Florida showed up in Atlanta and spent the afternoon handing out gifts. The Georgia Bulldogs beat the Gators 27-8 on Saturday, and the Georgia Florida game was over long before Florida scored a point. Four Florida turnovers gave the No. 3 Bulldogs everything they needed, according to the Associated Press.
This one wasn’t close, and it wasn’t pretty for the Gators. If you want to know what Georgia feared coming in, our look at each contender’s scariest game had this one circled.
The Georgia Florida game turned on one scoop-and-score
With 29 seconds left in the first half, Florida’s backup quarterback, Tramell Jones Jr., fumbled when Quintavius Johnson sacked him. Then Chris Cole scooped it up and ran 66 yards for a touchdown. It was Cole’s second long fumble return of the season, and Georgia went to the locker room up 24-0.
That’s not a halftime lead. That’s a verdict.
Bo Walker and Nate Frazier added 1-yard touchdown runs earlier in the half, per the AP game story. By quarter, Georgia scored 7-17-0-3. Florida went 0-0-0-8, and its only points came in the fourth quarter (a little late to RSVP).
Florida’s quarterback carousel sank the Bulldogs vs. Gators matchup early
Aaron Philo started for the Gators after missing the Texas game with a right shoulder injury. He threw two interceptions in the first half and got pulled for Jones. The second of Philo’s picks went to Demello Jones.
Jones then threw an interception of his own in the end zone to Georgia cornerback Braylon Conley. It came in the third quarter on a drive that had reached the Georgia 3-yard line, on a pass intended for Eric Singleton Jr. If you were waiting for the day to flip, that was the moment to give up.
The penalties didn’t help, either. Florida had five first-half flags for 60 yards, and receiver Vernell Brown III missed his fourth straight game with a sprained right knee.
Here’s the thing: the ground game told the story
Georgia outrushed Florida 217-48. That’s the whole argument, and it matters if you care about who’s still standing when the playoff math gets serious. Gators running back Jadan Baugh, an Atlanta native who came in leading the SEC with 13 rushing touchdowns, got 38 yards on 17 carries. So much for the homecoming script.
Georgia did it shorthanded, too. Running back Chauncy Bowens (foot) and receiver Thomas Blackshear (collarbone) didn’t play, according to the AP. The Bulldogs didn’t seem to care.
The win was Georgia’s sixth straight in the Georgia-Florida rivalry. It also moved Kirby Smart to 8-2 against Florida, and it was his first win over first-year Gators head coach Jon Sumrall, per Sports Illustrated.
A Georgia Florida football game in a new zip code
This was the one-year stopover in Atlanta. The branding changed too, and fans were furious about the new Gridiron Classic name. The game was branded the Invesco QQQ Atlanta Gridiron Classic and played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, because EverBank Stadium’s renovations in Jacksonville won’t wrap up until August 2028. The series heads to Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium in 2027 and returns to Jacksonville in 2028, Yahoo Sports reports.
The AP says the Gators are now in danger of falling out of the Top 25. Georgia, meanwhile, keeps rolling toward the playoff chase with its defense doing the heavy lifting. Elsewhere, ranked teams keep tumbling, which makes the Bulldogs’ clean win look even better.
So the next poll gets to answer the question: how far do the Gators fall?
