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Georgia football’s 5 best players against Florida

Sony Michel (1) was Georgia's best player in a 42-7 win over the Florida Gators on Saturday.
Bob Andres/AJC
Cy Brown
Cy Brown

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Top Dawgs

Well, that was something. Georgia boat-raced Florida 42-7 in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, the largest Bulldogs victory over the Gators since 1982. But it was much more than just a win. It was shift in the balance of power in the SEC East. It was a mental hurdle emphatically cleared. It was the end of the brief Jim McElwain era in Gainesville.

There were fantastic performances by Georgia Bulldogs all across this field in this landmark Cocktail Party win, but here are five players who stood out above the rest.

5. Johnathan Ledbetter — Ledbetter has wreaked havoc on the line over the last three weeks. The defensive end got in the backfield early against the Gators, and finished with 3 tackles and a tackle for loss. He’s quietly become one of the best players on the defense over the course of the season.

4. J.R. Reed — Reed had a couple of uncharacteristic missed tackles, but was his usual, spectacular self otherwise. The DB had 8 tackles and combined for a sack and strip with Tyrique McGhee, then ran it back for Georgia’s first defensive touchdown of the season.

3. D’Andre Swift — Swift only had 8 rushing yards, but excelled as a receiver. As one of only two Georgia pass-catchers, Swift was Georgia’s leading receiver with 3 receptions for 84 yards. He had the Dawgs’ first big play of the game when he went for 39 yards to convert on third down and set up Nick Chubb’s first-quarter touchdown.

2. Lorenzo Carter — Early in this game, Carter was a force to be reckoned with. He The OLB set the tone for the game by wrecking the Gators offense and sacking quarterback Feleipe Franks on their opening drive. When a tackle was being made while Georgia built up its 21-point first-quarter lead, Carter was probably involved, either making the stop himself or wrangling a Gators player into the path of a teammate. He finished with a team-high 9 tackles.

1. Sony Michel — Michel ran for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns on 6 carries with a long of 74 yards. It doesn’t get much better than that.

‘We talked with our helmets’

If you don’t think the Bulldogs heard every word of smack talk Florida players laid out in the buildup to the Cocktail Party, think again.

“We heard and saw the things that were being said through social media, and all week. We’d lie to you if we said we didn’t,” Bellamy said, according to Seth Emerson of DawgNation. “We had humble spirits all week, and we came out here and we talked with our helmets.”

Bellamy was asked after the Saturday game what he thought of those comments.

“Disrespectful. Disrespectful. Disrespectful. Very disrespectful,” Bellamy said. “And it kind of put a fire in our belly, it definitely did. We had a great week of practice.”

Georgia junior linebacker Roquan Smith put it another way.

“In the SEC, a game has never been won by talking,” Smith said. “It is what it is.”

Never satisfied

The Bulldogs had an opportunity to do something to the Gators no team had done in 268 games: shut them out. But with a touchdown against Georgia’s backups with less than three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Florida extended its FBS-record scoring streak to 368 games. So despite a 35-point margin of victory, coach Kirby Smart and Georgia’s starting defenders were not happy following the final whistle. From Jake Rowe of Dawgs247:

“They were pissed. I was pissed,” Smart said. “We put guys in and the idea is they go in and play to a standard. They didn’t do that. If we would have had 85 guys here instead of 70, I would have put 11 other ones in, to give them an opportunity to get better. We got some guys we didn’t get to bring who could have played better than maybe some of the guys who got to play in these opportunities.”

Within the Georgia football program, standards have never been higher. Under Smart, not even a 35-point win over the Gators is considered completely satisfying, only because it wasn’t a 42-point win.. We’re in a whole new world, people.

You vs. the guy she told you not to worry about

Dawgs in the polls

Georgia moved up a spot in both the traditional top 25 polls. The Bulldogs are ranked second in both the AP Top 25 and Amway Coaches Poll, behind No. 1 Alabama. They’re also ranked second behind Alabama in the SEC Country Power Poll.

The first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings, which determines the four teams that qualify for the College Football Playoff, comes out on Tuesday. The playoff selection committee doesn’t take any other polls into consideration when ranking teams, instead using its own criteria. Considering this, and the fact Georgia’s win at Notre Dame is better than any win on Alabama’s resume, there’s a chance the Bulldogs debut at No. 1 in the CFP rankings.

Georgia opens as big favorite vs. South Carolina

South Carolina has surprised football fans on its way to a 6-2 record this season, which has some folks thinking a potential upset is on the cards when the Gamecocks travel to Athens this weekend. But the folks in Vegas are firmly on the side of the Dawgs. Georgia opened as a 21 1/2-point favorite over South Carolina. The spread has since moved to Georgia -25.

Georgia hoops falls to Michigan State in charity scrimmage

Georgia played Michigan State in its first basketball scrimmage of the season Sunday in Grand Rapids, Mich. The Bulldogs lost 80-68 to the Spartans. Yante Maten scored a game-high 33 points in the loss.

The charity exhibition was played in front of a sold-out Van Andel Arena, with the proceeds from ticket sales being split between Georgia and Michigan State. The game raised $339,447 for Hurricane Irma relief efforts. Michigan State donated its half to Red Cross International Services and Georgia donated its half to Red Cross of Georgia.

“When you do something for a cause greater than yourself, you need help to really make an impact, and this couldn’t have happened without Michigan State University, and the great support that their fan base and the city of Grand Rapids provided,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “I thank you from the bottom of our hearts from the Deep South.”

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Good dog

Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the carpet.

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NEXT 2017 SEC Country Power Poll: Where Georgia is ranked (Week 9)
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