercepted). Kicker Peyton Woodring bailed out the Bulldogs with a 53-yard field goal to cut the Florida lead to 10-6. But the 30-second possession gave the Gators time to score again.
Said Smart of Beck: “This a big game to him. We don’t win that game without Carson Beck, so.”
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