JACKSONVILLE — The Gators faced a daunting task.
Unranked Florida traveled to EverBank Field for its annual matchup with Georgia, the No. 11 team in the first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings.
It’s a series Florida coach Will Muschamp never won in seven tries — losing four times as a safety for UGA and thrice more as UF’s head man.
But with the odds against them and their backs against the wall, the Gators pulled off the unthinkable by coming away with a 38-20 win against the Bulldogs on Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 83,004.
"For the guys to pull together against a good football team, … to come together and understand what’s at stake as far as our season’s concerned, as far as three-in-a-row, as far as sending our seniors out the right way, all of the things that are really critical and really important about this rivalry and our guys understood it," Muschamp said. "We were able to make the plays when we needed to in the game."
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This was a big win for Florida (4-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference).
It was UF’s first win against UGA (6-2, 4-2 SEC) since 2010 and its first victory against a ranked opponent since beating No. 10 FSU on Nov. 24, 2012 — a span of 19 games.
But for Florida’s seniors and redshirt seniors who hail from the Peach State, the victory may have meant a little bit more.
"It was great to get a victory," said starting linebacker and Atlanta native Mike Taylor. "Finishing 1-3 is a lot better than 0-4."
Outside of redshirt senior Neiron Ball — who played on special teams in UF’s 34-31 overtime win against UGA on Oct. 30, 2010 — none of the seniors had taken the field against the Bulldogs and came out victorious.
That changed Saturday.
"This (was) my last chance at them," said center Max Garcia, who spent his childhood in Norcross, Georgia, watching the annual game between the Gators and the Bulldogs. "I wanted to leave my mark on this game and I wanted to do whatever I could to come out as a winner. So yeah, just looking up at that scoreboard at the end of the game I had tears in my eyes just because we were able to do it."
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Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor consider themselves brothers.
They support each other through the ups and downs. They enjoy seeing one another be successful even though the two of them are fighting for playing time at running back.
But on Saturday, the duo brought life to an otherwise dying Florida offense.
Each had a career night against Georgia, with Taylor running for 197 yards and Jones tallying 192 of his own.
Each had 25 carries and two touchdowns on the ground.
"We knew we were going to pound them and pound them and were going to keep pounding them," Taylor said. "We weren’t going to be denied. We just kept running hard, and everything else happened."
Jones and Taylor became Florida’s first duo of tailbacks to both gain 100 yards in a game since Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey accomplished the feat in Florida’s 48-10 win against Kentucky on Sept. 24, 2011.
It was the first time in program history that the Gators had two players with at least 120 rushing yards apiece, let alone have two almost crack the 200-yard barrier.
The Gators’ 418 rushing yards were also the fifth-most in program history and most since Florida put up 466 as a team and Emmitt Smith laid out a single-game program-best 316 yards against New Mexico in 1989.
"I feel like we should have been able to run the ball more successfully all year," Muschamp said. "For whatever reason, we’ve gotten away from some things."
UF’s offensive line set the seams for Florida’s ground game to be successful against a Georgia team that had the 13th-best running defense in the nation heading into the game.
Starting left tackle D.J. Humphries attributed Florida’s success in the trenches to having a stronger will to win.
"We just knocked the fight out of them," Humphries said. "After we came out in the second half and took it down on them, they were done."
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The Gators are riding high.
For now, their season has been salvaged.
And even though the odds are slim, a trip to Atlanta and the SEC Championship game is still in reach.
In addition to needing wins in its final two conference games against Vanderbilt and South Carolina in the next two weeks, Florida needs Georgia to lose one more conference game and Missouri to drop two SEC contests.
One of those two has to be against SEC East bottom-dweller Tennessee in order for the Gators to claim the SEC East crown.
While the Gators don’t have control of how the Bulldogs or the Tigers handle their slates, UF still needs to hold up its end of the bargain.
And even with the win against Georgia, Florida still has room to improve.
It needs to get quarterback Treon Harris and the passing more involved in the game plan.
Harris, who became the first true freshman to start a game for UF since Chris Leak in 2003, had as many pass attempts as he did rushes — six.
He gained more yards on the ground (37) than he did through the air (27).
"Offensively, we actually did have a plan to throw some passes in the game," Muschamp said. "I know I disappointed some Gator fans (Saturday), but why stop running the ball when you’re able to gain yards running? We were very successful all night."
The Gators secondary — which was without starting safety Keanu Neal for the bulk of the game after he suffered a high ankle sprain — allowed UGA quarterback Hutson Mason to throw for 319 yards and go 7 of 9 for 94 yards on third down with five of those completions moving the chains.
Florida pressured Mason throughout the day with five different Gators recording eight quarterback hurries, but the pass rush tapered out as the game progressed.
"I wish we had played better down the line in terms of coverage," Muschamp said. "We were a little loose on some things. … We got tired pass rushing. It’s one of the most exhausting things you can do."
But for now, Florida is going to soak in the win.
"I’m just really happy for my players," Muschamp said. "There’s nothing more fun than a victorious locker room."
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
UF players celebrate following Florida's 38-20 win against Georgia on Saturday at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.
