Georgia Football: Bulldogs vs Gators rapid reaction

Georgia football lost to Florida mainly due to poor QB play.

Georgia football is now 4-2 and most likely out of any race for the SEC East after losing to Florida for the first time in three years. Quarterback play left a lot to be desired. Stetson Bennett and D’Wan Mathis combined to complete nine of 29 passes for 112 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. Both quarterbacks missed multiple receivers that were wide open, mostly overthrowing them.

Bennett completed five of 16 passes for 78 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Bennett did come out of the game in the first quarter after taking a late-hit, that wasn’t called, to his shoulder. Mathis replaced him for three plays at the end of the first quarter. Georgia ran two end-arounds and a wide receiver screen with Mathis at quarterback.

It wasn’t until Bennett threw his sixth interception of the season, in the third quarter, that Bennett was pulled out of the game for good. When Mathis first came back in the offense began to move again. On his first drive, Mathis ran for a total of 24 yards while completing one of two passes for 25 yards and a touchdown. However that would be fool’s gold as the offense wouldn’t score again in the game and Mathis would end the game only completing four of 13 passes for 34 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions.

Kearis Jackson and James Cook led all receivers with three receptions apiece. Jackson turned his three catches into 48 yards and a touchdown while Cook got 17 yards on his. These two were the most consistent receivers for the offense as others were dropping balls or being completely missed by whoever was playing quarterback.

As bad as the pass offense was the rush offense once again had a great game. Zamir White went 75 yards for a touchdown on the very first play of the game. Showing that Georgia’s offense could be just as explosive as Florida’s. Georgia rushed 29 times for 165 yards, 5.7 yards per carry. Yet, just like in the Alabama game, Todd Monken would mysteriously go away from the run in favor of the pass.

Georgia football’s main three running backs combined for just 15 carries, but they turned them into 151 yards and a touchdown. White got just seven carries on the day which he wracked up 107 yards on. Cook carried the ball six times for 26 yards and Kendall Milton ran the ball twice for 18 yards before going down with a knee injury.

Georgia’s defense missed Richard LeCounte,  Jordan Davis, and Julian Rochester dearly. Kyle Trask was able to have a career game against Georgia’s defense as he was hardly ever pressured. Able to stand in a clean pocket he shredded the Junkyard Dawg’s zone defense as he completed 30 of 43 passes for 474 yards and four touchdowns.

Florida wasn’t just moving the ball through the air, the ground game was slicing through Georgia’s defense as well. Georgia gave up 97 yards on the ground, however, Florida’s running backs weren’t just running on Georgia’s defense on the ground, they also accounted for a good chunk of their passing yards as well as Georgia’s linebackers struggled to cover Florida’s wheel routes. The Gator’s running backs combined for 141 yards receiving.

Georgia’s defense did force Trask to turn the ball over once though as Eric Stokes got his third interception of the season and his second interception return for a touchdown.

There was some good and a whole lot of bad in this game. One thing is sure, Georgia has got to find a quarterback if they ever plan on playing important games in January. Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, and now Trask have all lit up Kirby Smart‘s defense as he continues to say that defense is his focal point. That’s just not how college football works anymore. You need an elite quarterback and an explosive offense to win these days.

Georgia has the right play-caller on offense, that is for sure. There are constantly open receivers running free, but Georgia doesn’t have the ability at the quarterback position to hit them. Seems like Georgia fans will have to wait until next year to see what Monken’s offense has the ability to be. Maybe Brock Vandagriff will be the answer, who knows. All we do know is the quarterback Georgia football needs is not on this roster. Not in 2020.