10/27 Florida 24 Dawgs 10
| this game is one to
forget. The Gators escape with a victory that was much closer than
it should have been and what the score indicates. Florida turned
the ball over 4 time and the Dwags moved the ball at will in the second
half. The only thing they did not do was score as the Gator "D"
held up deep in their territory. The player of the game must be Lito Sheppard who stopped the UGA wiede receiver late in the game to prevent Georgia from scoring. Lito also had an INT, and helped the Gator defense with several drive saving tackles. For Sheppard, who grew up in Jacksonville, the tackle was bigger than his first interception of the year in the first quarter. After one of Lito's drive stopping tackles, six plays later, Rex Grossman found Reche Caldwell on a post pattern for a 20-yard touchdown and a 24-10 lead, which was too much for Georgia to overcome. Rex, who tried to thread the needle earlier and got picked off in the end-zone, threw for 407 yards. However, our Center, David Jorgensen recovered a fumble at a critical time during the game. Florida gained 584 total yards, the most ever in these yearly battles vs. UGA. However, 12 penalties (some of the questionable), 4 fumbles, and 2 INTs, were enough to keep giving those pesky dawgs life. This is something we can't let happen vs. S. Carolina and for sure against the Vols. Grossman threw two pretty touchdown passes, the second a 30-yarder to Reche Caldwell, who beat coverage and sped toward the back of the end zone to give the Gators a 24-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. Georgia answered by extending the ensuing drive with a fake punt, but a few plays later, Manuel hit Greene from behind and jarred the ball loose, where teammate Andra Davis recovered. It was Georgia's second turnover of the game, and it was costly, but it wouldn't have meant much had Florida not made so many mistakes earlier. The Gators, who committed five turnovers in their 23-20 loss to Auburn two weeks ago, gave up three in the first half, which led to all 10 of Georgia's points. Florida also had a penalty and a botched snap in the first quarter to turn third-and-goal from the 1 into a 32-yard field goal from Jeff Chandler. Then, there were the penalties, 12 of them -- including a few questionable calls that sent Spurrier into a headphone-throwing tizz. The Bulldogs kept their long third-quarter drive going when Lito Sheppard got hit for a barely detectable holding call on a failed flea-flicker attempt. On Georgia's next drive, an 82-yard march, Sheppard got hit with another questionable hold. But once again, the Bulldogs couldn't capitalize -- Billy Bennett missed a 31-yard field goal. Florida also recharged its running game. After netting minus-36 yards rushing against Auburn, the Gators improved to 63-2 since 1990 when a back breaks the century mark. But not all was perfect: Graham accounted for two of Florida's four fumbles. this was an ugly win and we will take it. With the loss, Georgia essentially fell out of the race for the SEC East title. Florida still has games against South Carolina and Tennessee that will help decide who plays for the conference crown in Atlanta on Dec. 8. Looking ahead, Vanderbilt should be a walk over in preparation for South Carolina, our last road test. With this win, and with the other losses, the Gators are back in the BCS hunt. |
Scoring Summary
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| Last Updated November 19, 2006 |
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