JACKSONVILLE - Joe Haden read the post route perfectly and 88 yards later, Georgia would never regain momentum.
That interception by Florida's sophomore cornerback was the first of four turnovers the Gators would cause in their 49-10 demolishing of Georgia on Saturday afternoon. After Haden's pick - which was in midst of a seven-play, 68-yard drive - the Bulldogs weren't able to get past the Gators 40-yard line again until the game's outcome was already decided in the fourth quarter.
UF picked off Georgia junior quarterback Matthew Stafford three times and also forced a fumble by sophomore running back Knowshon Moreno.
If you want proof of how turnovers impact momentum, just ask Bulldogs coach Mark Richt.
"We really put our defense in a bad way," Richt said.
Indeed. And it wasn't just the number of turnovers that were caused, it was what happened after those turnovers. In addition to Haden's 88-yard return, redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Terron Sanders motored his 6-foot-2, 300-pound frame down to Georgia's 10 yard line after picking up Moreno's fumble.
"I thought (Sanders) was going to score," freshman safety Will Hill said. "I'm a little disappointed in him that he didn't get the touchdown."
The good news for the Gators is that when you give their offense the ball that deep in opponent's territory, they usually do score that touchdown.
After sophomore strong safety Ahmad Black picked off Stafford - the quarterback's third interception of the day - he returned it 64 yards to the Georgia 25. One play later, junior receiver Percy Harvin was celebrating in the endzone after catching a 25-yard laser from junior quarterback Tim Tebow.
"We have the talent to be the best team in the country," said Haden, who simply shook his head 'no' when asked if any team in the country has played better than them in the past four weeks. "Now we practice like it."
Practice may not make perfect, but UF showed it at least makes for a lot of turnovers. The Gators have picked off 13 passes this season and returned them for 391 total yards, and they've also forced 10 fumbles.
Last season against the Bulldogs, the Gators didn't force a fumble and had just one interception by then-sophomore corner Wondy Pierre-Louis. While that pick was returned 25 yards for a touchdown, that one play didn't nearly equalize the impact turnovers had on this year's game.
"Turnovers just break up the rhythm of an offense," said junior weak-side linebacker Dustin Doe, who had the third interception Saturday. "Our whole mindset was to break up their rhythm. Georgia is a very rhythm team. Everything they do is count, count, count. We just tried to break that up, and that's what we did."
