UF 21 - Georgia 14
You just never know what will happen in a rivalry game. The Gators came in as heavy favorites and left with a 21-14 victory. UF will certainly move up in the polls, especially with USC's loss (and depending on what Tennessee and Texas do tonight). What an absolute joke it would be if the Gators don't jump the Trojans, considering the way USC has been playing lately and the difficulty of UF's schedule.
Now the Gators are set up to win the SEC East. Their remaining games are: at Vanderbilt, vs. South Carolina, vs. Western Carolina, and at Florida State. All four are winnable games, but the Gators must look back at today's win in Jacksonville as a warning sign. If the Gators play this poorly again against either SC or FSU, they will not run the table.
UF's defense was terrific, can't take away anything that unit did. Georgia gained just 215 total yards today. The Gators came into the game struggling defensively on third down, but Georgia converted just 3 out of 13. LBs Brandon Siler and Earl Everett were everywhere. Siler had an especially big sack on Matthew Stafford after Georgia took over first and 10 at their own 38 in the fourth quarter. DE Derrick Harvey continues to climb the SEC leader board in sacks, and he recovered a fumble today too. The defense limited the Georgia ground game to 2.5 yards per carry and forced two Stafford interceptions. Neither play was a very good decision by Stafford, but that's what UF does - they capitalize on quarterbacks' mistakes.
The other two areas of football - offense and special teams - are a huge concern. Why is the UF offense failing to score at least 30 points every game? We keep hearing about the receivers, but Urban Meyer seems afraid of having a downfield passing game. We saw countless WR screens and handoffs to just about everyone on the field. One of the few times UF did throw deep, Andre Caldwell hauled in a 40 yard touchdown pass. Speaking of Caldwell, what an amazing game he had. Huge third down catches, two scores, and 88 total yards receiving. Don't forget his 28 rushing yards either. UF has players that can dominate the game, so let them make plays. Open up the offense and let Leak air it out.
Leak threw a bad interception to Georgia linebacker Tony Taylor in the third quarter. It was Taylor's fourth INT of the year, and it set up Georgia's first touchdown. That interception completely changed the game and let the Bulldogs back into it. Then, when it seemed UF was in control in the fourth quarter, Tim Tebow coughed up the football. It was recovered at the UF 14, and it led to the second and final Georgia touchdown.
The Gators had a chance to ice the game on special teams twice. Chris Hetland hit the right upright from 39 yards away in the third quarter, and he missed a 42 yard kick early in the fourth. The punt coverage was spectacular, but a UF punt return for a touchdown was brought back because of an illegal block.
Speaking of penalties...
The Gators must clean up that area of the game. Drives stalled because of untimely penalties, like holding calls on wide receivers and false starts on linemen. In total, there were 10 UF penalties for 75 yards. Also, UF dropped four first half passes. Some were for significant gains. This was not a very clean offensive game by any means.
That being said, good teams find ways to win even when they don't play well. UF did that today. They did it behind a dominant defensive performance and some clutch running at the end of the game by DeShawn Wynn (8 carries, 36 yards). The Gators today proved that if they can cut down on the mistakes, they can compete with anyone in the nation. Had UF not dropped so many passes, missed two field goals, had so many penalties, and fumbled deep in their own territory, this would have been a blowout.
UF is capable of playing that type of game.
I don't know if Urban Meyer has enough confidence in Chris Leak. Example: UF ball, fourth quarter, leading 21-14. Second down and 20 at their own 11 yard line with about six minutes remaining. Handoff to Percy Harvin. In that situation, a senior quarterback should throw the ball instead of having a freshman WR run it, but Leak is turnover prone and I think Meyer was playing it safe, protecting the lead. You can't really think about the clock in that situation, considering Georgia had all three timeouts. I don't know if UF is going to be able to survive without Leak stepping up and providing the Gators with a downfield passing game.
It was difficult to take away many positives from this game, but think of it like this. Maybe the Gators got their bad, sloppy game out of their system. Maybe it's only going to get better the rest of the way. And UF proved that they can play a sloppy game and still win because the Gators defense is good enough to overcome the problems on offense and special teams.
UF might have the best defense in the country. It will keep them in every game, but the Gators still need to improve. Meanwhile, any win against your biggest rival is reason to celebrate.
