Fresh off of a bye week, the Georgia Bulldogs took down the Florida Gators in a close battle in Jacksonville, Florida. Georgia struggled on both sides of the ball throughout the first half, while Florida appeared to be making substantial moves until freshman quarterback DJ Lagway’s devastating game-ending injury.
In other words, Georgia was not playing its best, and until Lagway’s injury, Florida was playing better than they have been. Let’s break down the game.
Q1: Back and Forth Defensive Battle
Both teams sought to feel out the other on Georgia’s first drive. A combination of the strength of the Gators defense and several missed opportunities for completions on Georgia’s side forced the Bulldogs to give the ball back to the Gators early.
Florida’s DJ Lagway managed one complete pass to Aidan Mizell before being forced to run the ball on a third down. He was tackled by Georgia defensive back K.J. Bolden, and Florida kicker Jeremy Crawshaw punted the ball back to Georgia’s eleven-yard-line.
Georgia ultimately drove down to the one-yard-line where they were stopped by the Gator defense, forcing a 23-yard field goal, bringing the score to 3-0 Georgia.
Florida defense seemed to be out of position every play that Georgia ran, given that Georgia quarterback Carson Beck effortlessly completed pass after pass to wide-open receivers in the first quarter.
Q2: Georgia’s Confusion Allows Florida Gators to Take Lead Before DJ Lagway Injury
The second quarter got off to an exciting start with Florida quickly taking the lead after Devin Moore intercepted Carson Beck. On the very next play, Florida’s DJ Lagway took it to the house with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Aidan Mizell. Trey Smack kicked the extra point, bringing the score to 7-3 Florida.
Moore’s interception marked a significant turning point in the game for the Gators.
In another game-changing play, Carson Beck threw down the field seeking out receiver Dillon Bell, but the ball ended up in the hands of Florida defensive back Aaron Gates in yet another interception, giving the Gators another offensive opportunity.
While Lagway and the rest of the offense could not quite close the deal for another touchdown, Trey Smack kicked a 32-yard field goal putting Florida up 10-3.
Georgia’s next drive was dominated by Gator defense. Florida’s Derek Wingo sacked Carson Beck resulting in a loss on 3rd and six. The ball was ultimately punted back to Florida.
Just when Florida was starting to gain momentum on offense, DJ Lagway went down clutching his left leg in a first-down scramble. He was ultimately carted off the field surrounded by his teammates and with fans chanting his name. With veteran starter Graham Mertz out after injury against Tennessee and now Lagway out as well, the Gators brought in Yale transfer and Florida native Aidan Warner, a 3-star ranked redshirt freshman.
Both of Warner’s first two offensive drives were completely shut down by the Bulldog defense. When Georgia got the ball back, the offense drove into field goal range, where Peyton Woodring completed a 53-yard field goal, chipping away at Florida’s lead.
In his third drive of the game with less than a minute on the clock, Florida’s Warner drove the Gators 40 yards putting the Gators in field goal range. Trey Smack sealed the deal with a 53-yard kick, ending the 2nd quarter 13-6 Florida.
Q3: Georgia Surges Ahead
Carson Beck threw yet another interception to Florida’s Jack Pyburn to start the third quarter. That brings him to twelve total interceptions in the last five games. Unfortunately, Florida was not able to capitalize offensively resulting in another unsuccessful drive.
In the aftermath of their offensive struggles, Georgia utilized a series of misdirection plays to move the ball down the field, and the Bulldogs closed the deal with a 2-yard touchdown rush by Nate Frazier. With the extra point completed, Georgia tied the game, 13-13.
With the Gators back on offense, QB Aidan Warner drove into field goal range once again. In a disastrous moment for the Gators, a low snap on the field goal attempt resulted in Georgia recovering the ball on the Florida 36-yard-line.
This recovery resulted in Georgia surging ahead with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Cash Jones, the score now 20-13 Georgia.
Q4: Bulldog Victory Solidified
In spite of some struggles towards the end of the 3rd quarter, the Gators continued to put up a fight. Myles Graham sacked Carson Beck for a loss of 10 yards on 3rd and two.
Back on offense, the Florida momentum continued with a Ja’Kobi Jackson 15-yard touchdown rush to tie the game at 20-20.
A few plays later, Georgia answered back with a big 10-yard TD pass of their own to Dominic Lovett, moving the score to 27-20 Georgia.
Georgia took a hold of the game on the Gators’ first play of their next drive when Florida QB Aidan Warner threw a dime straight into the arms of Georgia’s CJ Allen.
That interception resulted in Georgia scoring again on a 4-yard TD rush by Dwight Phillips Jr., putting Florida’s hopes of an upset to rest. The final score was 34-20 Georgia.
Analysis:
This was a game filled with drama: most notably injuries and mistakes. There is no doubt that this game was closer than expected, as Georgia struggled at various moments and Florida played better than expected.
DJ Lagway’s injury marked the most devastating part of the game. The Florida Gators’ true-freshman quarterback had appeared to be finding his groove at the helm of the program after a huge 46-20 victory over Kentucky two weeks ago and some significant moments today indicating the improvement of an embattled Florida Gators Football program.
Gator fans could potentially argue that Florida would have upset Georgia if not for Lagway’s injury. There is no doubt that Lagway leaving the game took the wind out of Florida’s sails quite a bit. However, Florida putting up as much of a fight as they did against Georgia points to drastic improvement, given that this is the same team that lost to Miami, Texas A&M, and Tennessee earlier on in the season.
Lagway was not the only player that left the game with injury, as former Gator and current Bulldog Trevor Etienne limped to the locker room mid-game. He ultimately returned, but there appeared to be a lot of injuries across the board.
On the flip side, there is no doubt that Georgia struggled during the first half. There appeared to be a significant disconnect between Carson Beck and the rest of the Bulldog offense, evidenced by Beck’s multiple interceptions.
Either way, Georgia walks away with their 7th win on the season, and Florida walks away with their 4th loss.
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