The Quick Slant: Instant Analysis from Florida's 38-20 win over Georgia
Saturday, November 1, 2014 | Football, Scott Carter
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Few gave the Gators a chance Saturday in their annual showdown against Georgia here on the banks of the St. Johns River.
The Florida Times-Union, the local newspaper, even ran a story about the lack of faith in Florida's chances at a win based on the results of a poll it conducted with media members.
The paper asked nearly 20 to pick the outcome. Exactly one predicted a Florida win. And he graduated from UF.
The Gators must have taken their own advice about blocking out all the distractions since a disheartening Homecoming loss to Missouri two weeks ago that cast a dark cloud over the future of head coach Will Muschamp.
Staring at a potentinal fourth consecutive loss to the Bulldogs -- Georgia dominated the first quarter and took an early lead -- the Gators played their most inspired game of the season to knock off Georgia, 38-20.
Florida scored 31 unanswered points after the first quarter to put any comeback bid by Georgia out of reach.
In doing so, the Gators provided Muschamp with some relief and, finally, a victory in the Florida-Georgia rivalry. Muschamp's 0-for-7 winless streak ended. He was 0-4 as a player at Georgia and 0-3 as Florida's coach prior to Saturday's win.
Here is more from Florida's upset of No. 9-ranked Georgia on Saturday:
THE QUICK SLANT
WHAT IT MEANS: The Gators and their fans can finally celebrate a much-needed win and enjoy their weekend for a change. Coming off losses to LSU and Missouri, to say the mood around Gator Nation has been surly the past two weeks would be a mighty understatement. What does Saturday's win mean for Muschamp's future? It's too early to know. Florida improved to 4-3, 3-3 in the conference to keep their hopes in the SEC East alive. The Gators have four games remaining -- a third of the season -- so there's a lot of football left. For now, it means they won a game they needed to win.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Running backs Kelvin Taylor and Matt Jones share this spot. Taylor finished with a career-high 197 yards and Jones added a career-high 192 yards as Florida rushed for 418 yards, the program's best rushing output in 25 years.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: The Bulldogs dominated the first quarter as running back Nick Chubb rushed for 101 yards in the opening 15 minutes. Chubb finished with 156 yards but was quiet as Florida outgained Georgia 291-78 over the second and third quarters.
SUBPLOT: The Bulldogs had an opportunity to win four in a row over Florida for the first time since a six-game win streak from 1978-83. Instead, the Gators responded in a big way to win for the 19th time in the last 25 meetings. Oh, and in freshman quarterback Treon Harris' first career start, it was Taylor and Jones who did the dirty work. Harris passed only six times, and once in the second half.
UP NEXT: The Gators travel to Vanderbilt next week in search of moving above .500 in the SEC. While they might be a longshot to claim the division crown, the Gators kept those hopes alive with Saturday's win.
