Florida vs. Georgia game score: Gators defense cages Dawgs for third straight win

No. 14 Florida maintained its lead atop the SEC East by dispatching Georgia on Saturday

No. 14 Florida took care of business in Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon, beating Georgia 24-10 behind a dominant defensive performance.

The Gators fell behind 3-0 early and again by a 10-7 margin in the first half, but the Florida defense tightened up from there, holding the Bulldogs to 164 yards of total offense for the game. Georgia could never get Nick Chubb and the rushing attack going, averaging 1.1 yards per carry -- 21 yards on 19 carries -- as a team.

With the running game non-existent, Georgia had to rely on freshman quarterback Jacob Eason's arm. He led the Dawgs' one touchdown drive, where the three biggest plays -- including the touchdown -- came on broken plays as he scrambled and extended plays until a receiver could get open. He was unable to duplicate that magic in the second half, as he had only 45 yards on 8-of-17 passing.

Georgia's offense managed only eight first downs all game, while punting the ball away eight times. By managing to not turn the ball over, the Bulldogs were able to hang around with the Gators for much of the game thanks to an excellent defensive performance.

Florida's offense wasn't much better than Georgia's but, thanks to the defensive play, the Gators had great field position most of the afternoon and capitalized on that with three touchdown drives -- none longer than 56 yards -- despite only 225 total yards of offense.

Sophomore Jordan Scarlett was the offensive star for Florida, carrying much of the load in the running game with 26 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown.

The win means the Gators still control their own destiny in the SEC East title race, despite the loss to Tennessee. Florida has three SEC games remaining on the schedule, most notably road tests at Arkansas next week and then the Nov. 19 makeup game at LSU.

Thanks for stopping by.