Georgia punches back in decisive drive against Florida

Georgia coach Kirby Smart called it the drive of the year.

The Bulldogs had possession after yielding a 78-yard touchdown pass that had pulled Florida to within 28-20 after opening the third quarter with 17 straight points, largely in part of two Georgia turnovers.

The Bulldogs’ 28-3 halftime lead was now in jeopardy when they took possession on their 22-yard line with 3:25 left in the quarter on Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla.

But instead of collapsing, the Bulldogs drove 78 yards in just six plays, with Daijun Edwards’ 22-yard burst up the middle pushing the lead to 35-20 with 35 seconds left in the quarter.

The Bulldogs ran the ball five times for 57 yards, as quarterback Stetson Bennett’s lone pass a 19-yard completion over the middle to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint.

“We faced resiliency, stared it in the eye and we didn’t blink,” Smart said. “There was a time there when we lost momentum. That’s happened to us more this year than it did last year. We bounced back. I was really proud of the players.

“There’s two things (that happen) when adversity hits: you fracture or you connect. Our team connected.”

And connect they did — the Bulldogs forced Florida to turn the ball over on downs on its next possession before driving 49 yards in just eight plays, with Kenny McIntosh’s 4-yard run with 11:44 left in the game punctuating a 42-20 win.

In its fifth win over the Gators in the past six years, Georgia rolled up 555 yards of total offense, its most ever against the Gators, eclipsing the 502 it amassed in 1976.

The Bulldogs are 8-0, marking the first time in school history they’re unbeaten through eight games in consecutive seasons.

They’ve won 23 straight regular-season games, including their last 16 SEC games.

But what does that mean going forward? Very little if the Bulldogs fall to No. 2 Tennessee (8-0, 4-0) with first place in the SEC East Division on the line on Saturday in Athens.

“We know it is going to be a big game, but we can’t treat it like it is the last game of the season,” Georgia defensive lineman Zion Logue said. “We have to treat it like it is another game. Prepare like any other week and not stress anything and not override anything.”

Georgia has dominated the Volunteers recently, winning the teams’ past five meeting by an average of 28 points, including a 41-17 beatdown in Knoxville last year.

But Tennessee has emerged as the country’s most improved team and can take a big step towards securing its first berth in the SEC title game since 2007 with a win on Saturday.

“Every game is a huge game for us,” said Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, who had five receptions for a career-high 154 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown, against Florida.

While Georgia’s defense is ranked second in points allowed (10.5), fifth in rushing (85.5 ypg), third in first downs allowed (105) and 13th in passing yards allowed (177.1 ypg), it hasn’t faced an offense that is nearly as potent as what Tennessee will bring to Sanford Stadium on Saturday.

Behind Hendon Hooker, who has completed 71.2 percent of his passes for 2,338 yards with 21 touchdowns and an interception, the Volunteers are first nationally in total offense, averaging 553 yards per game, just ahead of Georgia’s 530. Georgia is tied for sixth at 41.8.

“They go really fast. They get a lot of at-bats in terms of possessions and they do start fast,” Smart said. “I think our team has done a really good job of growing and getting better throughout this year.”

Receivers Jalin Hyatt (45 catches, 907 yards, school-record 14 TDs) and Bru McCoy (30 catches, 451 yards, 2 TDs) have also powered an offense that averages an FBS-high 49.4 points per game. Jaylen Wright (478 yards, 5 TDs) and Jabari Small (475 yards, 8 TDs) power the ground game.

“They have a perfect storm: they’ve got really fast, elite wideouts, a quarterback with a really strong arm,” Smart said. “If they have a quarterback that couldn’t throw it, you’d say, ‘Well, they’re one-dimensional.’ But they have kind of a perfect storm going for his offense, and when he has that it’s really, really, really hard to stop. They go at an elite pace, and they do a tremendous job.”