Coming out of its bye week, No. 3 Georgia began its home stretch with a big 27-8 win over No. 17 Florida. You never snub your nose at a three-score rivalry win, but the Bulldogs' offensive performance wasn't as rosy as the scoreboard might suggest. Georgia totaled just 318 yards of offense against a Florida defense that has been leaky all season, but, to be fair, some of that was due to the defense.
The Bulldogs forced four turnovers. One of them resulted in a scoop-and-score, and two more resulted in short fields, which Georgia converted into 10 points. The biggest question about the Dawgs' offense after this win is the passing game.
The running game eventually found some consistency, allowing Georgia to lean on the Gators in the second half. Quarterback Gunner Stockton, on the other hand, couldn't find much success against one of the worst secondaries in the conference. Entering the game, Florida ranked 13th in the SEC and 121st nationally in passing yards allowed per game (255.0).
The Gators also ranked 112th in per dropback (0.23) and 126th in passing success rate (50.7%). Despite that, Stockton finished the game with just 101 passing yards on 13-of-23 passing. Freshman Craig Dandridge was the team's leading receiver with 39 yards, and 32 of those yards came on the Bulldogs' longest pass play of the game.
In his postgame interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe, Kirby Smart complimented Stockton's grit and willingness to run the ball but admitted that Georgia has to get better through the air. "We missed some throws," Smart said. "We left some points out there.
We gotta get better." He's not wrong. If Georgia wants to achieve its goal of winning the national championship, Stockton and his pass-catchers will have to be much better than they were today, and that day may come sooner rather than later. Over the next three weeks, Georgia will face quarterbacks capable of scoring points, even against one of the best defenses in the conference.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
