After playing a first half filled with the same mishaps that exemplified the program’s games against Florida in the 90s, No. 6 Georgia looked up at the scoreboard at the end of the game and saw a score that resembled one of the finals from that decade. No. 8 Florida got five touchdowns from Tim Tebow, two passing and three running, and beat Georgia 49-10.
With all of the anticipation and hype surrounding the game, both teams started off jittery. False starts occurred and neither squad’s running game had success early in the first quarter. However, Georgia got its offense on track before Florida did. Thanks to the play-action passing of Matthew Stafford, the Bulldogs took advantage of a Gator defense keying on Knowshon Moreno. Mohamed Massaquoi and tight end Bruce Figgins had big catches on Georgia’s third possession of the game, as the Bulldogs made it as far as the Florida 10-yard line. But Georgia’s drive stalled and Blair Walsh missed a 37-yard field goal, the first of two misses.
Florida’s offense got going thanks to Percy Harvin. Harvin had a reception of 20 yards and a rush of 18 yards before he scored the game’s first touchdown, a 13-yard run after a pitch from Tebow. As usual, Tebow had success on short-yardage situations, converting key first downs and scoring the game’s second touchdown on a fourth-and-goal at the 1 with 7:26 to go in the second quarter to put Florida up 14-3. After another Bulldog drive made it as far as the Gator 6-yard line, Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal. He was 1-for-3 on field goals for the day and Georgia was 2-for-4 in red zone opportunities. Stafford failed to connect with a wide open Tripp Chandler in the end zone before Walsh’s last miss.
Missed field goals and red-zone troubles were just some of Georgia’s misfortunes in the first half. Head coach Mark Richt guessed wrong on an instant replay challenge and called a failed onsides kick that resulted in Florida’s second touchdown drive. Also, a Prince Miller interception could have halted the Gators’ first scoring drive, but the play was negated thanks to an illegal hands to the face call on Bulldog defensive end Jarius Wynn. Here are some other areas where Georgia came up short in the loss to Florida.
1. Taking Tebow Out: For the most part, despite giving up 49 points, Georgia’s defense did its job against the vaunted Florida offense. Both Chris Rainey and Jeffrey Demps each gained less than 20 yards on the ground, and Harvin was relatively quiet (when the game was in doubt) after his first quarter outburst, but Tebow was his usual self. The quarterback’s ability to pick up first downs on short-yardage situations prolonged Florida scoring drives. Tebow converted a third- or fourth-and-short on three of the first five Gator scoring drives, while rushing for short touchdowns on the other two possessions.
2. Turnover Battle: If it was not a missed field goal that ended a Bulldog drive, it was a turnover. Georgia came out of halftime trailing 14-3, but appeared to be on the verge of cutting the Florida lead to one possession. On their opening drive of the second half, Stafford connected with Massaquoi, A.J. Green and Chandler on big pass plays and Moreno had an 18-yard rush, as the Bulldogs moved from their own 2-yard line to the Gators’ 30. That is when Florida defensive back Joe Haden intercepted Stafford and raced to the Georgia 1 to set up a Tebow rushing score. Later, Moreno fumbled at the Georgia 25 with the Bulldogs down 28-3 to set up another Florida score. For the game, Stafford threw three interceptions and Georgia lost the turnover battle 4-0.
3. Championships: After suffering the early-season loss to Alabama, a national title shot for Georgia was far from certain. But the Bulldogs controlled their own destiny when it came to winning the SEC East and SEC Championship. Now, after falling to the Gators, the Bulldogs’ best hope of winning the East and playing for an SEC title is to win the rest of their conference games and hope Florida loses to Vanderbilt and South Carolina. The Bulldogs’ aspirations of a national championship are all but over.
Stafford finished the game completing 18 of 33 passes for 267 yards and three interceptions. Moreno had 16 carries for 75 yards. Massaquoi had five catches for 114 yards and Green had five grabs for 92 yards. Georgia’s last score came on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Joe Cox to Aron White. The Bulldogs next play at Kentucky on Saturday.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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