What just happened: Georgia survives a Florida scare

Not much has been easy this season.

This was certainly the case for Georgia in its annual rivalry against Florida in Jacksonville. The Gators came out inspired and Georgia's offense was once again inefficient. In the end, Georgia's talent proved too great and the Bulldogs cruised to a 34-20 victory.

Georgia has now won four straight games against Florida and has emerged victorious in seven of the last eight meetings.

Defensively, Georgia was strong throughout the game, except for a 43-yard touchdown toss from DJ Lagway to Aidan Mizell in the second quarter. Lagway was injured later in the second quarter and was unable to finish the game.

It was an old-school rivalry from start to finish, with the score tied for 20 minutes and less than eight minutes to play. Georgia then completed seven plays and took a 27-20 lead at quarterback Carson Beck hit Dominic Lovett on a 10 yard script. CJ Allen recorded an interception shortly after Dwight Phillips He paid for the playoffs with a 4-yard rushing touchdown.

Beck finished the game completing 25 of 40 passes for 309 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Georgia's offense came through late but struggled throughout the game, which will raise a lot of questions heading into the program's next game against Ole Miss next week.

Georgia has a quarterback problem.

Head coach Kirby Smart can say whatever he wants publicly, and he'll probably love his quarterback when he speaks to the media. But it's clear to anyone with a pulse that Beck's confidence isn't anywhere near where it needs to be right now.

Beck is late on throws, overthinks himself, forces balls into tight windows and all too often this season shows the it factor that separates the great quarterbacks from the merely good ones. The main problem Georgia has here is that there is currently no evidence that any of the backup players on Georgia's roster are capable of stepping in and running this offense through him.

For Georgia, the rest of the season will be about making plays that put Beck in the best possible position to succeed. If that means calling back the play call, then so be it. It's clear that Beck isn't confident at this point – either in himself or his receivers – to run this offense the way it has been done in the past.

Can Georgia's offense get on the same page heading into the home stretch of the season?

Beck obviously didn't have a good game. Neither do the wideouts. When Georgia's receiving targets aren't wide open, they haven't been able to make the tough plays that Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey made so often a year ago.

If Georgia wants to be successful in the postseason, Beck will need to regain his confidence and his receivers will need to come through for him. Communication at the line of scrimmage must improve and the number of passes dropped must continue to decrease.

Botched field goal attempt: Florida wanted to take a three-point lead late in the third quarter, but failed on a field goal attempt. The giveaway gave Georgia the ball at Florida's 36-yard line, and the Bulldogs scored three plays later.

Great third-down play: With Georgia and Florida tied by 20 points each, the Bulldogs faced a tense situation on third-and-7 at their own 28-yard line. After the snap, the offensive line protected well and Beck found Arian Smith Crossing open over center. Smith finished the play with a 34-yard gain, which led to a Georgia touchdown.

Allen's choice: On first-and-10, with less than four minutes to play, quarterback Aidan Warner threw a pass a few seconds late that Allen read well. This got Georgia the ball inside the 10-yard line, and Phillips finished the game with his first career rushing touchdown.

Attack: C

Much of that immediate reaction focused on Beck's poor play. It's worth noting that after his third interception, he played smarter and made better decisions. But Beck was still throwing picks and the receiving corps was doing more harm than good. This, too, needs to be addressed if Georgia wants to win its first-ever 12-team playoffs.

Defense: A-

Who knows what would have happened if Lagway hadn't been injured early on. Still, aside from the one touchdown down low, the Bulldogs played a solid game on that side of the ball. Florida managed just 113 passing yards throughout the contest.

Special teams: b

Brett Thorson hit a couple of short punts in the second half. However, he had 51 yards and landed two punts inside the 20-yard line. Peyton Woodring remained consistent with two field goals in two attempts, with one splitting the uprights from 53 yards out.

Attack: B-

Defense: B+

Special teams: A-