How We Beat Florida

[OCTOBER 31, 2010]

JACKSONVILLE - On the day before Halloween, in front of a packed crowd fully half red and half blue in Jacksonville, FL, the University of Georgia Bulldogs remained the only SEC Eastern Division team to have defeated Florida during Urban Meyer's coaching tenure there; a 42-30 thrashing in 2007 was Meyer's first defeat at the hands of his own division.

"Obviously we're ecstatic," Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham told sideline reporter Chuck Dowdle after the game. "Holding the Gators to less than 100 yards rushing the ball is something we haven't been able to do here, and I think that was key to our being able to hold them to such a low score.

"That and the turnovers, of course," Grantham added.

And the story of the day was turnovers. Florida QB John Brantley threw three interceptions, one returned by DE DeMarcus Dobbs for a touchdown, and badly mishandled two snaps. If you ask fans who saw the game, however, they'd tell you that the first turnover was all Georgia needed to secure just their fourth victory over the Gators in two decades.

There was an audible groan from the red-clad Dawg fans in the stands when Georgia won the coin toss, but again decided to defer to the second half. Those groans turned to shouts and applause when breakout star Sanders Cummings hauled down his fourth interception of the season on an ill-advised third-and-eight pass by Brantley.

Cummings was tackled while returning the ball, which popped out of his hands -- in what was originally ruled a fumble -- as he hit the ground. The Georgia faithful were treated to a rare sight as a red-faced, furious Mark Richt immediately stormed the field, berating the umpire who first ruled the ball a fumble. Florida would have recovered on their own 18.

"I got a bit heated, but all in all I think it was a civil discussion," explained a smiling and hoarse Richt in his post-game presser. "Everyone knows that the ground can't cause a fumble. Sometimes we just need a gentle reminder, is all."

Replay overturned the on-field ruling, and two plays later quarterback Aaron Murray scampered into the end zone with a three-yard run. Georgia never looked back as they trounced the Gators 45-12, marking the fourth straight game in which the Dawgs have scored at least 40 points.

Georgia now looks forward to a breather at home, as they play Division II Idaho State on Saturday in Athens, while Florida will travel to Nashville to play Vanderbilt.

NOTES:

* This game marked the first time Florida failed to score a touchdown since falling to Alabama 31-3 in 2005
* The victory in Jacksonville pulled Richt to 12-10 in games on neutral fields, the first time in his tenure that he has been two games over .500 in that category
* Coach Urban Meyer resigned as Florida head coach for the second time at the end of a post-game press conference that was at its best tearful and at its worst utterly unintelligible. As he was led away from the podium, Meyer could be heard calling Tim Tebow's name several times before falling limp.


It took some excellent gumshoeing and quite a bit of time-travel on my part to find this article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, headlined Dawgs Dash Gators' SEC East Hopes; Auburn Soils Self With Fear. I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Great Read ! Thanks for your effort

Welcome back pal, you have been missed. Also had Rx return after a long absence, good things going on.

Go Dawgs!!

Buc, Flash "good things" upgraded to "great" based on polls just released. Confirmation on Nov 3rd. Like I said earlier anybody think that the Cowboy's "D" misses CTG just little ?

Perfect storm is brewing to repeat "07" run-run- and run some more, zip and a quick 6 in the passing game, OC and AM been waiting for this home coming.

I think the rest of the SEC is going to see just how good our "D" has come in a very short period of time. Go Dawgs!

yankeedawg1, it is going to be real interesting to see how much 3 and 4 man fronts are used against UF.

Two teams that have a lot of talent, just believe that wlayton hit a strong note. This could very well turn out to be a "coaches game". By that, mean more than usual coach involvement.

Two of the best punters in the nation.

Game could be a three pointer . . . . or less. Think that the kicker for UF has been having some physical problems, Henry doing both jobs for UF.

Pretty sure I read a comment from you about CTG burning the midnight oil. Win, lose or draw, that means a lot to me. Prior to his hiring, not too sure that a lot of that was going on. If so, it was not evident.

We all know what a win would do for our program, especially a win over UF. Going south for the game, a gathering of UGA folks in Lauderdale . . . going to raise the roof. Only a 3 hour ride back from Ft. Lauderdale, hope I have a huge smile on my face that I can wear on my face until next year. One of these smiles. . . .

I am in agreement with you on the improvement on the D side of the ball. DALLAS LOSS, UGA GAIN.

Go Dawgs!!

And oh lord, how I love a Dallas loss!

Florida has no offense. If we can overcome their defense, we should score on them. Not at will, but at a good clip. And have you seen Carlton Thomas the last few weeks? We now have THREE legitimate options at tailback. Kris Durham on any other team is THE standout receiver, and Aaron Murray only gets better as the season goes on.

Florida, on the other hand, has been going backwards. Remember, after we beat them in 2004, they were coming off of a loss to (who else?) Mississippi State.

Gator. Steak. Period.