5 biggest takeaways: Gators still alive in the SEC East race

The Florida Gators pulled off one of the more improbable upsets of the weekend with a 38-20 upset over the No. 11 ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Thanks to a punishing run game, Florida ran away with the 2014 edition of this annual SEC East rivalry.

Here are the five biggest takeaways from Florida’s huge win this weekend in Jacksonville, Fla.

• Will Muschamp lives to fight another day — Heading into the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, Muschamp’s fate was all but decided. He was going to lose badly to UGA and subsequently be fired either this next week or at the end of the season. Well, the Gators and Muschamp clearly had different plans. The dominating win erased any doubt about Muschamp staying until the end of the season and could ultimately save his job. The Gators now have some confidence and momentum swinging their way into their final four games. If Florida pulls off a strong finish, Gator Nation may be seeing more of Muschamp after this season.
• Treon Harris will have more opportunities to pass — The true freshman quarterback and de facto “savior” of the Florida offense didn’t get much opportunity to make plays against Georgia. Of course, the Gators didn’t really need him. He only threw six passes on Saturday, but Muschamp made it clear to his quarterback that he shouldn’t expect low passing attempts in the future. Yes, the Gators will heavily lean on the run moving forward, but more than likely Saturday’s performance was more of the exception rather than the rule.
• Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor capable of carrying the offense — Florida was desperately searching for playmakers within its offense and the coaches may have found some in Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor. Gator fans have seen spurts of greatness from both Jones and Taylor at times the past few seasons, but Saturday may have been the first time both players were at their best in the same game. The results are certainly encouraging moving forward for an offense that will look for its running game to pace the unit.
• Jeremy Foley made a statement in favor of Muschamp — With how much patience Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley showed Muschamp following a 4-8 season in 2013 and an embarrassing home loss to Missouri a few weeks ago, it’s clear how much he likes Muschamp. During Muschamp’s biggest win at Florida, Foley made a statement in support of his head coach by going down to the sidelines in the fourth quarter. He knew the cameras would find him at some point. The fact that the television audience got to see him celebrating with those around him on the UF sideline as the Gators finished off their upset over Georgia speaks volumes.
• Gators are still in the SEC East race — Yes, it’s a long shot but the Gators are still in this thing, which is incredible in itself. They’ll need some help, mainly from Auburn and Tennessee, but the possibility is there. The most likely scenario is a three-way tie between Florida, Georgia and Missouri. With the head-to-head matchups split, the next tiebreaker goes to the team with a better record within the SEC East. If Missouri loses two out of three games (one of which has to be to Tennessee) and Georgia loses one more SEC game, the Gators would own the best SEC East record out of those three with a 5-1 record compared to a 4-2 record for Georgia and Missouri. Of course all of this is also predicated on Florida winning its two remaining SEC games, but matchups against Vanderbilt and South Carolina should go in the Gators’ favor.

Drew Laing

Drew Laing will be providing analysis and insight on Florida, Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina.