Georgia bounces back from upset, handles Florida in Atlanta - ESPN

ATLANTA — The Georgia-Florida series has been played in Jacksonville, Florida, almost every season since 1933.

This year, the game was moved to Atlanta for the first time because of a $1.4 billion renovation of EverBank Stadium.

The No. 3 Bulldogs might want to consider playing the No. 17 Gators in their state capital more often after their dominant 27-8 victory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday.

Two weeks after the Bulldogs had too many self-inflicted wounds in a stunning 27-24 loss to unranked Auburn at home, they flipped the script on the Gators. Georgia forced four turnovers, held the Gators to only 54 rushing yards and had four sacks.

«We did what we had to do,» Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. «We avoided turnovers for the most part and we got turnovers. The Dogs didn't beat the Dogs today. They helped us with some of the turnovers they had.»

The Bulldogs won their sixth straight game over Florida and improved to 9-2 against them in Smart's tenure. It is Georgia's most dominant stretch in the border rivalry since it won six in a row from 1978 to 1983.

The Bulldogs ran for 217 yards and went 4-for-5 in the red zone.

After struggling to tackle and slow down Auburn's running game, Georgia's defense was dominant. It shut out Florida through the first three quarters. It was the first time Florida has been shut out through three quarters since its 30-3 loss to Oregon State in the 2022 Las Vegas Bowl.

Florida's NCAA-record 481 consecutive games with points remains intact after Gators quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. scored on a two-yard run — following a pass interference penalty on fourth-and-goal — and threw a two-point conversion pass to Dallas Wilson to make it 24-8 with 6:59 remaining.

By then, it was too late.

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