Chauncey Bowens rushed for a go-ahead 36-yard touchdown after the defense made a key fourth-down stop and No. 5 Georgia notched a 24-20 victory over Florida on Saturday in Southeastern Conference play at Jacksonville, Fla.
Gunner Stockton completed 20 of 29 passes for 223 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for Georgia (7-1, 5-1 SEC). Dillon Bell and Noah Thomas caught scoring catches, Zachariah Branch had 10 receptions for 112 yards and CJ Allen racked up 13 tackles for the Bulldogs.
Florida put up a solid effort in the debut of interim coach Billy Gonzales before ultimately losing to the Bulldogs for the fifth straight time.
Gonzales became interim coach after Billy Napier was fired on Oct. 19. The Gators had a bye last weekend.
DJ Lagway completed 15 of 24 passes for 166 yards and one touchdown for the Gators (3-5, 2-3). Jadan Baugh rushed for 72 yards and one score, and Eugene Wilson III caught nine passes for 121 yards and one touchdown for Florida.
Florida took a 20-17 lead when Trey Smack kicked a 54-yard field goal eight seconds into the fourth quarter.
The Gators were at the Georgia 18-yard line later in the quarter and went for it on fourth-and-1. Baugh was stopped for no gain by multiple defenders, and the Bulldogs took over with 7:54 remaining in the game.
Seven plays later, Bowens meandered through the Florida defense for the go-ahead score with 4:36 left. He gained 70 yards on nine attempts.
Stockton later passed on an easy touchdown on a third-down run from the Gators’ 5. With no Georgia defenders around, he took a knee at the Florida 1 with 1:48 left to assure the Gators wouldn’t get the ball back. The Bulldogs then ran out the clock.
The Gators were 2-for-11 on third-down conversions and failed on both their fourth-down attempts.
Georgia drove 75 yards on eight plays to open the game with Stockton hitting Bell from 8 yards out to cap the drive.
The Gators tied the score on Lagway’s 40-yard scoring pass to Wilson four-plus minutes later and moved ahead 10-7 on Smack’s 22-yard field with 3:02 left in the quarter.
Georgia’s Peyton Woodring booted a 39-yard field goal with 12 seconds left in the first half to tie it at 10.
The Bulldogs took a 17-10 lead on Stockton’s 22-yard scoring pass to Thomas with 10:46 left in the third quarter.
Baugh’s 2-yard run tied the contest with 3:37 left in the third.
