JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In a game that was more a survival of the fittest than a Georgia-Florida classic, the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs overcame another rough outing by quarterback Carson Beck and came from behind to score a 34-20 victory over the resurgent Gators.
Georgia overcame three more interceptions by Beck — that’s six in the past two games — but saw the senior from Jacksonville throw two second-half touchdown passes as the Bulldogs’ rallied from a 10-3 second-quarter deficit to record their fourth consecutive victory over archrival Florida.
The final score belies what a hard-fought, closely contested game this was. The game did not turn until the Bulldogs scored the final 14 points in the final four minutes of play.
A seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive highlighted by Beck’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Dominic Lovett on a third down broke a 20-20 tie with 4:01 to play.
That was followed 14 seconds later by Georgia linebacker CJ Allen’s interception of the Gators’ third-string quarterback Aidan Warner. Aided by a tripping penalty against Florida, the Bulldogs took over at the Florida 7 and scored two plays later on Dwight Phillips’ 4-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep right. In less than one minute, Georgia turned a tie score into a 14-point lead.
Able to secure victory from there, the Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 SEC) defeated their SEC archrivals for a fourth year in a row for the first time since the 1983 season. They’ll head to Oxford, Mississippi, to take on No. 19 Ole Miss on Saturday. The Rebels (7-2, 2-2) annihilated Arkansas 63-31 on Saturday in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“That was a tough one; we didn’t play our best game,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “The difference in the game was the second half, obviously. The difference in the game was our fans gave us some momentum and energy. You can’t turn the ball over and beat good teams, and Florida is a much-improved team.”
In its third season under coach, Florida falls to 4-4 and 2-3 in league play. The Gators are on the road at Texas next week.
“The objective today was to come here and put fanatical effort on the field,” Napier said. “We wanted to ramp up the intensity. We wanted to play with better effort. We wanted to out-finish, out-compete, out-hustle, out-physical, and we knew there would be poise and composure needed. We knew there would be momentum in the game that would challenge the resiliency of the team. Certainly that was the case.”
Beck finished 25-of-40 passing for 309 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. His six picks in the past two games are the same number he threw in 14 games last season. He has 18 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions for the season.
“I made two bad decisions,” said Beck, who had 11 consecutive completions at one point in the second half. “I was trying to make a play, scrambled out and didn’t see the guy underneath. Probably should have gone to the check-down on the second one. The third one I get hit while I’m throwing. … No matter what, I’m gonna keep coming.”
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