JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Finally, Georgia was the life of the party.

The Bulldogs turned out the lights on No. 6 Florida's bid to win a fifth straight Southeastern Conference title Saturday with a 37-17 victory that set off a celebration not felt by the 'Dawgs in eight years.

Dawg day afternoon: Georgia's Robert Edwards dives over a pile of defenders for one of his four touchdowns during the Bulldogs' 37-17 win over Florida. (AP)

"The Florida Gators have aggravated us for so long," said offensive tackle Matt Stinchcomb. "With three minutes to go, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It lived up to everything I thought it would."

WITH ROBERT EDWARDS tying a school record by running for four touchdowns and quarterback Mike Bobo and Hines Ward coming up with the critical plays, Georgia beat the Gators for the first time since 1989 in one of the most storied rivalries in the South.

It is renowned as the "World Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." This time, Georgia (7-1, 5-1 SEC) sent the Florida fans home early.

"Georgia is just a better football team than the mighty Gators, and they proved it tonight," said coach Steve Spurrier. "We've not go excuses. They just beat us."

It was a bitter loss for Spurrier, whose chance to win an SEC title as a Heisman Trophy winner for the Gators in 1966 ended in a loss to the Dawgs.

THIS ONE WAS EQUALLY costly. The Gators' outside chance of defending their national title went down the drain, and their hopes of going to Atlanta for the SEC championship game went right with it.

Florida (6-2, 4-2) would need losses by both Tennessee and Georgia to tie for first in the Eastern Division.

"We're horrible right now," said cornerback Fred Weary.

Georgia put the game away when Edwards scored on a 37-yard run around left end, dancing through traffic along the sideline and breaking free to give the Bulldogs a 30-17 lead with 5:58 left.

"I SAW HE DIDN'T GO out of bounds and then raced to the end zone," Bobo said. "This has been five tough years for me. They called us names and cussed us. I can't describe this feeling."

Bobo jumped in the air and laid down on his back, staring up at a record-crowd in Jacksonville of 84,297, the screaming throng of the red-clad Georgia fans on the east side of the stadium, the shell-shocked Florida fans on the other.

By the time Ward and other Georgia seniors were taking a victory lap, the Florida side of the stadium was virtually empty.

"I just want to say to all Dawgs fans that we've been waiting a long time for this," coach Jim Donnan said. "Everybody has been telling me since I got there, `I hope we can beat Florida.' I'm pleased we did."

GEORGIA DENIED SPURRIER a chance to win his 100th game as a college coach, and left him wondering who is in charge of his Fun 'N' Gun offense.

Spurrier yanked Doug Johnson at halftime after he threw two interception, and while Noah Brindise led the Gators on two long touchdown drives in the third quarter, he and freshman Jesse Palmer each threw interceptions.

"We messed up thinking we can throw the ball the way we used to, and we can't do it," Spurrier said. "Georgia sat back in a nice, soft zone and said, `Just wait guys, they'll throw it to us.' And they were right."

The 37 points were the most the Bulldogs scored in the series since Herschel Walker led them to a 44-0 victory in 1982.

PUT A NO. 34 ON EDWARDS' jersey and Georgia fans might not have known the difference. He finished with 124 yards on 24 carries against a defense that had ranked No. 2 in the nation against the run this year.

But it was Bobo and Ward who stole the show for Georgia, along with a defense that held the Gators to 327 yards, well below their 440-yard average.

Momentum was clearly in Florida's favor after Rod Frazier scored on a 3-yard run for a 17-14 lead, its only one of the game.

But Georgia went on a 78-yard drive that Edwards capped with his third touchdown, a 1-yard dive over the pile. Ward was at quarterback when he ran 6 yards on third-and-4 from the 28, and Bobo found Corey Allen for 23 yards to the 1, setting up Edwards' third touchdown of the game.

"I TOLD THE GUYS IN the huddle, `We can write our own script.' And they responded," Bobo said.

On the next drive, Bobo hit Ward for 30 yards to the 31, then again for 17 yards on third-and-16. That resulted in a field goal and a 24-17 lead, but Kirby Smart intercepted Brindise on Florida's next drive, and Georgia was on its way.

It was the second game in a row, and third time this year, that Smart has had two interceptions in a game.

Spurrier gave Johnson once more chance, but he failed to move the Gators. Jesse Palmer replaced him this time, and threw an interception.

THE SERIES HAD BEEN SO lopsided that when Stinchcomb, the left tackle, sprung Edwards on a 27-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, it marked the first Georgia lead since 17-13 in the second quarter of the 1993 game.

This time, Florida never recovered. Georgia led 14-3 at halftime, the Gators' fewest points since they trailed 3-0 at halftime against South Carolina in 1992.

The 52-year-old coach with all the answers wasn't Spurrier, but Donnan.

He called a pass off a reverse by Ward on the first play of the game. It didn't work, but it set the tone. Ward later completed a 27-yard pass off a reverse on third-and-4 from the 48, leading to Edwards' touchdown.

Spurrier got in on the act with a flea-flicker late in the first quarter, which seemed to have worked until Jamie Richardson dropped Johnson's pass in the end zone. Two plays later, Fred Taylor was stopped on fourth-and-2 from the 18.

Jacquez Green also dropped a pass in the end zone for Florida, and the Gators had to settle for a 36-yard field goal.