Georgia uses defense to best Gators, 24-20
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The SEC East-leading Georgia Bulldogs played like the underdog and, for once in a blue moon, came out on top against the Florida Gators.
Florida managed just one first down in the second half and the Bulldogs’ came back from a 17-3 deficit to edge the Gators 24-20 here at EverBank Field on Saturday. The win was Georgia’s sixth in a row, snapped a three-game losing streak against Florida and was just the fourth in the last 22 years against one of their most bitter rivals.
With the victory, Georgia (6-2, 5-1 SEC) remains in at least a tie for first atop the SEC’s Eastern Division. South Carolina (6-1, 4-1), which holds the tiebreaker due to its 45-42 win in Athens in September, was playing Tennessee in Knoxville late Saturday night.
It was the fourth loss in a row for the Gators (4-4, 2-4), who are in their first year under coach Will Muschamp, a UGA graduate and football letterman. It’s the first time Florida has lost four consecutive games since 1988, when Georgia also handed it loss number four.
After giving up a 72-yard pass play on Florida’s first offensive play of the game, the Bulldogs bowed up to allow just 154 total yards the rest of the way, including 19 yards passing in the second half.
Georgia outside linebacker Jarvis Jones, who was named a Butkus Award finalists just this past week, recorded four of the Bulldogs’ six quarterback sacks in the game. John Brantley, who ended starting for the Gators, was 12-of-33 passing for 245 yards.
The Bulldogs scored two of their three touchdowns on fourth-down passes from quarterback Aaron Murray, one to freshman Michael Bennett and another to junior Tavarres King. Murray was 15-of-34 passing for 169 yards and threw one interception.
Tailback Richard Samuel recorded the other TD on a four-yard run in the fourth quarter and finished with 58 yards rushing in relief of injured starter Isaiah Crowell. The game ended after Samuel’s first-down run to the Gators’ 1-yard line.
Crowell missed most of the second half with a shin contusion but managed to finish with 81 yards on 18 carries.
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216 comments Add your comment
JB
October 29th, 2011
9:49 pm
Like we care about yours beanie.
BWG
October 29th, 2011
9:50 pm
The DAWGS own the GAYTORS!!!!!
Alex
October 29th, 2011
9:50 pm
Georgia’s defense played well but that was because Florida has no offense. No running game and a QB that couldn’t run or throw and they still scored 20 points on UGA. Auburn held Florida to 6 points.
This is a badly coached team across the board. Happy to beat the Gators for sure but Richt must go.
Reality Check
October 29th, 2011
9:50 pm
Why Cattle you hurt my feelings. Not.
I used an analogy you cow tipping dolt. The one from Lewis Grizzard above is better, though.
Go Dawgs. Jacket Fever go home.
JB
October 29th, 2011
9:51 pm
Agree Alex
UGA Alumnus
October 29th, 2011
9:51 pm
Go Dawgs!!!
To all you pathetic fans lamenting this win over Florida because it wasn’t as pretty as you wanted… first of all, get a life… second of all, do your selves a favor and enjoy the win! There is absolutely no point in not enjoying it.
We won! Go dance in the streets!
WE WON!!!!
GO DAWGS!!!
JB
October 29th, 2011
9:52 pm
Auburn will be a lot harder game to win than this was today.
NY Dawg
October 29th, 2011
9:52 pm
I dont care what the team did wrong. I am just going to enjoy this. GO DAWGS!
Bag with one bag over head
October 29th, 2011
9:52 pm
Samuel showed us something that’s been lost for many years. Fire, determination, and a refusal to lose, something Dooley’s teams brought every game. Hopefully this attitude will be contagious the rest of the year. Great win against a hated rival.
crusher dawg
October 29th, 2011
9:53 pm
How is Samuel??????????????????????
7576DAWG
October 29th, 2011
9:53 pm
Georgia Tech is handing Clemson their hat tonight. The triple option is very hard to defend especially if the QB came throw the ball and Georgia always gives up a ton of yards against that offense. I hope we are learning something because Georgia Tech is going to give Georgia all they want this year. We had better be ready. Grantham will certainly earn his money that night.
romedawg3
October 29th, 2011
9:54 pm
Great to have the win. however, CMR needs to look at someone else to take the snaps. AM miseed guys wide open all day. The two 4th down catches was just great catches by two talented athlets. The throws weren’t pretty. If some how we win the SEC east,either BAMA or LSU will crush us. We are probaly the 4th best team in the west. i’m still glad we won. Go DAWGS!!!!
mike addington
October 29th, 2011
9:55 pm
Agree Alex pitiful excuse of head coaching to still be unprepared after 10 years. No special teams coach? Are you kidding me!!!!
Jonas Grumby
October 29th, 2011
9:55 pm
Alex, the defense had nothing to do with 7 of those points. And another 3 were from point blank range. If you’re going to fire negativity, at least aim in the right direction.
Desert Dawg
October 29th, 2011
9:55 pm
JB, won = won. CMR certainly needs to adjust and as things go I for one can see that he is doing that. Did he exhibit real cojones tonight? Yes, no one can doubt that. Yes, the offense played flat, but they played at a higher level of flat. Just good enough, but much less than they are capable of.
CMR has defense handled, give him credit for improvement. He certainly needs to put a hell of a lot more work into Special Teams and the O line.
I’ll take the win. The UGA team that won tonight would have beat Boise State. We are much improved, but we admittedly have a way to go. Onwards and upwards. Go Dawgs!
Scrap3000
October 29th, 2011
9:56 pm
Most of these post are really full of bull. The bulldogs played a really game both ways except for special teams… Bobo called a good game tonight….Richard Samuels showed up this game, but the freshman was still the leading rusher… Good game dogs….
Bigdsel
October 29th, 2011
9:58 pm
I will take this win over gaytards. And hope dawgs special team at gets better. But I have to say richard Samuel stepped up when we needed him the most. He is a DGD
RichtRedeemed
October 29th, 2011
9:59 pm
It wasn’t pretty, not by a longshot, but a win over Florida is a great win for UGA not matter what the circumstances. I’m usually very critical and I was about to have a freaking embolysm tonight but DAMN IT FEELS GREAT TO BE A DAWG! But to the person who said that they have supposrted Bobo and insinuated that if we don’t support him that we aren’t “REAL Dawg fans,” only a koolaide drinking fool would think that Bobo is the best OC for UGA. A real dawg would want whats best for the team. I am a “REAL Dawg fan” and have been since I could understand what football was but Mike Bobo is an uninventive, predictable, liability as an offensive coordinator and UGA would be far better off with someone else. We’d be 1-6 with Willie at DC if he was still here. Watching the game tonight I could guess what 80-90% of the playcalling was going to be. If I can guess then you better damn well bet your tush that the opposition can. The call on 3rd at the end of the game was his best playcall of his life and I’ll give him props, but he needs to go.
RichtRedeemed
October 29th, 2011
10:00 pm
And Richard Samuel deserves an ice cold pop after that effort tonight, I hope is isn’t too badly injured.
Hairy Perry
October 29th, 2011
10:00 pm
Tech fans will be on here in full force bragging about their win over the Clemson “PAPER” Tigers.
Hairy Perry
October 29th, 2011
10:01 pm
Uh Oh here comes Clemson.
GulfShoresALDawg
October 29th, 2011
10:02 pm
Samuel, you made my DAY! What fire and effort! Proud of all my DAWGS! It is about time the SEC West is good again, they were down for so long it is nice to have some grade A competition again! We thrive on it!
Loyal Dawg
October 29th, 2011
10:03 pm
Yes! Yes! YEEEEESSSSS! My apologies to the Gator fans, I just had to let that out.
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
October 29th, 2011
10:03 pm
miamidawg: Put a sock in it. We won and did so without several key players that were either partially or complete out. A real DAWG fan wouldn’t come out with your type BS under the circumstances. We won’t worry about LSU or Bama until we get in a position where wqe will be playing them. Or maybe you think we should just lay down and lose the remaining games so we won’t have to face those bada$$es from the West Division.
mississippa dawg
October 29th, 2011
10:07 pm
20 million in SEC revenue and 90million in tee shirt sales etc. and we cant hire a full time special teams coach. bobo u are terrible
Allison
October 29th, 2011
10:07 pm
Proud and happy for my DAWGS. I am going to enjoy this one. Why do so many people feel the need to be negative on here. GO DAWGS!
Loyal Dawg
October 29th, 2011
10:08 pm
No way TROLLS are going to bother me right now. No way.
Paul
October 29th, 2011
10:10 pm
Congrats to the Dawgs.
Defense: Had dinner with a neighbor last weekend who is a die hard gator. He was wondering about the the suspensions. I told him the D has a next man up attitude this year are will not be making any excuses. I told him J Jones is the best player we have period. He was not sure who Jones was. I am sure he knows now. Defense played very well. Lovin the size and strength of our DB’s. (minus B. Smith). All of the linebackers have been stepping up for weeks.
Offense: Not sure about Murray sometimes. He should get pulled a series here and there to keep him on his B-game. Actually, he stunk today. Not sure what is up with Crowell. Is he hurt or not???
Play every freshman we have on offense. They seem to be able to catch the ball and make plays.
Where the hell is Gatormeat now
October 29th, 2011
10:11 pm
Crickets chirping.
Fan
October 29th, 2011
10:13 pm
Dawgs are getting there. The Defense is starting to look dominate again.
Started to get concerned when Bobo thought he could run the clock our with 7 minutes left.
mike addington
October 29th, 2011
10:13 pm
I want to know what happened to the well-coached teams of Richt’s early years and those of the last few years. Happy as heck that we won and very proud of R. Samuel, but Murray was terrible, Crowell is a girl, and spec teams should always be considered an integral part of the team. for us to not even have a spec tm coach is just plain STUPID
Brainiac(Dawg for life/Richt fan for life)
October 29th, 2011
10:15 pm
Richtredeemed: Perhaps you would like to apply for Bobo’s position since you obviously could do a better job. You can tell the REAL dawg fabs. Any win over Florida is a good win Bobo’s play calling, in my humble opinion, was pretty damn good. Murray, however, missed on way too many passes as he has done on a regular basis this year but we won so lets not throw a bunch of negatives at the dawgs and coaches and enjoy a well deserved win.
Snoop Dawg
October 29th, 2011
10:15 pm
Great Dawg victory ove our most hated rivals.
It was ugly, though. Because of the incompetent coaching.
The players deserve all the credit. Erk Russell is proud of Richard Samuel and JJ tonight.
Richt and Bobo suck, though. They need to be fired a couple of years ago. Even more now.
I don’t understand why the double wide bible crowd is so blind on these idiots… They are holding the prgram back. Let’s get a real head ball coach instead of a logo CEO.
Mike Slive
October 29th, 2011
10:16 pm
My worst nightmare is coming true. UGA is still in the hunt. Damn you Boise State!
Jeff Sanders
October 29th, 2011
10:16 pm
Res Dog 77…don’t even go there comparing Grantham to GREAT ERK RUSSELL. I played on thr 76 SEC Chanpionship team. As a defensive tackle The GREAT ERK RUSSELLeas not only our Defensive Cordinator, but my position Coach as well. There will never be another ERK RUSSELL!
mississippa dawg
October 29th, 2011
10:17 pm
Maybe its just me but when s. cackillacky loses and we over take the east. bama ur gonna have to prove to me u can run on me. i may be wrong but uve gotta prove it.
Aaron Murray
October 29th, 2011
10:18 pm
The balls was slipping today. I will bring back the glove next week.
Jeff Sanders
October 29th, 2011
10:18 pm
Ray Goff is that really you? Ur old buddy and teamate Jeffro.
ATLBAMAFAN
October 29th, 2011
10:18 pm
Hey, congrats UGA fans. What an ugly win, but I bet it feels great doesn’t it?
Aaron Murray
October 29th, 2011
10:20 pm
Suck it Bama fans.
Spike 80DF
October 29th, 2011
10:20 pm
great to get the win…BUT anyone that thinks we’re a good team is just delusional. the Gators gave the game away like we usually do down there. please don’t extend Richts contract….
LOYAL DAWG
October 29th, 2011
10:22 pm
Spike 80DF, why can’t you just enjoy a win? Geeez.
Blair Walsh
October 29th, 2011
10:23 pm
I am really stressed. I don’t know what I am going to do after college if I can’t kick field goals. Any suggestions???
CHDawg
October 29th, 2011
10:23 pm
Richard Samuel impressed me in the Vandy game; he made me a big time fan tonight. What heart and effort! Great effort from both teams. You had to be impressed with Brantley’s effort on a messed up ankle, too. The D played great. The O looked like we had a lot of blown routes. Murray played with tremendous heart, too. Don’t forget that UF has a very talented D. Nobody does well against LSU and UA. Florida is better than their recent record shows. If you look at the Gator season until Brantley got hurt, they did extremely well. The second half of Bama through our kickoff, Brantley was out and they don’t have a backup ready. He was hurt tonight, when he gets better, they should have a very strong finish. Now, Conley was impressive, along with a great catch out of Bennett and King, one each for TDs. Our D played as well as I have seen in a long time. OTOH, our special teams did worse than I can ever remember. What on earth happened. Cut out the special teams mistakes and we would have won 30-7. Great victory. Congrats Dawgs!
ATLBAMAFAN
October 29th, 2011
10:24 pm
Very classy Aaron Murray (TROLL).
strawdawg
October 29th, 2011
10:24 pm
Bitter taste ,the grammar rule is i before e except after c. c’mon “reciever” really? You have just been schooled!
Aaron Murray
October 29th, 2011
10:29 pm
Gonna get a “G” tattoo on my chest tonight in J-ville. Will send out the tweet later.
Murray
October 29th, 2011
10:29 pm
Joe is a pansy!
Bean Counter
October 29th, 2011
10:30 pm
Samuel played the best game of his life. He put the team on his back in the third quarter.
In the 60’s and 70’s we had a cheer that needs to be brought back — DAMN GOOD DEFENSE!!!
LOYAL DAWG
October 29th, 2011
10:30 pm
Trolls can’t spell.