No. 1 Georgia withstands Florida rally, rolls to rivalry win. Here are five takeaways

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Kirby Smart and his Georgia football team ultimately paid tribute to Vince Dooley Saturday by turning back rival Florida like the legendary Bulldogs coach did for much of his time during his 25 seasons.

The No. 1 Bulldogs surrendered 17 unanswered points in the third quarter before repelling the rally. They made sure they left TIAA Bank Field on the banks of the St. Johns River victors for the fifth time in the last six years with a 42-20 decision.

Georgia jumped to a 25-point halftime lead, withstood the Gators slicing into that in the third-quarter and made some big plays when it needed them in the second half.

Georgia is in a golden era like the early 1980s under Dooley and that includes against Florida.

This is the best stretch for the Bulldogs in the series since winning seven of eight from 1978-85 when Dooley was coach.

Georgia Football Final: Full recap of the Bulldogs' victory over Florida Gators in Jacksonville

Former Georgia coach dies: Legendary Georgia football coach and athletic director Vince Dooley dies at age 90

Remembering Dooley: He will always be Georgia's football coach. In Athens, he was our neighbor and friend

Dooley died Friday afternoon in Athens at age 90.  A moment of silence was held before the game for Dooley who went 17-7-1 record against the Gators.

"To the Dooleys back home in Athens, I know they’re together," Smart said. "It meant a lot for us to win that game for them and for all that Vince has meant to our university as such an ambassador to our program and really for all of college football. So I know if he was looking down on that one he would have enjoyed the first half. I don’t know if he would have enjoyed the second one. He and Erk (Russell, the defensive coordinator under Dooley) probably had a laugh together about it."

Georgia improved to 8-0, 5-0 in the SEC heading into a showdown with No. 3 Tennessee Saturday in Athens.

Here are five things to know from the victory:

Big day for Georgia football tight end Brock Bowers

Tight end Brock Bowers has made a lot of big plays in his season and a half plus at Georgia

The 73-yard touchdown in the second quarter may top them all for its sheer wonderment of how the heck did he get a hold of that ball?

The fourth-down catch he made in the fourth quarter probably was more memorable for the sophomore from Napa, Calif., he said.

"I think it meant more for me," he said of play he was confident in because they repped it well in practice. "They were both pretty cool."

On a fourth-and-7, Florida jumped offsides and quarterback Stetson Bennett took advantage of the free play and hit Bowers on the right side. The sophomore twisted and made the catch for 29 yards.

Georgia converted for the eighth time in eight fourth down tries this season.

On the next play, Kenny McIntosh (90 yards and 2 TDs on 16 carries) scored on a 4-yard run with 11:44 to go to make it 42-20.

Bowers finished with a career-high 154 receiving yards on 5 catches.

Bowers’ long touchdown pass to the left side in the first half came with linebacker Amari Burney in coverage.

"It was probably the hardest one he's ever made," Bennett said.

Burney reached out to deflect the ball with his right hand. It appeared to bounce off his helmet and then hit his left hand. That’s when Bowers got into the act.

He turned and batted the ball not once but twice with his left hand and then grabbed the ball with two hands. With Burney on the ground, Bowers turned and raced down field for the 73-yard touchdown.

"The ball was just bouncing the air and I snatched it I guess," Bowers said.

"That was full speed, 360, spin and catch it," Bennett said. "Not many people can catch that ball."

Some scary moments in third quarter for Georgia football

Georgia let Florida (4-4, 1-4 SEC) back in the game when a defense that was dominant in the first half wilted in the third quarter.

The Gators took advantage of two Georgia turnovers after marching down the field on its opening drive to cut the lead to 28-20.

"There was a time there when we lost momentum," Smart said. "That’s happened to us more this year than it did last year. We bounced back.”

"We all just pulled it all it together," Bowers said.

First McIntosh fumbled and Trey Dean recovered to give the Gators a short field.

Then after Bennett’s second interception, the Gators hit a big passing play.

"They didn't stop us other than that," Bennett said.

Anthony Richardson (18 of 37 for 271 passing yards and a TD) hit a wide-open Xzavier Henderson on the right sideline and he was gone for a 78-yard touchdown.

Safety Malaki Starks from Jefferson appeared to creep inside too much leaving Henderson plenty of field in front of him to go for the score.

"We've got a young true freshman that doesn't get over the top in Cover 2 and gives up a huge play — I mean, just a momentum play," Smart said. "And, hey, guess what? He's got to go back out there and play."

Daijun Edwards (106 rushing yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries) found his way through the Florida defense for a 22-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a little bit more cushion and a 35-20 lead.

"That was probably the drive of the year so far, right?" Smart said. "They answered the bell."

Georgia Bulldogs offense piles up the yards on Florida

Georgia has found racking up yards a difficult endeavor in this game.

Just once under Smart had the Bulldogs hit 400 yards of total offense and twice—in 2016 and 2020—the Bulldogs were held below 280.

This time it had556 total yards of offense, topping the 429 it had in 2018 against Florida

Georgia had 346 in the first half alone, scoring four first-half touchdowns to lead 28-3.

Bennett passed for 262 yards in the half.

"They went man a few times and we took a few shots," he said.

The Bulldogs got a 1-yard touchdown run by Edwards and a 2-yard score from McIntosh.

Georgia used tempo in the first quarter to wear down the Gators.

"It was very important," Bennett said. "They had struggled getting lined up. We ran the heck out of the ball whenever we did that."

The Bulldogs went 54 yards on 7 plays in only 45 seconds before Bennett connected with Ladd McConkey on a 7-yard touchdown on a slant.

Jalen Carter returns, Nolan Smith goes out for Georgia defense

With defensive tackle Jalen Carter back after missing two games with an MCL sprain, the Bulldogs limited Florida to just 88 yards on 28 plays in the first half.

Georgia had 5 tackles for loss in the half, including 1 ½ by nickel back Javon Bullard who sent an early message with a low hit on a scrambling Anthony Richardson near the sideline.

Florida entered averaging 6.4 yards per carry, tops among all FBS programs.

Georgia limited Florida to 13 rushing yards on 13 carries in the first two quarters.

Trevor Ettiene had 14 yards on 6 carries and Richardson minus-6 on 3.

"It was awesome but it was just as bad in the second half," Smart said. "I thought we tackled poorly."

Florida got its running game going on its first drive of the second half when Ettiene rushed for 26 yards on 3 carries on the drive including a 3-yard touchdown run.

The Gators finished with 371 yards including 100 rushing.

Georgia lost its sack leader Nolan Smith in the second quarter to what Smart said may have been a separated shoulder. He did not return. That doesn’t’ bode well with Tennessee and Hendon Hooker up next.

Georgia had three sacks including one from Chaz Chambliss who picked up snaps in place of Smith.

Carter, a projected top 10 overall NFL draft pick, was used on third and fourth downs.

He was credited with one tackle but had more of an impact than that.

He burst into the backfield on a third-and-16 and Richardson flipped a pass out for 12 yards. He was double teamed on a third-and-9 incompletion.

On a third-and-7, Kingsley Eguakan was called for a false start with Carter near him.

Early in the fourth quarter, Carter helped flush Richardson out of the pocket on a fourth-and-6 on an incompletion.

“It was great that he fought himself to get back," Smart said. "He rehabbed himself to get back. He wanted to play. He loves this team. It’s important to him."

Some wondered why Carter was out of the lineup so much, bringing up questions of his motivation. Smart may have been alluding to that.

"In a day and age where some kids don’t care about the team, he cares about the team," Smart said. "He wanted to play. He took on the role we wanted him to take on and hopefully he continues to get healthy. Look, we need him. We’re missing some guys in depth on the front. As we play more snaps, we struggle and it showed in the second half there.”

Uneven day for Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett

Bennett entered the game with just one interception in his last nine games dating back to last season, but he threw his second and third interceptions of the season Saturday.

That gave him five in three games against Florida dating back to 2020.

His first came in the first half when Dom Blaylock battled Jadarrius Perkins for a pass near the Georgia sideline. In the third quarter, Bennett underthrew running back Daijun Edwards on a pass downfield and Amari Burney picked it off.

Bennett said he thought he played well.

"The dude made a good play over Dom," Bennett said. "The ball to Daijun, I saw him slipping and thought I could get it in there. He made a good play again. Other than that, we played good football."

The McIntosh fumble was the third of the game for Georgia. The three tied the season-high from a tougher-than-expected 39-22 victory over Kent State.

Bennett had an uneven game. He was 19 of 38 for 316 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

"Stetson's playing good," Smart said. "He had some moments tonight, but he also did some really, really good things in that game that maybe the normal eye doesn't see. And if we could take away the couple decisions, he played really well."

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football gets another win against rival Florida