'This win goes to Coach Dooley': No. 1 Bulldogs down Florida day after Georgia legend's death

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Kirby Smart and his Georgia football team ultimately paid tribute to Vince Dooley on Saturday by turning back rival Florida like he did for much of his time as Bulldogs football coach during his 25 seasons.

The No. 1 Bulldogs surrendered 17 unanswered points in the third quarter before repelling the rally. They made sure they left TIAA Bank Field on the banks of the St. Johns River victors for the fifth time in the last six years on Saturday with a 42-20 victory.

Georgia jumped to a 25-point halftime lead, withstood the Gators slicing into that in the third quarter and made some big plays when it needed them in the second half.

Georgia is in a golden era for its first football program and that includes against Florida.

This is the best stretch for the Bulldogs in the series since winning seven of eight from 1978-85 when Dooley was coach.

The Bulldogs legend died Friday afternoon in Athens at age 90.  A moment of silence was held before the game for Dooley who went 17-7-1 record against the Gators.

Nick Saban honors late Vince Dooley: 'One of my favorite people in the world'

Georgia improved to 8-0, 5-0 in the SEC heading into a showdown with No. 3 Tennessee on Saturday in Athens.

Here are a few things we learned from the victory over the Gators:

Big day for tight end Brock Bowers

Tight end Brock Bowers has made a lot of big plays in his season-and-a-half-plus at Georgia

The 73-yard touchdown in the second quarter may top them all for its sheer wonderment of "how the heck did he get ahold of that ball?"

The fourth-down catch he made in the fourth quarter may have been more important for the sophomore from Napa, California.

On a fourth-and-7, Florida jumped offsides and quarterback Stetson Bennett took advantage of the free play and hit Bowers on the right side. The sophomore twisted and made the catch for 29 yards.

Georgia converted for the eighth time in eight fourth down tries this season.

Bowers finished with a career-high 154 receiving yards

On the next play, Kenny McIntosh scored on a 4-yard run with 11:44 to go to make it 42-20.

Bowers’ long touchdown pass to the left side in the first half came with linebacker Amari Burney in coverage.

Burney reached out to deflect the ball with his right hand. It appeared to bounce off his helmet and then hit his left hand. That’s when Bowers got into the act.

He turned and batted the ball not once but twice with his left hand and then grabbed the ball with two hands. With Burney on the ground, Bowers turned and raced down field for the 73-yard touchdown.

Some scary moments in third quarter

Georgia let Florida (4-4, 1-4 SEC) back in the game when its defense that was dominant in the first half wilted in the third quarter.

The Gators took advantage of two Georgia turnovers after marching down the field on their opening drive.

First, McIntosh fumbled and Trey Dean recovered to give the Gators a short field.

Then after Bennett’s second interception, the Gators hit a big passing play.

Anthony Richardson hit a wide-open Xzavier Henderson on the right sideline and he was gone for a 78-yard touchdown.

Freshman safety Malaki Starks appeared to creep inside too much leaving Henderson plenty of field in front of him to go for the score.

Georgia running back Daijun Edwards found his way through the Florida defense for a 22-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a little bit more cushion and a 35-20 lead.

Starks was in coverage in the end zone on a fourth-and-11 incompletion with 8:59 to go. It was called an interception initially but overturned by replay.

Georgia offense piles up the yards on Florida

Georgia has found racking up yards a difficult endeavor in this game.

Just once under Kirby Smart had the Bulldogs hit 400 yards of total offense and twice —in 2016 and 2020 — the Bulldogs were held below 280.

This time they had more than 500 yards, topping the 429 they had in 2018 against Florida

Georgia had 346 in the first half alone, scoring four first-half touchdowns to lead 28-3. It finished with 556 total yards of offense.

Bennett passed for 262 yards in the first half, completing 16 of 29 with two touchdowns and an interception.

The Bulldogs got a 1-yard touchdown run by

Edwards and a 2-yard score on the ground from McIntosh.

Uneven day for Georgia QB Stetson Bennett

Bennett entered the game with just one interception in his last nine games dating back to last season, but he threw his second and third interceptions of the season Saturday.

That gave him five in three games against Florida dating back to 2020.

His first came in the first half when Dom Blaylock battled Jadarrius Perkins for a pass near the Georgia sideline. In the third quarter, Bennett underthrew Edwards on a pass downfield and Burney picked it off.

The McIntosh fumble was the third of the game for Georgia. The three tied the season-high from a tougher-than-expected 39-22 victory over Kent State.

Bennett had an uneven game. He was 19 of 38 for 316 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia beats Florida again at Outdoor Cocktail Party: What we learned