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Georgia football: Grading the Bulldogs after beating Florida in Week 9

Tom Brew

By Tom Brew

Published:


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When you’re an elite college football team, taking a loss is tough to swallow. And when a bye week follows, those negative feelings get exacerbated easily, and doubt seeps in.

That’s what it’s been like around Athens after Georgia lost by 20 to LSU two weeks ago and then had to listen to criticism through the bye week. But all they did was go back to work and get better. They proved that Saturday with a convincing 36-17 win over Florida in Jacksonville, and can now win the SEC East with a win at Kentucky next Saturday.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Here’s what I liked — and didn’t like — about the Bulldogs’ win over Florida:

What I liked

Welcome back, D’Andre Swift

No one benefitted more from the bye week than running back D’Andre Swift. He’s been hampered by groin and ankle injuries for much of the year, but the rest seemed to do him good on Saturday. He looked refreshed, and his quickness was back. He had 12 carries for 104 yards — the first 100-yard game of his career — and had three runs of 20 yards or more, including a 33-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to put the game away. It was nice to have his explosiveness back, and it was a positive sign going forward.

Defense makes a statement in second half

After Florida scored a touchdown on its opening drive in the third quarter to take a 14-13 lead, Georgia’s defense buckled down and only allowed one field goal the rest of the way, keeping the Gators down while the offense ran away with it in a 19-point win. Florida went punt, fumble, field goal, punt, turnover on downs the rest of the way, and gained only 78 yards in the final 28 minutes. Issues from earlier — no pass rush, getting gashed in the running game — all went away after Florida had grabbed that lead. Georgia needs its defense to play great, and they did for almost all of the second half.

Fromm impressive again in 2-minute situation

After keeping the ball on the ground for most of the first half, Georgia went no-huddle on the final drive before halftime and immediately got results. Quarterback Jake Fromm completed his first five passes for 72 yards and got a field goal at the end to take a 13-7 lead into the locker room. Fromm was good all day, but every time I see him be so successful on these 2-minute drills — he did the same thing at Missouri — I always wonder why Georgia doesn’t play up-tempo more often. It sure seems to work.

What I didn’t like

Poor clock management to end the half

Georgia went punt, punt, punt on three consecutive 3-and-out possessions in the second quarter, letting Florida hang around in a 10-7 game. So when they got the ball back in the closing minute of the second quarter, it was important to get some points, especially since Florida got the ball first in the third quarter. But Georgia coach Kirby Smart brain-cramped on Florida’s last possession and didn’t use a timeout to stop the clock, wasting 40 seconds that Georgia could have really used. Fromm moved them downfield quickly, but they had to settle for a field on second down. Those extra 40 seconds probably cost Georgia four points. Smart has to be better with that. There’s no reason to head to the locker room with two timeouts in your back pocket.

Not being able to score from the 1-yard line on six tries

Granted, Florida’s defensive front is very good, but there is absolutely no reason for Georgia not scoring a touchdown after six tries at it from the 1-yard line. The situation was perfect. Georgia had buried Florida at the 1-yard line with a punt and then QB Feleipe Franks fumbled on the first play and Georgia took over at the 1. Three plays failed, but Florida was whistled for pass interference on third down and Georgia got a fresh set of downs. Three plays later, they still couldn’t get it in the end zone and had to settle for a field goal. That failure is on everyone, the offensive line, the backs and Fromm, and most especially, the coaching staff. There needs to be goal-line plays that work, and it didn’t happen Saturday. This must be fixed immediately, because this situation is going to come up again.

Tom Brew

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist and author who is covering SEC football for Saturday Down South.

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