Georgia takes down No, 3 Florida

Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Georgia’s defense was far from soft against rival Florida.

The 12th-ranked Bulldogs stuffed the No. 3 Gators from every angle, forcing six turnovers in a 17-9 victory Saturday that left them on the cusp of making the Southeastern Conference title game.

Call it the World’s Largest Outdoor Turnover Party, and it gave Georgia consecutive wins in the series for the first time since 1989.

The Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) did little on offense until Aaron Murray found Malcolm Mitchell for a 45-yard touchdown with 7:11 remaining that put them ahead 17-9.

Georgia sealed its fifth victory in the last 23 games in the rivalry with — what else? — a defensive play. Jarvis Jones knocked the ball out of Jordan Reed’s hands near the goal line, and teammate Sanders Commings recovered in the end zone with 2:05 left.

Jones had another huge game against Florida (7-1, 6-1), and the Bulldogs responded as well as possible to safety Shawn Williams’ criticism of “playing too soft” earlier in the week.