Florida Beats Georgia to All But Clinch SEC East
Kelvin Taylor ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns as Florida held Georgia to 223 total yards in a 27-3 win. The victory moves the Gators to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the SEC East. A win over Vanderbilt next Saturday will clinch the SEC East and send Florida to the SEC Championship Game for the first time since 2009.
Georgia, the preseason SEC East favorite, committed five turnovers, including the last play of the first quarter. In a scoreless game, Florida was forced to punt, but Bulldogs kick returner Reggie Davis fumbled and Nick Washington fell on the ball in the end zone to give the Gators a 6-0 lead. The extra point was blocked. The drive, subsequent punt and fumble recovery was set up by Marcus Maye’s interception of Georgia quarterback Faton Bauta, the first of three on the day. Bauta was making his first career start.
Florida extended their lead to 13-0 on a 66-yard touchdown pass from Treon Harris to Antonio Callaway, who caught three passes for 110 yards and a touchdown. Harris was only 2 for 11 in the game to this point. Following Bauta’s second interception of the day by Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida only needed to plays to make it 20-0 on Taylor’s three yard touchdown run.
Georgia’s lone points on the day came in the 3rd quarter when Harris fumbled, forced and recovered by the Bulldogs’ Davin Bellamy. Six plays later, Marshall Morgan kicked a 27-yard field goal to make the score 20-3. Bauta’s third interception came after moving the ball from Georgia’s own 11 to the Florida three, picked off by Keanu Neal. Taylor’s second touchdown run of 17 yards capped the scoring. Bauta was intercepted for the final time by Jarrad Davis and the Gators were able to run the clock out.
Gators’ freshman running back Jordan Scarlett added 96 yards on nine carries. Harris finished the game 8-19 for 155 yards and Bauta was 15-33 for 154 yards to go along with his four interceptions. The loss drops Georgia to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in SEC play.
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