Carson Beck completed 25 of 40 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing three interceptions as No. 2 Georgia beat Florida 34-20 in Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday.
Nate Frazier ran for a team-high 82 yards and a touchdown, while Dominic Lovett caught seven passes for 52 yards and a score, as the Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) won their fourth straight.
Florida (4-4, 2-3) dropped its second game in three tries, and lost quarterback DJ Lagway to a hamstring injury in the second quarter. Lagway completed 2 of 6 passes for 47 yards and a score before backup Aidan Warner came in, completing 7 of 22 passes for 66 yards and an interception. Ja’Kobi Jackson led the Gators with 12 carries for 74 yards and a score.
Trailing 13-6 at halftime, Beck was intercepted on Georgia’s opening drive of the second half by Jack Pyburn at the 50-yard line. After forcing a Florida punt, the Bulldogs scored their first touchdown of the game on Frazier’s game-tying two-yard score with 7:01 left in the third quarter.
Florida then lined up for Trey Smack’s go-ahead 50-yard field goal attempt, but a poor snap was recovered by Georgia’s Jalon Walker at the Florida 36-yard line. Following the turnover, it took Georgia just three plays to take the lead, as Beck found Cash Jones for a 22-yard score with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter.
After four straight punts, Florida tied the game on Jackson’s 15-yard touchdown run with 7:29 left in the fourth. Georgia then went up again, as Beck’s ten-yard touchdown pass to Lovett gave the Bulldogs a 27-20 lead at the 4:01 mark.
Warner then threw a costly interception on the ensuing play, as CJ Allen picked off the pass and returned it to the Florida 14-yard line. Two plays later, Dwight Phillips Jr. ran in a four-yard score with 3:03 left.
Georgia opened the scoring with Peyton Woodring’s 23-yard field goal at the 2:10 mark of the first quarter. Following a Florida punt, Beck threw his first interception with 14:02 left in the second quarter, as Devin Moore picked off the Bulldogs at Georgia’s 43-yard line.
Lagway wasted no time, finding Aidan Mizell on a 43-yard passing touchdown on the ensuing play. Beck was then intercepted again, this time by Aaron Gates, who returned the pick to the Gators’ 49-yard line.
Florida added a score on Smack’s 32-yard field goal, extending the Gators’ lead to 10-3 at the 7:22 mark of the second quarter. Each team’s final drive finished with field goals, as Woodring’s 53-yarder cut the deficit to 10-6 with 43 seconds left, before Smack’s 53-yarder gave Florida a 13-6 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
