You might call them Georgia Tech South with offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner leaving the Yellow Jackets in the offseason and taking QB Aaron Philo, WR Eric Singleton, WR Bailey Stockton and TE Luke Harpring with him. But, it was a similar result as in that rivalry.

   It was a different city and a radically different atmosphere, but the script remained entirely unchanged for one of college football’s most historic rivalries. For the first time in history, the border war between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators moved under the roof at Mercedes-Benz Stadium due to ongoing stadium renovations in Jacksonville.

   The change of venue did absolutely nothing to slow down head coach Kirby Smart’s program, as the No. 3 Bulldogs rode a suffocating, opportunistic defensive performance to lock up a convincing 27-8 victory over the No. 17 Gators in front of a raucous sellout crowd of 72,541.

   With the victory, UGA (7-1, 5-1 SEC) has now asserted absolute dominance over its biggest rival, winning six consecutive games in the series and nine of the last ten matchups overall.
Smart noted postgame that the win was sweet because it was an SEC victory that advanced their goals, allowing them to remain firmly in the hunt for the conference championship.

   “My Initial impression was that our defense played with tenacity, effort, flying to the ball,” he said. “The goal was to shut down the run game, confuse the quarterback. I thought we did both of those things; affected the quarterback. We
created field position and offense for our offense.”

   The suffocating Georgia defense completely stifled Florida’s high-powered offense, holding them scoreless in the first half and forcing four crucial turnovers. The defensive unit blew the game open with interceptions by Ellis Robinson IV and Demello Jones, plus a spectacular 66-yard fumble return touchdown by Chris Cole off a Quintavius Johnson strip-sack.

   Florida coach Jon Sumrall acknowledged his team’s self-inflicted mistakes, expressing frustration over the errors and emphasizing the urgent need to meet the program’s standard moving forward. “I think they’re a really good football team and I have a lot of respect for them,” Sumrall said. “They didn’t need our help tonight, but we gave it to them, too.”

   Offensively, the Bulldogs found their rhythm on the ground, churning out 217 hard-fought rushing yards. Short, physical touchdown runs from Nate Frazier and Bo Walker set the tone, while quarterback Gunner Stockton managed 101 passing yards and added 45 critical rushing yards.

   An interesting side note. Georgia has now won five straight games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Falcons have been playing there for ten years now and their longest winning streak in the building is four.

   Smart stressed that the offense still has another level to reach as the season progresses, highlighting areas that need improvement before the final stretch of the year. The win firmly positions the Bulldogs at the top of the SEC standings as they head into November.

   It doesn’t get any easier as the Dawgs head to Oxford to take on No. 12 Ole Miss, who just manhandled Auburn 45-15. Kickoff is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.