JACKSONVILLE — John Brantley played like he didn’t have a right ankle, and it almost cost Florida’s defense its lungs.
With Brantley unable to take snaps under center, the Gators’ running attack was nonexistent, forcing Florida’s defense to stay on the field for 37:40 in the 24-20 loss Saturday.
While defensive players said that they weren’t tired, that they kept going strong even as the offense struggled to maintain possession, the unit clearly slowed down as the game wore on.
No. 22 Georgia leaned on its running attack all afternoon, gaining 185 yards on 49 carries. UGA held the ball for 20:56 in the second half. UF had possession for 9:04.
Florida, meanwhile, finished with negative-19 yards on 22 running plays — six of them sacks on Brantley. Running backs Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps combined for 38 yards on 13 carries.
“They had a good offensive line,” senior defensive tackle Jaye Howard said. “Their center, (Ben) Jones: He’s a great center. He did a good job; we were battling him all night. I feel like they just executed and we couldn’t.”
In particular, the Bulldogs executed on fourth downs, which proved to be the backbreaker in what was overall a solid effort from the Gators’ defense.
On fourth and 5 from the Florida 20-yard line, Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray found Michael Bennett in the end zone on a fade pass over freshman De’Ante Saunders, cutting Florida’s early lead to 17-10 with 1:28 left in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs later tied the game, again on a fourth-down fade pass. This time, Murray hooked up with Tavarres King, who hauled in the 14-yard score over sophomore Jaylen Watkins.
“We had a couple third-down, fourth-down stops that we needed to make and we didn’t come up with those,” Howard said.
“That’s all a part of growing up as a defense and as a team. We will.”
Outside of his fourth-down heroics, however, Murray was harassed by the Gators. The sophomore entered Saturday’s game averaging 236.1 passing yards per game, second in the Southeastern Conference. Against Florida, he managed 169 yards.
Also, Murray only completed 44 percent of his passes — 17 points below his season average.
But it was Georgia’s running game, and Florida’s inability to stop it late, that put the game away.
Clinging to a 20-17 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Gators surrendered 30 yards on five carries, ending with a 4-yard touchdown run by Richard Samuel.
After Florida’s offense came up short on three drives in the final quarter, Georgia milked the last 5:32 off the clock, running the ball eight times for 35 yards. The drive ended 1 yard from the end zone, stopped only because the clock struck 0:00.
“I wasn’t in so I wouldn’t know,” defensive end Leon Orr said when asked about the last drive.
“But it’s all about us knuckling up, and when those opportunities come they’ve just got to go in there and execute.”
Contact Tyler Jett at tjett@alligator.org.
Running back Richard Samuel (22) and the Georgia rushing attack helped the Bulldogs control the second half of Saturday’s game.
