UGA defeats Florida 43-20 in rivalry game in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, FL (WTOC) - The Georgia Bulldogs took down the Florida Gators with a decisive win of 43-20 in Jacksonville Saturday.

Throughout this extended run of excellence for Georgia football that continued Saturday with a 25th consecutive victory, Kirby Smart has had a way of defining and inspiring his team with mantras.

He has said of this year’s group several times that they can take a punch and give a punch.

And the Bulldogs were at their counter-punching best in a blowout of Florida in Jacksonville.

After Florida hit first with a scoring drive at the beginning, Georgia went to work on a knockout. Carson Beck led the offense to 26 consecutive points, but the hardest blows came from a Georgia defense that shut down the Gators.

Beginning at the 4:00 mark of the first quarter and for the next 10 minutes, 10 different Bulldog defenders made impact plays - sacks, forced fumbles, pass breakups, a blocked punt - to put the game away early. And give the Dogs a third straight win over Florida in Jacksonville, 43-20.

“We really just wanted to come in and set their front down. Make them one-dimensional, make them have to sit in the pocket and pass. We knew they were going to try to get us side to side, and hit us downhill, but we just played great team defense today I feel like,” said Zion Logue, a senior offensive lineman for Georgia.

“I just felt like it was 11 people playing as one, you know, unselfish football, everybody striking blocks,” said Smael Mondon, a junior linebacker for Georgia.

With two weeks to prepare for this game, Kirby Smart was able to put together a defensive plan to shut down a much improved Florida team. But now, the challenge gets even greater for Georgia - three ranked opponents in the next three weeks.

But that won’t stop the Bulldogs or Georgia fans from savoring Saturday’s win in Jacksonville.

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