JACKSONVILLE — For three straight seasons, Will Muschamp and the Gators fixed their eyes on the prize. If only they could get their hands on it.
Reaching the Southeastern Conference Championship Game is Florida’s goal. Atlanta is the destination. Every December, the turf of the Georgia Dome plays host to perhaps the greatest opportunity in college football with the SEC and national titles on the line.
But for the third straight season, the turf at EverBank Field was littered with missed opportunities. For the third straight season, the Gators fell short.
Georgia defeated Florida 23-20 on Saturday evening, eliminating the Gators (4-4, 3-3 SEC) from contention in the SEC Eastern Division.
Saturday’s loss guaranteed Muschamp a worse three-year SEC record than Ron Zook.
The last time the Bulldogs (5-3, 4-2 SEC) took three straight games in the rivalry, Will Muschamp was an 18-year-old living in Rome, Ga. — 70 miles away from Atlanta.
He is much farther away now after Florida’s third consecutive loss.
Atlanta is now an afterthought. A postseason berth of any kind is on the line.
With their No. 1 goal hanging in the balance, the Gators entered halftime trailing the Bulldogs 23-3, a lead too large for Florida to overcome. With SEC title aspirations on the line, the Gators were not prepared to fight.
“We dug ourselves too big of a hole,” Muschamp said.
UF began digging from the start. UGA tailback Todd Gurley also grabbed a shovel.
With Florida and Georgia both vying for a spot in Atlanta last season, Gurley buried the Gators with 118 rushing yards. He returned for an encore on Saturday, tallying 187 total yards and two touchdowns on 20 touches.
The sophomore tailback’s largest play was a 73-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Aaron Murray in the first quarter that increased the Bulldogs’ lead to 14-0. But the play took a toll on the sophomore, who returned to action after missing Georgia’s previous three games with a high ankle sprain.
“After his long touchdown, his stomach got him a little bit,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “He was queasy. But we settled him down and he was fine after that.”
While Gurley helped UGA open up a large lead early, UF botched its share of chances.
The Gators missed one of two field goal tries in the first half and set up the Bulldogs for what would ultimately become the game-winning score.
Facing fourth and 10 at Georgia’s 40-yard line with 1:18 remaining in the half, Muschamp elected to try for a first down rather than punt the ball. Murphy completed a pass to Quinton Dunbar that lost three yards, giving UGA a short field with 1:07 left on the clock.
The Bulldogs turned the mistake into three points on a 32-yard field goal as time expired.
“If they had timeouts, I probably would have kicked,” Muschamp said. “I felt we had to call the game aggressively.”
Then, Florida began to capitalize on opportunities.
Leon Orr picked up a dropped lateral that Georgia’s Arthur Lynch believed was an incomplete pass. The play set up a Mack Brown touchdown run.
Later in the third, punter Johnny Townsend pinned the Bulldogs at their own 3-yard line. On the next play, Loucheiz Purifoy sacked Murray in the end zone for a safety.
Florida rode the momentum of its third quarter turnaround to an early fourth-quarter touchdown courtesy of Murphy’s legs. The redshirt junior quarterback tallied 39 yards on back-to-back carries, the second of which was a 14-yard touchdown scamper.
One successful two-point conversion later, the dream was revived. Atlanta was back on the map.
“We just went out there and had a different mindset,” linebacker Neiron Ball said. “I mean, we went out there with a mindset to win.”
Once the deficit was trimmed to three, the Gators seemed primed to complete their comeback as the defense stepped up with yet another big play. The Bulldogs tried to convert a fourth and one from their own 39, but UF stuffed Gurley at the line.
The Gators did not want Gurley to run them out of SEC title contention. Not again.
Following his strong first half, Gurley managed only 36 yards on his final 13 carries.
“We knew that he was their main weapon,” Florida linebacker Michael Taylor said. “We knew they were going to go to him, so we keyed in on him.”
But the Gators went backwards after their critical fourth-down stop, punting to the Bulldogs with 8:17 remaining in regulation. Florida did not get the ball back.
Georgia converted three third downs on a 15-play, 67-yard drive. The Gators stuffed Gurley on a fourth third down, but Darious Cummings was flagged for hands to the face on the play, resulting in a game-clinching first down for the Bulldogs.
With the game on the line, Florida’s mistakes became too much to overcome.
Every penalty flag, big play surrendered, missed field goal and stalled offensive drive stood in the way of Atlanta. Once again, the Gators’ goal is out of reach.
But Atlanta is not the only thing that eludes Florida. Muschamp’s plan has gone awry.
Injuries have played a part in the slide, but opponents have outmuscled and outplayed last year’s “Florida Never Breaks” Gators.
Florida also failed to keep its cool. In addition to playing a mistake-filled game, the Gators jawed with the Bulldogs and exchanged shoves after plays.
Muschamp even lost his composure, engaging in a brief verbal spat with a heckler in the stands following the game.
Florida did not only lose sight of its goals on Saturday night. Faced with adversity, the Gators lost sight of themselves.
“It’s pretty tough,” Trey Burton said. “Definitely, definitely tough.”
Follow Joe Morgan on Twitter @joe_morgan.
Coach Will Muschamp looks down during Florida’s 23-20 loss to Georgia on Saturday at EverBank Field in Jacksonville. The Gators have lost three consecutive games against the Bulldogs.
