Florida vs. Georgia: Game Grades, Analysis for Gators and Bulldogs

The Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators went at it on Saturday afternoon, and it was the Gators that came away with the 27-3 win.

The Gators did not play a complete game, but they were able to make plays when they needed to on offense, defense and special teams. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, made mistakes in all three phases of the game, and their chance of going back the Georgia Dome in December is done.

Here are game grades for the Gators and the Bulldogs.

Positional Unit	1st Half Grade	Final Grade
Passing Offense	B	B+
Rushing Offense	A	A
Passing Defense	A	A+
Rushing Defense	A+	A+
Special Teams	A-	A
Coaching	A	A

Passing Offense

Treon Harris did not have a great game when it comes to throwing the ball, but when a play was needed to be made, he made it with his arm. Harris completed less than 50 percent of his passes, threw for 155 yards and one touchdown. He was able to hit Antonio Callaway on 66-yard touchdown pass, which started the Florida rout on the Bulldogs.

Rushing Offense

Florida has not done a good job running the ball all season, but they did a solid job on the ground on Saturday as they rushed for more than 250 yards.

Kelvin Taylor had one of his best games this season has he rushed for 121 yards. Harris was able to run for 39 yards on 10 carries.

The Gators were able to attack the Bulldogs with Taylor as well as Jordan Scarlett in the second half, which was why they were able to close out the game with no issues.

Passing Defense

The Gators defense did a very solid job of making things rough for Faton Bauta. They forced four interceptions and Bauta threw for just 154 yards in the loss. The Gators defensive line and linebackers were able to apply a fair amount of pressure on Bauta, which led to Vernon Hargreaves, Keanu Neal, Marcus Maye and Jarrad Davis notching interceptions.

Rushing Defense

One of the reasons Bauta was in the game for the Bulldogs was to help with the run game. Well, Bauta had only three attempts for four yards and the team as a whole rushed for 66 yards. The front seven for Florida did not allow any running room for Georgia all game long, which made the Bulldogs one-dimensional. Davis had a monster game as he tallied six tackles and half a tackle for a loss to go along with his interception.

Special Teams

The Gators scored their first touchdown of the day with a recovery on a muffed punt. They also were able to stop a fake punt by the Bulldogs later in the game. Austin Hardin did miss a field goal early in the first quarter, but overall it was a great showing on special teams as they played with discipline and patience.

Coaching

Jim McElwain and his coaching staff did a great job preparing for a team that was looking to get back in the mix for the SEC title. The Gators stuck to their game plan on offense, defense and special teams and they were able to capitalize on the numerous mistakes the Bulldogs made the entire game. McElwain has earned the right be in the talks for conference and national coach of the year.

Positional Unit	1st Half Grade	Final Grade
Passing Offense	D	F
Rushing Offense	F	F
Passing Defense	C-	C-
Rushing Defense	D-	F
Special Teams	F	F
Coahing	D-	D-

Passing Offense

The Bulldogs have struggled in the passing game all season, but on Saturday night, things took a step in the wrong direction.

Bauta got his first career start and he did not looks sharp, completing less than 50 percent of his passes and throwing four interceptions. Bauta is known for being a dual-threat quarterback, but he spent almost all of his time throwing the football, which was not his strength against Florida.

Rushing Offense

But here’s the thing. Bauta did not run the ball well at all against the Gators. He only had three rushes for four yards and the coaches never really used his skills as a runner.

As a team, the Bulldogs rushed for 69 yards and averaged three yards per carry. Sony Michel never got going, but he also had to leave the game for a little bit due to an injury. And Keith Marshall should have seen more carries than three if Bauta was not going to run the ball.

Passing Defense

Harris did not pass for a ton of yards, but the Bulldogs secondary did not make plays when it needed to. On the Harris touchdown pass to Callaway, Jonathan Abram was on the coverage and he just got beat. At the same time, he did not get any help from the cornerback which led to the score.

The secondary for the Bulldogs is young, with a number of freshmen on the depth chart, so growing pains like they went through in the Florida game are something they have been dealing with all season.

Rushing Defense

This is the second consecutive year the Bulldogs do not have an answer for Kelvin Taylor. He finished the game rushing for 121 yards and two touchdown and the team rushed for 258 rushing yards overall.

The defense was worn out because they were one the field for 36 minutes. It’s not their fault as the offense turned the ball over four times. But that’s not an excuse to get run over by a team that is No. 13 in the SEC in rushing offense.

Special Teams

The Bulldogs had Brice Ramsey as their punter, Reggie Davis muffed a punt which led to a Gators touchdown and they failed to convert a fake punt. It was another bad day for the Bulldogs on special teams and once again it was a key reason the Bulldogs fell short on Saturday. The good news is Marshall Morgan made his lone field goal to prevent the Bulldogs from being shutout.

Coaching

There were a lot of things that made fans scratch their heads when watching the Bulldogs take on the Gators.

The first is why didn’t the coaches play to Bauta’s strength, which is running the football?

Also, if Richt said he was going to use more than one quarterback, why was Bauta in for the entire game?

And with Bauta not looking sharp throwing the ball and Michel injured, could Keith Marshall not get more than three carries against the Gators?

This was not a great game for the coaching staff, and they need to get the players better prepared the rest of the way if they want to have a respectable record.