Florida Gators vs Georgia Bulldogs: Running Game Dominates, Muschamp Gets Big Win

So, I guess the question about the Gator’s offensive “identity” is answered.

After a miserable two weeks following a humiliating loss to Missouri at homecoming, the Florida Gators came into their rivalry game with the Georgia Bulldogs with what seemed like little hope. Many (but not all) Gator fans were calling for head coach Will Muschamp’s job. The Bulldogs were 11 point favorites. That same Bulldog team destroyed the Missouri team that destroyed the Gators.

On paper, the game looked hopeless. But the game isn’t played on paper. It’s played on the field. And the Gator team that took the field was ready to play and coach Muschamp is to take credit for that.

Nov 1, 2014; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp hugs Florida Gators quarterback Treon Harris (3) after they beat the Georgia Bulldogs at EverBank Field. Florida Gators defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 38-20. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Muschamp helped the Gators find their identity today. They are a team with a strong defense, that pressures the quarterback and that can run it down your throat. Don’t believe it? Ask the Bulldogs, they’ll tell you.

The Gators convincingly won a game where they didn’t amass the most offense, as Georgia out gained Florida 460 yards to 445. The Gators handily won a game where the opposing quarterback tossed for 319 yards, while ours completed just three passes for 27 yards. Georgia’s starting running back Nick Chubb ran for 156 yards, averaging 7.8 a carry.

So what was the difference? A running game that dominated the Bulldogs, tiring their defense and derailing their offensive game plan. Of the Gator’s 445 yards offense, 418 came on the ground. Much of that was in the second and third quarter, first stealing momentum, and then robbing them of any hope whatsoever.

Running back Kelvin Taylor had 197 yards rushing on 25 carries, scoring twice. His backfield partner Matt Jones had eerily similar stats, also getting 25 carries, also scoring twice, on 192 yards. This left-right combination stunned a Georgia team that was told they were a contender for the playoffs. The Bulldogs are contender no more. They have their former safety Will Muschamp to thank for that.

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The turning point in the game was a fake field goal midway through the second quarter. Holder Michael McNeely, a redshirt senior, was given the assignment. Instead of trying the 38 yard field goal, McNeely picked it up on a designed play, ran off the right tackle and found a path straight to the end zone. The game was never the same after that.

All of a sudden, the seemingly hapless Gators were once again a power. And the Bulldogs knew it. After dominating the Gators on the ground in the first quarter, the Florida line stood ready. The holes Chubb was finding were gone. Easy first downs turned into three-and-outs.

Nov 1, 2014; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Florida Gators running back Matt Jones (24) runs with the ball against the Georgia Bulldogs during the second half at EverBank Field. Florida Gators defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 38-20. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia quarterback Hutson Mason’s passing yardage is an aberration that hides the true nature of how this game progressed. Passing wasn’t in the Bulldog game plan. That they needed to pass showed they were in a game they didn’t think they were in.

And it wasn’t even as close as the 38-20 score suggests. Nearly a quarter of Mason’s yardage came with under two minutes left to play, when the Bulldogs drove for a garbage time touchdown that few Bulldog fans even saw, as they had long exited the stadium by that time.

Against Missouri, only two Gator players stayed afterwards for the playing of the school Alma Mater. Tonight, a large group of Gators players stood before the band, singing the lyrics that should stir joy in Florida fans the world over: “There’s no other name so glorious, all hail, Florida, hail!”