JACKSONVILLE — After knocking off the Gators for the second year in a row, Georgia leapfrogged Florida in the BCS standings.
UF dropped from No. 2 to No. 7 in the BCS poll and from No. 3 to No. 8 in the AP poll.
Georgia moved up to sixth in the BCS and No. 7 in the AP.
The Gators can only reach the Southeastern Conference title game for the first time since 2009 if they defeat Missouri and Georgia loses at home to Ole Miss or on the road against Auburn.
With four of the top 10 teams in the BCS falling, the Gators stayed in contention for a potential BCS national championship game appearance.
Alabama, Kansas State, Notre Dame, Oregon, LSU and Georgia are ahead of Florida in the BCS.
All six teams have games remaining against ranked opponents.
Even if Georgia wins out to keep Florida from an SEC title shot, Florida could still win the rest of its games and have an outside shot at a BCS title game appearance.
Kansas State, Oregon and Notre Dame would all need to lose at least once, while the winner of Saturday’s matchup between LSU and Alabama would need to defeat Georgia in the SEC title game. Florida could then theoretically be selected to face that team for the national title.
Even with its No. 7 ranking, Florida would qualify for a BCS bowl game appearance. The Sugar Bowl takes the SEC champion and an at-large team.
If the SEC champion reaches the national title game, the Sugar Bowl selects the next highest-ranked SEC team in the BCS.
The Capital One Bowl pits the SEC No. 2 against the No. 2 team from the Big Ten.
Gillislee slowing down: Mike Gillislee didn’t have much room to run against the Bulldogs.
Georgia’s three starters on the defensive line, anchored by 6-foot-3, 358-pound John Jenkins and 6-foot-6, 355-pound Kwame Geathers, weigh an average of 337 pounds.
Florida’s offense entered the game with the SEC’s third-ranked rushing offense.
Something had to give.
Unfortunately for Florida, Gillislee and Co. ran into a brick wall.
“They loaded the box and did a good job stopping the run,” quarterback Jeff Driskel said. “That’s what they said from the beginning, that they were going to stop the run, and they did that pretty much all night. We just came short. We didn’t make enough plays.”
After racking up a career-high 34 carries for 146 yards against then-No. 4 LSU, Gillislee has averaged 19 carries and 60 yards in the past three games.
The Georgia defense that allowed 206 rushing yards to SEC cellar-dweller Kentucky on Oct. 20 looked much stronger on Saturday at EverBank Field.
Florida managed a season-low 75 yards on the ground.
“We didn’t run the ball well enough,” Muschamp said. “We became one-dimensional against really good rushers.”
Right guard Jon Halapio said the Gators offensive line had trouble communicating and timing the snap.
“There are little parts of it that can be blamed on us, but like I said earlier, it’s a team effort,” Halapio said. “Not one particular possession or one person on the team lost the football game.”
Bulldogs rough up Gators: Solomon Patton suffered a broken left arm in Saturday’s loss.
Patton took a sweep and ran left on a fourth-and-1 play at the Georgia 36-yard line.
Georgia safety Shawn Williams grabbed the 5-foot-9 Patton up around his shoulder pads and slammed the receiver down on his arm.
Patton left the game and did not return. He watched the second half from the sidelines with his arm in a sling.
Defensive tackle Damien Jacobs didn’t travel with the team due to a hamstring injury. Linebacker Jelani Jenkins started the game before tweaking his hamstring, which Jenkins originally injured against LSU on Oct. 6.
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Coach Will Muschamp speaks to the media after Florida’s 17-9 loss to Georgia on Saturday at EverBank Field in Jacksonville. UF dropped to No. 7 in the BCS standings on Sunday.
