Jake Fromm Shines in Cocktail Party
*Series History/Ranked Matchup Again: No. 8 Georgia’s 24-17 win over No. 6 Florida gave the Bulldogs their third straight win in the series (for the first time since 2011-13) and now the Bulldogs are 4-3 all-time when both teams are ranked in the top 10. This was the second straight year it was a top 10 matchup. The Bulldogs, currently ranked No. 8, lead the all-time series now 53-43-2. Bulldog coach Kirby Smart is 7-3 against top 10 teams in his career including 2-0 this year and 2-0 versus UF when both are in the top 10.
*Scoring Defense: Coming in today, Georgia led the SEC and ranked 5th nationally in scoring defense (10.6 points per game). The Gators were held to 17 points (14 coming in the 4thquarter) and and 278 yards of total offense on 52 plays. They came in averaging at least 400 total yards through its first eight games this year.
In the first half, Florida ran 20 plays for 114 yards (8-rushing, 106-passing) and was held to three points as Georgia led 13-3. The Gators were 0-for-4 on third down and finished 2-for-9 on the day. The Bulldogs are fifth nationally in rushing defense allowing just 85.7 yards a game, and the Gators had just 21 yards.
Georgia’s leading tackler was junior Monty Rice with nine stops. Redshirt freshman Azeez Ojulari registered a sack for a loss of 10, and he leads the team this season with 4.5 for 35 yards. On the opening possession, UF had 4th-and-1 at the UGA40 and the defense forced an incomplete pass with a breakup by junior Richard LeCounte, ending a seven play, 35-yard drive that took 3:59. Georgia had a 19-yard sack in the third quarter by Jordan Davis and Malik Herring.
The Bulldogs took a 16-3 lead to the fourth quarter. Georgia had allowed just 7 points in the fourth quarter all year (Notre Dame) until the Gators TDs today, the first with13:51 left in the contest to make it 16-10 Bulldogs. It was a nine play, 80-yard drive in 3:58. Georgia responded with a TD-drive of its own (7 plays, 75 yards in 3:50) and two-point conversion and UF answered with another TD drive (17 plays, 75-yards in 6:50) to make it 24-17 with 3:11 left to play. Then, the Bulldogs ran out the clock to preserve the win.
*Fromm Directs Offense To Another Win Over UF:Junior QB Jake Fromm improved to 3-0 against the Gators in his career, joining Johnny Rauch (4-0 from1945-48), Buck Belue (3-1 from 1979-81) and Aaron Murray (3-1 from 2010-13) as the only Bulldog quarterbacks with at least three wins in starts over Florida. He finished 20-for-30 for 279 yards and 2 TDs with no INTs. The offense compiled 398 yards on 67 plays.
In the first half, Fromm was11-for-19 for 103 yards and one TD. Also, Georgia was 8-for-11 on third downs. The lone TD-drive covered 10 plays and 59 yards in 6:19. On Georgia’s first drive, the Bulldogs went 4-for-5 on third down. Georgia’s final scoring drive of the first half was setup by a season-high 27-yard kickoff return by senior Brian Herrien and then a 30-yard scamper by D’Andre Swift. It was capped by a 37-yard field goal by Blankenship and a 13-3 advantage. Graduate Lawrence Cager caught a 52-yard touchdown with 10:01 left that gave him seven catches for 132 yards, all career highs.
*Receiving Leaders: Graduate Lawernce Cager enjoyed a career afternoon. He caught a 52-yard touchdown from Jake Fromm with 10:01 left that gave him seven catches for 132 yards, all career highs. They connected on a two-point conversion to make it 24-10. It capped a 7 play, 75-yard drive in 3:50. It was Georgia’s first successful two-point conversion since the 2017 SEC Championship Game win over Auburn.
*Rushing Leader Gets The Win Again:For the 14thstraight year in the series, the team with the most rushing yards got the victory as Georgia outgained Florida 119 to 21. Junior D’Andre Swift had a game-high 86 yards on 25 attempts.
*Blankenship’s Afternoon Graduate PK Rodrigo Blankenship went 3-for-3 on field goals and had 1 PAT with five touchbacks on six kickoffs. The field goals covered 31, 37 and 27 yards. He moved up to sixth in SEC history for Career Scoring with 389 points For the year, he is 15-for-17 in field goals and 68-for-81 in his career.
*Red Zone Numbers: In the first half,Georgia went 3-for-3 (1 TD, 2 Field Goals) in the Red Zone. UF did not get in the Red Zone. Coming in today, Georgia ranked second in the SEC in Red Zone offense, scoring 97 percent of the time while Florida leads in Red Zone defense. The Bulldogs are second in the SEC in Red Zone defense. The Bulldogs finished 4-for-4 in the Red Zone while the Gators were 1-for-1.
*For Starters & Game Captains:Graduate DB Jake Reed now has a team-high 37 consecutive starts for the defense while junior QB Jake Fromm leads the offense with 36 consecutive starts. Today’s game captains were Reed, Fromm and D’Andre Swift.
*Up Next: No. 8 Georgia (7-1, 4-1 SEC) will play host to Missouri (5-3, 2-2 SEC) Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.