After another game-winning trip to Jacksonville, the Georgia Bulldogs face their biggest test of the fall on Saturday.
No. 3 Georgia (8-0, 5-0 SEC) hosts the most anticipated showdown of the weekend on Saturday when they take on No. 1 Tennessee (8-0, 4-0 SEC). The Bulldogs are coming off a 42-20 win over Florida last week; Tennessee, meanwhile, held off Kentucky 44-6.
The Bulldogs took a big lead over the Gators last week and then had to finish strong to avoid a comeback.
Georgia settled after 17 unanswered points from Florida in the third quarter as they fought back with two straight touchdowns to keep the Gators at bay. Georgia’s must-have drives late in the third quarter and early in the fourth followed a strong first half in which the Bulldogs dominated and all but eliminated the Gators.
The Gators came out of halftime 25 behind, but quickly made it clear the game was not over.
Florida found success on its first drive and played its ground game hard on a long 13-play, 75-yard drive that ended in Trevor Etienne reaching the end zone on a 3-yard touchdown run with 9:34 left in the third quarter. The Gators got the ball back after a play by the Bulldogs – which ended in Kenny McIntosh fumbling the football – and moved the ball well again, but the Bulldogs defense folded to force a field goal.
Adam Mihalek’s 26-yard field goal cut Georgia’s lead to 28-13 with 6:07 left in the game.
Georgia was still in control, but another mistake on their next possession really gave the Gators hope for a comeback.
Stetson Bennet threw his second interception of the game and the Gators quickly struck back. Facing a third and a 6 on the Florida 22, Anthony Richardson found ball carrier Xzavier Henderson alone on the right sideline for a score of 78 yards.
Suddenly, what looked like a sure win for Georgia was an 8-point game with just over 18 minutes left.
To the Bulldogs’ credit, they got rid of their mistakes and got back to work.
Bennett hit Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint with a 19-yard hold to close in on forward midfield Daijun Edwards escaped for a 20-yard run. Edwards capped the drive two plays later by finding a hole in the middle and taking off for a 22-yard touchdown run.
Edwards’ key carry to the end zone pushed Georgia to a 35-20 lead with 35 seconds left in the third.
Florida had rolled offensively after the game’s intermission, but Georgia rose to the challenge after Edwards scored. The Gators went to their own 48-yard line before the Bulldogs locked down, resulting in an incomplete pass on fourth down to return the ball to Georgia.
With a chance to knockout one of their biggest rivals, Georgia capitalized.
Florida defender Brenton Cox jumped offside on a fourth down, which gave Bennett a free play that allowed the super senior quarterback to hit Brock Bowers on the right sideline for a gain of 29 yards. Kenny McIntosh closed the book on the drive on the next play by pushing forward for a 4-yard touchdown run.
McIntosh’s second score of the afternoon gave the Bulldogs a 22-point lead with 11:44 left in the game.
Saturday’s game between Georgia and Tennessee really marks the first time this year that multiple writers have picked against the Bulldogs. Here is the full prediction recap for the game: