Jones, Georgia defense sack No. 2 Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Georgia's defense was far from soft against rival Florida.

Now the Gators are no longer undefeated and no longer in charge in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division.

The No. 10 Bulldogs stuffed No. 2 Florida from every angle, forcing six turnovers in a 17-9 victory yesterday that left them on the cusp of the SEC championship 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. These have to be two of the most significant victories of coach Mark Richt's tenure. The Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 SEC) can clinch the East and a spot in the conference title game with wins against Mississippi and Auburn the next two weeks.

The Bulldogs 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. Mitchell spun out of Loucheiz Purifoy's tackle attempt and went mostly untouched the rest of the way.

Georgia sealed its fifth victory in the last 23 games in the rivalry with 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). The senior, who had four sacks in last year's 24-20 victory, finished with 13 tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles, and he recovered both fumbles.

He helped the Bulldogs respond as well as possible to safety Shawn Williams' criticism of "playing too soft" earlier in the week. Williams had a point after Georgia allowed at least 20 points in six of its first seven games and gave up 206 yards rushing last week at Kentucky.

Jones missed that game with a sprained ankle. With him back, Georgia looked like a different defense, and it surely helped that Florida self-destructed at every turn.

Quarterback Jeff Driskel fumbled twice on Florida's first three plays. Georgia recovered the second one, which set up Todd Gurley's 10-yard touchdown run. For the game, Driskel also was intercepted twice and was sacked five times.

Gurley finished with 118 yards on the ground, but most of it came early.

The Gators settled down defensively and intercepted three passes from Murray, who completed 12 of 24 passes for 150 yards. But they managed just two field goals off those turnovers.