No. 22 Georgia Hands Gators 24-20 Loss
JACKSONVILLE,
Fla. - The 22nd-ranked Georgia Bulldogs used a second half comeback to
defeat the Florida Gators 24-20 in front of a boisterous crowd of
84,524 fans and nationally televised audience. With the win, Georgia
improves to 6-2 on the year and 5-1 in the Southeastern Conference.
Florida dropped its fourth-straight game to fall to 4-4 overall,
including a 2-4 mark in SEC play.
Quarterback Aaron Murray
finished with 169 yards and two touchdowns on 15-of-34 passing.
Tavarres King led the Bulldogs through the air with three catches for
44 yards and a touchdown. Michael Bennett also recorded a touchdown.
Isaiah Crowell finished with 81 yards on 18 carries to lead the team on
the ground. Richard Samuel finished with 58 yards on 17 carries a
touchdown.
Jarvis Jones led the team defensively, with five
tackles, including four sacks for 27 yards. He also forced a fumble. As
a team, Georgia recorded six sacks. Bacarri Rambo and Shawn Williams
each recovered a fumble that resulted in a Georgia touchdown.
"I
know that this was just a ballgame, but it felt like a lot more than
that. We were able to get a few turnovers in the Florida territory and
we made some clutch plays to win this game. I'm proud of the guys who
stepped up and made plays. My goal was to get them to focus on their
job and focus on playing for 60 minutes and come out with a win. I'm
glad we were able to do that today."
After trailing 17-3,
Georgia fought its way back, scoring two fourth down touchdowns to tie
the game at 17 midway through the third quarter.
The first
fourth down touchdown was set up by a fumble recovery by Rambo at the
Florida 25-yard line. On fourth-and-five, Murray found Bennett in the
end zone that made it a seven-point game at 17-10.
With six
minutes left in the third quarter, Jones forced another Gator fumble,
this time at the Florida 18. Murray threw again on fourth down, this
time connecting with King for a 14-yard touchdown that tied the game at
17.
The lead didn't last long, as Florida's Andre Debose
returned the kickoff 63 yards. The Georgia defense held strong,
limiting the Gators to just a field goal that put Florida back on top
20-17.
The Bulldogs put together a nine-play, 45-yard drive to
take a 24-20 lead that they would never relinquish. During the drive,
Samuel picked up 23 yards, including a four-yard touchdown run.
Florida
jumped out to 17-3 lead in the first half, with the only Georgia points
coming from a 32-yard Blair Walsh field goal. One Florida touchdown
came off a 99-yard kickoff return by Jeff Demps.
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