JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The slide is over and the SEC East race is Florida’s to lose.
Florida ended a three-game losing streak to Georgia with a 44-28 rout on Saturday at TIAA Bank Field in a radically different looking installment of the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
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The Gators erased a 14-0 deficit and roared back to take control of the SEC East, sending the Bulldogs back to Athens with a slew of questions, notably at quarterback.
The Gators (5-1 overall and in SEC play) gained the inside track to the SEC East title and gave coach Dan Mullen his first win over his chief conference rival. The Bulldogs had beaten Florida convincingly in two of the past three meetings and jumped to a fast start early on Saturday.
But Kyle Trask and the Gators quickly got things back on track and all but put things out of reach with a 24-point onslaught in the second quarter. Trask had all four of his touchdown passes in the first half, his third a 24-yarder to Kemore Gamble that put Florida up for good at 28-21 midway through the second quarter.
Trask picked apart Georgia’s defense, finishing 30 of 43 for 474 yards and four touchdowns. His lone mistake was pass that Eric Stokes picked off and returned 37 yards for an touchdown and a brief Bulldogs lead.
The Gators caught back up in a hurry and stomped out Georgia (4-2 overall and in the SEC) after that.
Georgia’s path forward doesn’t appear an easy one.
Running back Zamir White had a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of the game for Georgia and Stetson Bennett IV found Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint on the following drive for a 32-yard touchdown, but things went down from there.
Bennett underwhelmed again before Kirby Smart made a change and went to D’Wan Mathis. Bennett was 5 of 16 for 78 yards, a touchdown and an interception against Florida.
Florida tight end Kyle Pitts had two catches for 59 yards and a touchdown, but left the game after taking a hard hit from Lewis Cine. Cine was ejected for targeting on the play.