ATLANTA — Kirby Smart doesn’t often shower praise on his defense, but Saturday was an exception after Georgia’s dominant performance in a 27-8 win over Florida at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“The Dawgs didn’t beat the Dawgs, we were smart, we played good, disciplined football, had our best defensive performance which was nice,” Smart, 18-3 at Georgia after losing the preceding game, said in his ABC television on-field interview. “Then a nice job on offense controlling the ball early. Just proud of the guys, happy for the guys.”

The No. 3-ranked Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 SEC) held 17th-ranked Florida (5-3, 3-3) to 246 total yards, just 48 of those coming on the ground at a 1.7 yards-per-rush clip.

“We knew for us to be successful in this game we had to be able to stop the run,” said UGA linebacker Chris Cole, who scored on a 66-yard fumble return that gave the Bulldogs a 24-0 lead at halftime. “That’s what we did today. I feel amazing, I feel blessed, I’m super excited about the team and there’s more work to come, but I’m so excited.”

Georgia’s defense, coming off arguably its worst performance of the season in a 27-24 home loss to unranked Auburn on Oct. 17 that saw it yield 192 yards rushing, had 11 tackles for loss and four sacks on the Gators.

“They were passionate, they wanted to play better, they had a little passion, fire an energy today and had a chip on their shoulder after the last time out,” Smart said, referencing the upset loss to Auburn. “We’ve got to play like that all the time.”

Florida tailback Jadan Baugh, who entered the day averaging 109 yards rushing per game and was tied for the most TDs scored in the nation by a tailback (13), was held to 38 yards on 17 carries.

Fifteen of Baugh’s rushing yards came on the final play of the first half on a run that would have ben called back had Smart not declined a holding penalty, wanting to ensure the Gators didn’t get another chance to score before intermission.

“It means a lot, they’ve got a great program, I think coach (Jon) Sumrall is doing a great job, I’m happy for our guys,” said Smart, who has won six straight in the rivalry series and nine of the past 10. “We had a lot of guys banged up that came back and played tonight.”

Georgia All-American safety KJ Bolden was among those players, returning to make six tackles after missing the Auburn game with a lower-leg injury.

Demello Jones and Ellis Robinson IV each recorded interceptions, and Jones would have had another had it not been negated by a roughing-the-passer penalty.

Gabe Harris and Quintavius Johnson each forced a fumble, Johnson’s triggering Cole’s pivotal fumble return for a touchdown.

The Bulldogs return to action at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Ole Miss (6-2, 4-2), which handled Auburn 45-15 on Saturday in Oxford, Mississippi.