Florida running back Matt Jones (24) runs for yardage as he gets past Georgia linebacker Reggie Carter (45) and safety Corey Moore (39) during their game in Jacksonville, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014. Florida won 38-20.On any given day.
That's one way to explain this season's race for the East Division title in the Southeastern Conference, which now has Missouri in front followed by Georgia and Florida. The three teams have all played one another, with the head-to-head results offering no clarity in terms of superiority.
Georgia 34, Missouri 0.
Missouri 42, Florida 13.
Florida 38, Georgia 20.
"It's crazy, and it goes to show you that how you feel that day affects a lot about who you are for that day," Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt said Saturday night after the loss to the Gators. "We had a good week of practice, but that doesn't mean you're going to play well on Saturday. You have to show up on Saturday."
The Bulldogs showed up to Missouri on Oct. 11, when the absence of suspended tailback Todd Gurley was no issue whatsoever in Georgia's triumph. The Tigers were shut out for the first time in 12 seasons but didn't sulk, instead venturing to Florida the next week and registering a lopsided win of their own with touchdowns via a kickoff return, punt return, fumble recovery and interception return.
Using Missouri as a comparative guide, the Bulldogs should have defeated the Gators this past weekend by 63 points, which is why comparative scores are useless more often than not. Instead, Georgia encountered a ridiculed opponent that mowed through the Bulldogs for 418 rushing yards.
"I think it speaks to the intensity and emotion of this rivalry," Bulldogs quarterback Hutson Mason said. "Obviously Florida was looking forward to this game a lot more than they were looking forward to Missouri. They had been hearing about how bad they were all week, and they got tired of hearing it.
"They're Florida. They've got really good players, and they showed it."
When Bulldogs nose tackle Mike Thornton was asked about the outcome against the Gators given Florida's futility against Missouri, he said, "It's a tricky league, and you've got to bring your best game every week. We definitely didn't bring our best game today, and that's all that is."
Missouri has a 4-1 league record and is off this Saturday before facing Texas A&M and Tennessee on the road and then hosting Arkansas. Georgia is 4-2 and will travel to Kentucky this Saturday before finishing its league schedule next week against visiting Auburn.
"Playing Kentucky at Kentucky is a very, very difficult task," Georgia head coach Mark Richt said Sunday afternoon. "Just ask anybody who's been there this year. It's going to take everything we've got, and that's going to be our focus."
Florida is 3-3 in league play with a trip to Vanderbilt this Saturday and a date next week with visiting South Carolina.
The Bulldogs, who dropped to No. 17 in the latest Associated Press and Amway polls, would win a two-team tiebreaker with Missouri but would lose a two-team tiebreaker with Florida. A three-way tie would be sorted out by records within the division, with the Tigers having yet to face a team from the West.
Before all that can be decided, Pruitt will try to figure out why his defense could look so good last week in practice before allowing the most rushing yards Georgia has yielded in 36 seasons.
"That's a good question, and I don't know," he said. "Our guys wanted to win. They practiced hard all week and trained for this, but the bottom line is that when things started to go the other way, as a coaching staff, we've got to find a way to put out the fire.
"We didn't do that, and give Florida credit."
Odds and ends
Georgia dropped from 13th to 47th nationally in rush defense after facing the Gators. ... Richt: "I think everybody who plays us from here on in is going to be saying, 'Let's run the rock.' We've got to get back to playing good, fundamental football." ... The Bulldogs opened Sunday as a 13-point favorite over the Wildcats. ... Richt did not have a status update for senior center David Andrews, who sprained his ankle Saturday but continued to play.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.