Georgia Bulldogs Hang On To Beat Florida Gators, 23-20
Nov 2, 2013; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley (3) runs with the ball during the first quarter against the Florida Gators at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
It only took seven plays for the Georgia Bulldogs to get on the board against rival Florida Gators. Aaron Murray and a returning Todd Gurley led the team down the field before Gurley ran for a five yard touchdown to put the Dawgs up by six. Marshall Morgan would put the extra point in with no problem to give them seven quick points.
That would the theme of the first half for Georgia–they dominated the Gators, scoring two touchdowns and three field goals compared to Florida’s lone field goal.
At halftime, it seemed like this hyped up game was destined to be a blowout.
However, the Gators came into the third quarter with a spark and took over the remaining two quarters.
They took advantage of an Aaron Murray fumble on the Georgia 24 yard line and handed the ball to Mack Brown a couple times to finally get in the end zone. After that, the Gators would tackle Murray in the end zone for a safety and pick up another touchdown, courtesy of a 14 yard run by Tyler Murphy.
But, after converting for two extra points, the Bulldogs would re-take control of the game again and hold on for a 23-20 win.
It definitely wasn’t pretty, but in the end Georgia won an extremely important game an kept their (very slim) hopes of the SEC East alive.
The big takeaway from the game was clearly Todd Gurley. He had an incredible performance after returning from injury, scoring a touchdown in the air an on the ground and racking up 187 total yards. Late in the game he was clearly winded, but his early scores would make all the difference in the game.
"Todd Gurley is an absolute monster but he’s been so gassed today from not playing for a month."
— Scott Carasik (@ScottCarasik) November 2, 2013
Aaron Murray was awarded the player of the game and had respectable numbers, but in my mind Gurley deserved it. Muray was 16/25 with 258 passing yards and a touchdown, but also had that costly fumble in the third quarter.
Regardless of the second half (and especially a huge penalty with the Gators on fourth down by having 12 players on the field AFTER a timeout) Georgia did what they needed to do to keep their season alive–even if it was a nightmare for their fans to watch.