Florida Gators

THE QUICK SLANT
 No. 8 FLORIDA 44, No. 5 GEORGIA 28, 

WHAT HAPPENED: Quarterback Kyle Trask and the eighth-ranked Gators spotted their rival a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter, but Trask and friends quickly flipped the script and bombarded the fifth-ranked Bulldogs with an offensive barrage that made a mockery of the Southeastern Conference's top-rated defense and put Florida in control in the race for the East Division title. Trask passed for a career-high 474 yards and four touchdowns, all coming in the first half, as the Florida offense flattened Georgia, which came in allowing only 300 yards per game, to the tune of 571 total yards for the Gators' first win in the series since 2016. UGA tailback Zamir White went 75 yards on the first play from scrimmage to put the Bulldogs ahead just 12 seconds into the game. After a UF three-and-out, UGA marched 61 yards in six plays with Stetson Bennett hitting Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint with a 32-yard touchdown pass to go up 14-0 barely four minutes in. From there, the rest of the half was all Gators, as UF outgained UGA 433 yards to just 44 in taking a 38-21 lead into the locker room, including a gorgeous 14-yard touchdown reception by a leaping Trevon Grimes with just 11 seconds to play in the half. Trask also had touchdown strikes of 14 yards to wideout Justin Shorter, 25 yards to tight end Kyle Pitts, who later left the game following a vicious helmet-to-helmet strike from UGA's Lewis Cine (ejected), and 25 yards to Pitts backup Kemore Gamble, but also a pick-6 that temporarily put his team down 21-14. Not for long, though. Junior running back Dameon Pierce had a 2-yard rushing TD in the first quarter and sophomore Evan McPherson kicked field goals of 50, 51 and 34 yards, the last coming with 1:19 to play. Bennett completed just five of his 16 passes for 78 yards, one touchdown and an interception and eventually was benched for redshirt freshman D'Wan Mathis, who marched the Dogs to a touchdown with a 25-yard dart to Kearis Jackson to close within 41-28 late in the third quarter. That would be it for the Dogs, though. The two UGA quarterbacks completed only 9 of 29 passes for just 112 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. The Dogs' inability to sustain offense with either QB allowed the Gators to win despite scoring just six points after halftime. 
 
WHAT IT MEANS: Florida has a a spot in the driver's seat to the Southeastern Conference East Division title. The Gators now hold a one-game lead on the second-place Bulldogs, as well as the all-important head-to-head tiebreaker, with the rest of the other division teams at least two games back. The win was UF's first over UGA since 2016 (and first in three tries for Coach Dan Mullen), meaning the Dogs now lead the series 52-43-2.   

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Hmmm. Guess we'll go with Trask, whose season numbers now show 125 completions in 182 attempts (that's 68.7 percent) for 1,815 yards, 22 touchdowns (with four in each of the last four games) and three interceptions. That TD total is one shy of the record-setting mark LSU's Joe Burrow established through five games a season ago. Burrow went on to win the Heisman Trophy. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: In each of the last four meetings, Florida fell behind by double digits in the opening period. In 2017, in what turned out to be Coach Jim McElwain's final game, UF trailed 21-0 in the first quarter on the way to a 42-7 loss. In 2018, it was a 10-0 deficit in 36-17 loss. In 2019, again 10-0 in a 24-17 loss. It was 14-0 this time, but the outcome was way different. Also, for the first time since 2005, the team that rushed for the most yards did not win. Georgia out-gained Florida 165-97 on the ground Saturday, starting with that 75-yard blast on the first snap, but what Trask did through the air was enough to snap the 14-game streak for the dominant running team. 

UP NEXT: Florida (4-1, 4-1) gets a house call next Saturday from an old friend when Feleipe Franks leads Arkansas (2-3, 2-3) into the "Swamp." Franks began the 2017, '18 and '19 seasons as UF's starting quarterback and went 12-3 in that role under Mullen, including a two wins over Florida State and a blowout victory over Michigan in the New Year's Six Peach Bowl. He did the grad-transfer thing last offseason in moving to the Razorbacks, who face Tennessee Saturday night. Franks began the day having completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,213 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions.