JACKSONVILLE — The Gators walked into EverBank Field fresh off a bye week ready to face rival Georgia in a pivotal Southeastern Conference game.
The winner would take sole possession at the top of the SEC East, a trip to Atlanta almost inevitable.
And after a lackluster start, Florida ended on top.
Behind five forced turnovers, clutch plays by Treon Harris and a revived run game, No. 11 Florida defeated Georgia 27-3 in front of an announced crowd of 84,628.
With the win, the Gators are a homecoming win against Vanderbilt away from clinching the SEC East for the first time since 2009.
“The end result was awesome,” UF coach Jim McElwain said. “Our guys figured out a way to win.”
For the second straight year, a special-teams play sparked the Gators (7-1, 5-1 SEC) early after a dismal opening to the game.
With the first quarter coming to an end, UGA punt returner Reggie Davis muffed a Johnny Townsend punt.
The ball rolled into the end zone, safety Nick Washington scooped it up for the touchdown, and the Gators found the momentum shifting in their direction.
“Our guys kind of feed off that,” McElwain said.
From there, it was almost all Florida.
Harris made plays with his feet and his arm, creating seven of Florida’s 15 first downs — four passing and three rushing.
And while his 194 yards of total offense aren’t eye-popping, they came when they were needed the most.
He found big-play freshman wide receiver Antonio Callaway on the left sideline for a 66-yard touchdown, his longest pass of the season that extended Florida’s lead to 13-0.
Couple that with Kelvin Taylor season-high 121 yards and two touchdowns, and Florida’s offense looked crisp.
Taylor has found a second home in EverBank Field, the same stadium his father — former UF and NFL standout Fred Taylor — created his name.
In his last two games in Jacksonville, Taylor has 318 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
“Every time I get out there on that field, there’s just something about it man,” said Taylor, who has 10 touchdowns this season.
Outside of a third-quarter field goal that allowed Georgia (5-3, 3-3 SEC) to avoid its first shutout in the series since 1984, the Gators had an answer for just about everything UGA threw at them.
The defense tested UGA quarterback Faton Bauta every step of the way, forcing the former backup into throwing four interceptions in his first career start.
Bauta ended with 154 passing yards, completing just 45.4 percent of his passes.
The defensive line held the Bulldogs rushing attack to a mere 69 yards and 3.1 yards per carry — a far cry from the 5.8 yards per rush they averaged coming in.
“When we communicate, when we make plays and we’re flying around, we’re hard to beat,” said cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, who has a team-best four interceptions and picked off a pass in the second quarter.
With the win, Florida has its sights set on Atlanta.
But with one more win needed to lock up the prize, McElwain and the Gators don’t plan to get too caught up in the moment just yet.
“It’ll be interesting to see to see if we have become mature enough to handle the position we’re in,” McElwain said. “I don’t have the answer for that. But to me, that’s going to be the key to find out what kind of ball squad we have.”
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
UF wide receiver Antonio Callaway dashes for the end zone for a touchdown during Florida's 27-3 win against Georgia on Oct. 31, 2015, at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.
