JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Georgia didn’t need much help, but Billy Napier and the Gators gave it to them.
The Bulldogs flipped the game in an instant, grabbing control in the second quarter and crushing the Gators 43-20 on Saturday in a one-sided version of the ‘World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party’ at EverBank Stadium. The final score was lopsided as expected, but this one felt like it turned on one poor playcall by Napier, a gamble that will only amplify the calls for the second-year head coach to think about hiring an offensive coordinator in the offseason.
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Mandarin High School graduate Carson Beck, who became the third Jacksonville-area player to start at quarterback in the series, didn’t have to do much to as the Georgia defense put him in excellent position during a blistering second quarter and kept the Bulldogs firmly on track as they seek a national championship threepeat.
A 23-point game didn’t feel exactly decided by a play or two, but it sure felt like it.
The Gators saw their fortunes tilt quickly in the second quarter, a trick play gone awry and a lost fumble after that. For added measure, the Bulldogs then a blocked punt out of the end zone for a safety, part of a 26-0 blitz that felt like it happened in the blink of an eye.
But the implosion began with that decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 at their own 34. On the previous play, Graham Mertz hit Kahleil Jackson for a 5-yard gain, a play that initially looked like it had gone for a first. Officials looked at it again and spotted it a yard short, leaving Napier with what should have been an easy call to punt it away. Instead, Mertz hurried to the center and faked taking the snap, with the ball going past him and directly to Trevor Etienne.
The rush snuffed it out before Etienne had time to even cock his arm back and he was dropped for a loss of 3. Three plays later, Daijun Edwards ripped off a 20-yard touchdown run for a 17-7 Bulldogs lead. What momentum Florida had after a blistering start by Mertz was wiped out after that sequence.
They weren’t done yet.
On the ensuing drive, Mertz was sacked on back-to-back plays, the latter by Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. Marvin Jones Jr. fell on it and set Georgia up with a short 11-yard field. Edwards punched in his second touchdown of the half on a fourth-and-1 run from the 2.
Georgia scored three times in the span of 4 minutes, 50 seconds, flipping a 7-3 deficit into a two-score lead. Beck found Ladd McConkey on a slant over the middle that the receiver stretched into a 41-yard touchdown before that.
Mertz started exceptionally well, hitting his first nine passes and connecting with Eugene Wilson on a 25-yard touchdown to cap Florida’s opening drive, but that precision was forgotten by midway through the second quarter as Georgia’s rush devoured Mertz and a struggling Gators offensive line.
Georgia (8-0) won its 25th consecutive game and third in a row over Florida. Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart improved to 6-2 in his career in the ‘Cocktail Party’ and kickstarted his team’s challenging regular season closing stretch with a win that left no doubt.
Beck was 19 of 28 passing for 315 yards and touchdown passes to Dillion Bell and McConkey. Mertz was 25 of 34 for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Bulldogs, a two-time defending national champion, have a challenging stretch to finish the season. Chided in the offseason for an easy schedule by rugged SEC standards, Georgia has three ranked opponents in the next three weeks — No. 16 Missouri and No. 12 Ole Miss at home, then a trip to Knoxville to face No. 21 Tennessee. By the time the Bulldogs reach their finale against rival Georgia Tech, they could very well be in position for the sixth time in seven years.
The annual game in Jacksonville was branded as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” in the 1950s by former Florida Times-Union sports editor Bill Kastelz, who, as legend has it, saw a drunk fan offer a libation to a police officer. The teams sought to stop using that term for the game in 2006, although fans still use that moniker for the showdown.