Post-Game Notebook

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida had just called its final timeout with over two minutes left to play, when quarterback Jake Fromm faced a third-and-7 situation with a chance to ice Saturday’s game.

Of all the options Fromm could have looked to, tight end Eli Wolf likely would have been considered the most unlikely target.

Instead, it was the grad transfer from Tennessee who made his biggest catch of the year, a 22-yard grab on the sideline for a huge first down, enabling the Bulldogs to run out the clock on their 24-17 win.

“We needed a first down. We knew we were going to throw it, so we told ourselves, let’s just put us in the best position possible,” Wolf said. “Coach (James) Coley said that was the best chance. I don’t know what happened when Jake dropped back, but I got it pretty quick, I turned around, and it was right there where I needed to be.”

Head coach Kirby Smart could not agree more.

It’s been a tough few weeks for Wolf, who hadn’t caught a pass since Georgia’s win over Tennessee a month ago.

“It was clutch. He wanted it. He’s been eating himself up from a couple of the drops he had against South Carolina, and things like that. He ran a great route. And he knew what coverage they were going to be in, how they were going to play us,” Smart said. “Todd (Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham) thinks very similar to how I do. We felt like that’s the philosophy. You try to win the game when you’ve got an opportunity to, and that was our opportunity to win the game. Now if we don’t complete the pass, y’all are all sitting here saying, 'What did you all do that for?' But that’s the life we lead as coaches, and we make decisions based on what gives us the best chance to win the game.”

The catch was the latest in what was an overall phenomenal effort on third down for the Bulldogs, who converted an impressive 12 of 18 third-down attempts.

The Bulldogs converted eight of their 11 third-down attempts, not only helping Georgia assume a 13-3 halftime lead but also dominate time of possession, holding the football for 19:44 compared to 10:16 for the Gators.

Of the eight conversions, wide receiver Lawrence Cager accounted for three, with the biggest coming midway through the second quarter on a third-down catch to the 10.

Cager appeared to momentarily lose possession, but managed to hang on for the catch after replay confirmed the reception, much to the chagrin of the Gators.

Three plays later, Jake Fromm hit Dominick Blaylock on a three-yard touchdown pass for Georgia’s first touchdown.

“We were able to convert some big third downs, some down and distances that (Florida has) been really good on, third and long. Tebow talked about this morning on SEC Nation. It's tough to convert those long-yardage third downs. When Jake has time, he's really efficient. I thought our receivers gained a lot of confidence throughout this game. We had all of them there and accounted for. They were all healthy. They played well too, to help Jake. But let's be honest, those five guys up front were blocking some pretty good pass rushers one on one, and that was probably the difference in the game."

There was good news for the Bulldogs in that Georgia apparently didn't suffer any additional injuries Saturday.

In fact, the only player who came in questionable who didn’t play was cornerback Tyson Campbell (turf toe), who traveled and dressed out, but didn't get into the game.

Freshman defensive end Travon Walker played for the first time in two games and responded with two tackles.

One of Georgia’s bigger defensive plays in the third quarter came when Jordan Davis and Malik Herring sacked quarterback Kyle Trask for a huge 19-yard loss.

What made the play even more amazing was it appeared that the sophomore nose tackle appeared to get held on the play.

“My mind went blank. I totally zonked out,” Davis said. “I just knew what the play was and had to go get it. People have asked me if I was held or not; I couldn’t tell you. It’s just one of those plays where you’ve got to get it.”

Ironically, Davis was the first player Smart hugged after the game.

"He was just the first one I saw, man. Jordan is a very emotional kid, a leader, and he doesn’t get to play a ton when it’s a pass-happy game. But he got to play some tonight. Did he get credited with a sack?" (It was a half-sack) Smart continued, “I didn’t think he was ever going to finish celebrating. That doesn’t happen very often for a guy like that. He gave an emotional talk to the team in the locker room when we got here. He’s a very articulate, intelligent, humorous guy, and he’s been a great addition to our team. He has to continue to work, because if we could get him a little lighter, he could really be a force. We got to get him to shed some pounds.”

On Brian Herrien’s acrobatic third-down catch: "I've seen quite a few of those. I'll be honest with you: that guy has got a skill set. I mean, he talks about it from baseball all the time. I saw it; I saw him in high school playing basketball. I've seen him do catches like that, crazy catches. It actually didn't surprise me that he made it, because he's Houdini when it comes to those." – Smart

On Florida tight end Kyle Pitts, who caught four passes for 78 yards:

“I was waiting on that one. That was the Notre Dame game all over again. I knew they did some good things to target the tight end. That tight end is as good of a player as I've ever seen at that position. He is a dominant, freaky, long, hard-to-matchup with dude. And they have good ways to get him the ball. I mean, y'all want us to throw it to the tight end. That dude is good, that dude is really talented." – Smart

On the crowd:

“It shows that Dawg Nation is all in. There were some tough ebbs and flows in that game, their fans got back in it; our fans got back in it. But that’s what it is. It’s a helluva rivalry game. I’m just proud of the support our fans provided for us, even if they did think Jake couldn’t throw the ball.” - Smart

• Defensive back Tyrique McGhee did not make the trip, due to an undisclosed injury.

• Eighth-ranked Georgia’s 24-17 win over No. 6 Florida gave the Bulldogs their third straight win in the series (for the first time since 2011-13), and now the Bulldogs are 4-3 all-time when both teams are ranked in the top 10. This was the second straight year it was a top 10 matchup. The Bulldogs, currently ranked No. 8, lead the all-time series now 53-43-2. Bulldog coach Kirby Smart is 7-3 against top 10 teams in his career including 2-0 this year and 2-0 versus UF when both are in the top 10.

• Coming in today, Georgia led the SEC and ranked 5th nationally in scoring defense (10.6 points per game). The Gators were held to 17 points (14 coming in the 4th quarter) and 278 yards of total offense on 52 plays. They came in averaging at least 400 total yards through the first eight games this year. In the first half, Florida ran 20 plays for 114 yards (8-rushing, 106-passing) and were held to three points as Georgia led 13-3. The Gators were 0-for-4 on third down and finished 2-for-9 on the day. The Bulldogs are fifth nationally in rushing defense, allowing just 85.7 yards a game, and the Gators had just 21 yards.

• Georgia’s leading tackler was junior Monty Rice with nine stops. Redshirt freshman Azeez Ojulari registered a sack for a loss of 10, and he leads the team this season with 4.5 for 35 yards.

• For the 14th straight year in the series, the team with the most rushing yards got the victory as Georgia out-gained Florida 119 to 21. Junior D’Andre Swift had a game-high 86 yards on 25 attempts.

• Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship went 3-for-3 on field goals and had 1 PAT with five touchbacks on six kickoffs. The field goals covered 31, 37, and 27 yards. He moved up to sixth in SEC history in career scoring, with 389 points for the year, he is 15-for-17 in field goals and 68-for-81 in his career.

• In the first half, Georgia went 3-for-3 (1 TD, 2 Field Goals) in the Red Zone. UF did not get in the Red Zone. Coming in today, Georgia ranked second in the SEC in Red Zone offense, scoring 97 percent of the time ,while Florida leads in Red Zone defense. The Bulldogs are second in the SEC in Red Zone defense. The Bulldogs finished 4-for-4 in the Red Zone while the Gators were 1-for-1.