Unpacking Florida’s second-straight loss to Georgia

In a way, this was like the entire series between Florida and Georgia. The Bulldogs dominated early, Florida narrowed the gap and then Georgia started winning again.

So it was on Saturday in Jacksonville with No. 1 Georgia racing to a 28-3 lead, Florida fighting back to make it a one-score game and then the Bulldogs taking care of business at the end.

In the end, Florida’s porous defense let the Gators down with the game on the line. The offense was a disaster in the first half, making people wonder if the Gators had bothered to practice during their bye week.

In the end, Georgia was just too good and showed Florida what it means to have a great tight ends room.

Let us break it down with the Dooley Six Pack on the Florida-Georgia game, a 42-20 win for the Bulldogs.

The defense definitely got Florida back in the game…

Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun

… and finished with three turnovers gained. But that same defense gave up 556 yards and once Florida was able to cut the lead to 28-20, Georgia went down the field, 78 yards on six plays, the get the comfortable lead back. Then, Florida went for it on its own 49 and failed, giving Georgia a short field. That was it.

Florida three times had third-and-8 or more and ran up the middle for almost nothing on all three plays.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The lack of imagination on play-calling isn’t exactly helping an offense that feels like it has to score on every possession. The first half was brutal with only two first downs, 88 yards and 13 rushing yards.

Obviously, Georgia’s tight ends were a problem.

Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union

Two things: Georgia’s tight ends are a problem for every team the Bulldogs play and Florida hasn’t covered the tight ends since the opening game against Utah. Georgia’s tight ends had 205 receiving yards with Brock Bowers accounting for 154.

Let’s give credit to Amari Burney…

Donald Page/Getty Images

… who overcame the fluke play in the first half (he was in perfect position but somehow tipped the ball to Bowers for a 73-yard touchdown) and kept playing his rear off.

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Burney forced a fumble on Georgia’s first play of the second half and had an impressive diving interception on the next series. He also had seven tackles and two quarterback hurries.

Anthony Richardson had a weird game in that he ran for only 19 yards…

Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun

… (sacks count in college against rushing yards) and was again under 50% in completion percentage. This was not a good game for Florida’s offensive line as Richardson was in trouble often and the Gators averaged only 2.9 yards a rushing attempt.

So, here is a trivia question for you:

Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun

What do Vanderbilt, Miss. State, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Auburn and Missouri have in common when it comes to Florida?

The answer: They have all lost their last games against the Gators. The bad news is that more than half of the SEC opponents have winning streaks or have won their most recent games against Florida. And here they are:

• LSU 4 straight and 10 of the last 13

• Kentucky 2 straight and 3 of the last 5

• Georgia 3 straight and 5 of the last 6

• Alabama 8 straight

• Tennessee 1

• Texas A&M 2 straight and 3 of last 4

• South Carolina 1

This is not on Napier. It is a broken program and Gator fans are hoping they have the Fixer. Florida is also 14-14 overall since beating Georgia in 2020.

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Story originally appeared on Gators Wire