Jake Fromm, No. 8 Georgia Upset No. 6 Florida 24-17 in SEC Action

The Georgia Bulldogs made a statement Saturday with a 24-17 victory over the Florida Gators in a crucial SEC East matchup. 

Both teams entered the day with one loss in conference play, but No. 6 Florida was in first place with one more win. If the eighth-ranked Bulldogs wanted to keep their division hopes alive, let alone have a shot at the College Football Playoff, they needed to beat their rival in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

Jake Fromm's 52-yard touchdown to Lawrence Cager on the Bulldogs' first drive of the fourth quarter gave them a 24-10 lead and proved to be the difference. Fromm made another key throw on Georgia's final drive, hitting Eli Wolf for 22 yards on 3rd-and-7 that allowed the offense to run out the clock. 

Florida's offense was forced to play one-dimensional football because it couldn't figure out Georgia's run defense. The Gators were held to 21 yards on the ground—well below their 142.4 yards-per-game average entering Saturday. 

Kyle Trask came alive late with two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. His two-yard score to Freddie Swain with 3:11 remaining gave the Gators hope. 

Notable Game Stats

• Jake Fromm, QB (Georgia): 20-of-30, 279 yards, 2 TDs
• Lawrence Cager, WR (Georgia): 7 receptions, 132 yards, 1 TD
• D'Andre Swift, RB (Georgia): 25 carries, 86 yards; 1 reception, 24 yards
• Kyle Trask, QB (Florida): 21-of-33, 257 yards, 2 TDs
• Lamical Perine, RB (Florida): 7 carries, 31 yards
• Kyle Pitts, WR (Florida): 4 receptions, 78 yards
• Freddie Swain, WR (Florida): 8 receptions, 91 yards, 1 TD

Dominant Win Boosts Bulldogs' Playoff Profile

A 20-17 loss to South Carolina three weeks ago left Georgia in a precarious position for the College Football Playoff.

Losing to a 3-5 foe on your home field leaves no margin for error the rest of the season if you want to be considered one of the four best teams in the country. It doesn't help that there are still eight undefeated teams in FBS, including the five such schools ranked ahead of the Bulldogs in the AP Top 25. 

Saturday showed how dominant Georgia's defense can be, even though things weren't always in perfect sync. The Gators managed 278 yards of total offense.

Florida's inability to move the ball for the first three quarters led to a massive disparity in time of possession. The Bulldogs held the ball for nearly 36 minutes. They did that even though the second level of their defense showed holes, per The Athletic's Seth Emerson:

Everything was breaking Georgia's way for the first three quarters—so much so that Brian Herrien made an acrobatic catch on a pass he didn't even look back for until it almost hit the ground:

Fromm and the Bulldogs offense continued their inconsistent play. They entered this week tied for 24th in the country with an average of 36 points per game, but they had been held to 23 points or fewer in three of the previous four contests.

In four trips to the red zone, Georgia could only come away with one touchdown. Fromm's scoring strike to Cager was huge because it gave the Bulldogs a two-score lead and came right after Florida cut the deficit to six points early in the fourth quarter.

Defense had been the key ingredient for Florida's success this season, though the unit has shown holes recently with 93 points allowed in the past three games. For comparison, opponents scored a combined total of 57 points against the Gators in their first six games. 

If head coach Dan Mullen can't get his defense back on track, Florida's promising start could go south in a hurry. The team does have a favorable schedule to end the year with games remaining against Vanderbilt, Missouri and Florida State. 

Georgia is putting together a resume that warrants attention from the playoff selection committee ahead of Tuesday's first rankings. It holds two victories over teams currently ranked in the Top 20, including a 23-17 win over Notre Dame in September. 

There's still work to do for head coach Kirby Smart down the stretch to wash away the stink of that South Carolina defeat, but the Bulldogs have a path to do that with a game at Auburn in two weeks and a potential appearance in the SEC Championship Game against either LSU or Alabama on Dec. 7. 

What's Next?

Georgia will return to Sanford Stadium next week to host Missouri on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. ET. Florida will play Vanderbilt at the Swamp on Nov. 9 at 12 p.m. ET.