Florida is currently on a five-game losing streak to Georgia. After a long stretch from 1990 through 2016, when Florida firmly controlled the series, the Bulldogs have been on top.
That’s not to say the Gators haven’t had their chances over the past five meetings, but this is a look at what went wrong for Florida in each of their five most recent losses to Georgia.
One play that doomed Florida against Georgia the past five years
2021
The final season of Dan Mullen, this game was notable for Anthony Richardson getting his first start and being thrown straight into the fire. Florida was hanging around and was somewhat moving the ball, but a missed field goal and a failed 4th down conversion prevented points.
The ultimate play that doomed the Gators was Richardson throwing a pick-six before halftime, capping a sequence that took the game from 3-0 with 2:30 to play in the first half to 24-0 by halftime.
2022
Florida looked dead in the water in this one, but actually fought back and pulled within 28-20 in the third quarter. Georgia responded with a 6-play, 78-yard drive for a TD. What doomed Florida was a failed 4th and 6 attempt from Richardson, which gave Georgia the ball back at midfield, leading to another TD drive.
2023
Florida scored first in this one before Georgia responded to make it 10-7. We could probably pick out a couple of plays from later in the game, but the play that stands out most in our minds is when Florida went for it on 4th and 1 from their own 34 yard line. We don’t necessarily hate the idea of going for it, but the problem is Florida ran their ill concieved trick play where they snapped the ball between Graham Mertz’s legs straight to Trevor Etienne.
Nobody was fooled, Etienne was stopped, Georgia scored a TD three plays later, Mertz would get sacked and fumbled, Georgia scored four plays later, and that was that.
2024
This game will always be one of those “what if” games because Florida absolutely had Georgia on the ropes before DJ Lagway was injured and Aiden Warner was forced into action. Florida kept battling and actually tied things up at 20-20 in the 4th quarter before Georgia went down and scored a TD to make it 27-20.
What ultimately doomed Florida was Warner throwing an interception on the very next play and Georgia scoring two plays after that.
2025
Another game where it felt like everything was within reach for Florida, only for it to slip away. Florida was up 20-17 when Jadan Baugh was stopped on a 4th and 1 from the Georgia 18 yard line. Georgia would go down and score to make it 24-20.
But the ultimate play that doomed Florida was the infamous 3rd down attempt from Lagway to J. Michael Sturdivant, where Sturdivant was wide open down the field for a potential TD, but Lagway underthrew the ball, and Sturdivant slipped coming back to the pass. Even still, it looked like Sturdivant had caught the ball, but officials ruled the pass incomplete and upheld the call after review.
Florida failed on 4th down the next play and never got the ball back.
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