JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Georgia football snapped Florida’s five-game winning streak, and new Gators coach Dan Mullen made it clear his team had no one to blame but themselves.
“I don’t think we played very well at all, it probably was our worst execution performance of the year and I am really disappointed in that,” Mullen said after the Bulldogs beat Florida 36-17 on Saturday.
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“They scored four touchdowns on third down, and two of them we had blown coverages on. We had poor execution and as a team, we have to be much cleaner and execute cleaner.”
The Gators entered the game plus-9 in turnovers this season, but on Saturday, the Bulldogs forced them into three turnovers while not committing any.
Georgia outgained Florida 429 yards to 275 yards, the biggest difference coming in the pass game where Jake Fromm had 240 yards and three touchdowns on 17-of-24 passing.
Mullen said the Gators’ injuries had something to do with that.
“Two of the best players on our team are our two corners (C.J. Henderson, Marco Wilson), we like to play man coverage, they were both out, and that’s a struggle,” Mullen said.
The Gators, it’s worth noting, had a hard time accepting last year’s 42-7 Georgia win, too.
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Florida receiver Freddie Swain said the Gators didn’t prepare well or try hard enough in the game.
“Yeah, practice was lackadaisical,” Swain said. “The effort wasn’t there. It showed. The execution today was poor.
“I don’t think the better team won today. The execution part is what gave (Georgia) the lead and the momentum.”
Gators running back Jordan Scarlett said Florida was too confident it would beat the Bulldogs.
“I think it was just us being a little too confident,” Scarlett said, “and not really going into the game and executing or paying attention to detail like we always preach.”
Mullen said Florida did show signs of being the team he knows it can be.
“The goal-line stand where they had six opportunities to score inside the one yard line and they don’t,” Mullen said. “That’s what we expect to be.”
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