New coach, same result: Florida beats Georgia [photos]

Florida defensive back Marcus Maye (20) and Florida defensive lineman Joey Ivie (91) tackle Georgia running back Nick Chubb (27) during the first half of an NCAA football game, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Florida defensive back Marcus Maye (20) and Florida defensive lineman Joey Ivie (91) tackle Georgia running back Nick Chubb (27) during the first half of an NCAA football game, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A new Georgia football coach.

An all-too-familiar result for the Bulldogs.

A year after Mark Richt lost for the 10th time in 15 tries against the Florida Gators, successor Kirby Smart failed in his first attempt Saturday at EverBank Field. Producing a paltry 164 total yards and struggling yet again on special teams, the Bulldogs faded in a 24-10 loss, the same score Richt endured in his first try in 2001.

"Obviously it's disappointing," Smart said. "I really thought that we would be able to run the ball a little better. I thought with some of their injuries and their size up front that we matched up better and that we would be able to run the ball, but obviously that didn't happen.

"I thought that their kids defensive kind of out-physicaled us."

Georgia's 21st loss to the Gators in the past 27 meetings saddled the Bulldogs with a 4-4 overall record and the program's first 2-4 mark in Southeastern Conference play since 1996, the first of Jim Donnan's five seasons in Athens. Donnan went 1-4 against Florida, which followed Ray Goff's 1-6 record in the rivalry that ended with six consecutive losses.

"Every year, you have expectations of coming in, doing well and eventually being undefeated," junior tailback Nick Chubb said. "We're not that, so we have to accept who we are and continue to play."

The No. 14 Gators (6-1, 4-1), who next play at Arkansas, all but put a third consecutive double-digit victory over the Bulldogs away with Antonio Callaway's 4-yard run with 3:11 remaining in the third quarter that made it 21-10. Callaway became the first player in Gators history to score via a run, pass, reception, punt return and kickoff return in his career.

Georgia showed no signs of threatening in the second half, managing two first downs and 47 yards. Bulldogs freshman quarterback Jacob Eason completed 15 of 33 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown, but two of his incompletions occurred on fourth-and-2 and fourth-and-3 situations near midfield in the final 10 minutes.

"That quarterback they have is something special," Florida coach Jim McElwain said. "He's going to be a guy we are going to have to contend with here at Florida for a lot of years to come. We wanted to give him a lot of different looks and things he hadn't seen, but I thought he was effective breaking the pocket and making things happen."

Georgia got the game's first big break when safety Dominick Sanders intercepted Luke Del Rio and returned the ball 31 yards to Florida's 25-yard line. The Bulldogs drove to the Florida 2 but committed a false-start penalty on second down and had to settle for a 25-yard Rodrigo Blankenship field goal.

Blankenship's kick marked the first points allowed by the Gators in the first quarter this season.

The Gators took a 7-3 lead with 1:17 left in the first quarter on a 19-yard pass from Del Rio to tight end C'yontai Lewis and seemed to be taking control when Teez Tabor sacked Jacob Eason for an 11-yard loss on the quarter's final play. Eason, however, bounced back quickly by scrambling and finding Terry Godwin behind the secondary on third-and-8 for 38 yards to the Florida 35.

That ignited a 75-yard touchdown drive that culminated with a 14-yard touchdown toss from Eason to Riley Ridley to put the Bulldogs up 10-7 with 12:02 left in the half. Georgia, however, went three-and-out on its next three possessions, and the Gators went up 14-10 on Jordan Scarlett's 2-yard touchdown run with 1:37 before halftime.

"The game plan was to pound the ball between the tackles and take shots down the field," Godwin said. "Some of the things we had set up didn't go the way we wanted. The whole game plan was to see how they responded to the run."

Said Chubb: "I felt like it was always three-and-out, and we weren't getting in a rhythm or anything. It's just frustrating."

Florida took its first possession of the second half to Georgia's 16 before whiffing when Eddy Pineiro was wide right on a 33-yard field-goal attempt.

The Bulldogs, who haven't been 2-5 in league play since 1993, have another difficult task this week with a trip to Kentucky (5-3, 4-2), which won 35-21 Saturday at Missouri.

"These kids are buying in and want to do right," Smart said. "We've got a young team, but we've got some good leaders who are seniors that I hate it for. I hate it for Brandon Kublanow and I hate it for Reggie Davis, because they give it everything they have in practice every day.

"We are 4-4. That's a fact, so what can we do about it? We can get our butts ready to go play Kentucky, because that's all we can control."

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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