JACKSONVILLE— Florida coach Will Muschamp, who has been ridiculed, criticized and looked down upon for most of the season, put that negativity to rest as the Gators (4-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) a 38-20 upset victory over the No. 11 Georgia Bulldogs (6-2, 4-2 SEC) on Saturday afternoon at EverBank Field.
At least maybe for just Saturday night.
“Let me lift this thing off my back. Give you one less thing to write about.” Muschamp said to the media post game following the victory.
The fourth-year Florida head coach, who has never won as a player or coach in the Florida-Georgia rivalry until Saturday afternoon, can breath a big sigh or relief. This game was pegged as a “must-win” if he wants to stick around next year.
Things looked to be going Georgia’s way early in the first quarter thanks to freshman tailback Nick Chubb. In the first six minutes of the first quarter he averaged a ridiculous 9.7 yards per carry and rushed for 101 yards in the first quarter alone, including a 39 yard touchdown run to put the Bulldogs up 7-0.
But in the second quarter, Muschamp proved that he had to coach the game of his life Saturday to upset Georgia — and maybe keep his current job.
On fourth and 9 from Georgia’s 21-yard line, Muschamp took a risk.
He called a fake field goal with the holder — senior wide receiver Mike McNeely — running the ball.
It worked.
McNeely found daylight and rushed for a 21-yard score to tie things up at 7 midway through the second quarter.
“I’m just a risky guy as far as those things,” Muschamp joked.
McNeely, a former walk-on who earned a scholarship in August before the season began, gave insight as to what was going through his mind when the hole opened up: “Run faster”.
Sophomore Kelvin Taylor had a career-long 44 yard rush on Florida’s next drive, and punched in a 2-yard touchdown rush on the same series to put Florida up 14-7, a lead they held onto at halftime and Florida’s first lead over the Georgia since the third quarter of the 2011 matchup.
“We knew all year that trusting our offensive linemen and trusting our coaches was going to work out,” Taylor said. “We kept playing today, and it worked out pretty well.”
Florida’s offense was up first in the third quarter, and the beat down of the Dawgs started to heat up. Matt Jones smoked the Bulldogs defense and ran for a 44-yard touchdown to allow the Gators to take a two touchdown lead.
A Georgia three-and-out later and the Jones show continued in Florida’s next possession. He rushed for 44 yards alone in the possession to set up a Frankie Velez 21-yard field goal to extend Florida’s lead.
Jones said following the game that he owes everything to his offensive line for his performance.
“We definitely needed that from them boys,” the junior tailback said. “They definitely helped us out tonight. I’m going to get them dinner next Thursday.”
Georgia seemingly had offensive life with five minutes to go in the third as Chubb bursted for 43 yards deep into Florida territory, but Brian Poole ripped the ball from his hands to prevent any chance of points.
At the end of the third quarter, Andre Debose returned a Georgia punt 38 yards to give Florida the ball inside Georgia’s red zone, allowing Jones to do it all again and score a one yard touchdown after rushing for 16 on the previous two downs.
Georgia’s offense found life in quarterback Hutson Mason, who completed a 10 yard touchdown pass to Chubb early in the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion failed, and Florida would hold on to a 31-13 lead.
Georgia wouldn't go down without a fight, though. After Mason nickel and dimed the Florida secondary to get inside the Gator’s two yard line, the offense was faced with fourth and 2. Mason tried to hit Chris Conley in the end zone and it looked to be caught — but Marcus Maye made a ferocious strip on the ball to prevent the touchdown.
Florida was playing with an unmatched intensity on offense, defense, and special teams Saturday afternoon.
They weren’t going to let this one get away.
Not four years straight.
Taylor had a 65 yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to seal the upset victory.
“It means a whole lot to get coach that win,” Taylor said. “We love that coach. He just loves his team and loves his players. We just had to play our hearts out for coach.”
Trash talked, discounted, and seemingly out for the count — but the Gators pulled out a dominant, overpowering and emotional victory over their most despised rival in the SEC.
One man behind the victory was Muschamp, who although may not be the favorite from the Gator faithful to stick around next season, put together the game plan to upset Florida’s most heated rival.
Love him or hate him, Muschamp deserves a lot of credit for the victory on Saturday night. There should be a lot of Gator Faithful out there who realize that.
“I’m just extremely proud of our players,” Muschamp said. “I’m really happy for our fans and Gator Nation gets to sit and enjoy [the win]. It’s great to see our side still full at the end and for our fans to be able to enjoy and bask in that.”
Follow Morgan Moriarty on Twitter @Morgan_Moriarty
Florida running backs Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor celebrate following UF's 38-20 win against UGA on Saturday at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.
