Florida football: Third downs kill Gators against Georgia

It was a game where Florida football needed everything to go right, but where a lot of things went horribly wrong.

Florida football managed to stop the run, but for three-and-a-half quarters, they couldn’t stop Georgia on third down, in the passing game, or anywhere else for that matter.

Georgia was dominating and jumped out to a 16-3 lead in the third quarter, but Florida battled back and came to within a possession the fourth quarter.

But, the Bulldogs were 12-for-17 on third down and that killed the Gators in the end.

Well, that and the Gators were just 2-for-9 on third down and managed just 21 yards rushing for the game in the 24-17 loss.

It’s the third consecutive loss for Florida against Georgia.

But, quarterback Kyle Trask connected with eight different receivers for 257 yards passing. It was the ninth consecutive game Florida football threw for more than 200 yards.

But, it didn’t erase the Gators’ third-down inefficiency on both sides of the football.

And the fact that Georgia wide receiver Lawrence Cager had seven catches for 132 yards and a touchdown to go along with D’Andre Swift’s 86 yards on 25 carries.

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In the first half, the Bulldogs held a 13-3 lead thanks to two field goals from Rodrigo Blankenship and 56 yards from Swift.

For what it’s worth, Georgia had a chance to put the game away, but Florida football found some fight in the second half.

Swift broke free for a long touchdown run late in the third quarter which would have likely put the game away. However, a holding penalty negated the run and the Bulldogs subsequently punted the ball away.

That was when Trask and the Gator offense found its rhythm.

Trask hit Swain twice for a combined 25 yards then Cleveland for eight yards.

Trask completed passes to Swain and Dameon Pierce putting Florida football at the Georgia 29 on fourth and one.

But, Trask was able to complete a nine-play, 80-yard drive with a reviewed touchdown catch by Van Jefferson cuts Georgia’s lead to 16-10 early in the fourth quarter.

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Fromm and Georgia came back quickly.

Seven plays after Florida football cut the lead, Fromm connected with Lawrence Cager for a 52-yard touchdown — the longest in SEC play this year for Fromm — putting Georgia up 24-10 with 10 minutes left in the game.

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Again, the touchdown was set up by Florida’s inability to stop the Bulldogs on third down.

Facing third-and-1, Swift went off the left side and picked up three yards. It was the next play that Fromm hit Cager for the score.

That third-down conversion was the 11th of 16 converted by Georgia. At that point, Florida football had yet to convert on its six third down plays.

Florida football finally converted a third down on the next possession, but it was thanks to defensive pass interference. But, a holding play on Florida took away the longest-running play of the game to that point after Perine went six yards on a draw.

But, Perine would make good two plays later when he ran for a first down at the Georgia 45.

However, down two touchdowns midway through the fourth quarter, Florida football elected to do what it tried unsuccessfully to do the three quarters before — run the football.

It worked a little as Trask did get the first third-down conversion not related to a penalty when he hit Swain for a 15-yard pick-up on third and 6. That put Florida football at 1-for-7 on third-down conversions for the game.

Florida managed to god down to the Georgia 6 and faced fourth-and-2 when Trask connected with Trevon Grimes on a wide receiver screen for the first down. It was followed with a play-action pass to Swain for a touchdown to cap a 17-play, 75-yard drive and put Georgia’s lead back to one possession, 24-17.

In the end, Florida football was done in by a failed attempt to stop Georgia on third down on the final drive of the game.

Georgia moved to the top of the SEC East while Florida football dropped to second and will now prepare for its first home game in Gainesville in a month when they take on Vanderbilt next Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.