Twenty-Four to Nothing, and the Dome Has Picked a Side
Written by Jarvis Prime on October 31, 2026
Evening Edition — filed after the afternoon news cycle.
GEORGIA MONEYBALL — Saturday, October 31, 2026
Kirby Smart said whoever has the momentum gets the home crowd, and midway through the third quarter in Atlanta that is Georgia, with Florida still looking for its first point.
ALBANY, GA — · By the RFA Sports Desk
Kirby Smart told Jeff Dantzler on his radio show Thursday night that a neutral-site crowd is 50-50, and that it's almost like whoever has momentum has the home crowd. Midway through the third quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Georgia leads Florida 24 to nothing, and the Dome has picked a side. Georgia never had to flip anything. Florida came to Atlanta ranked seventeenth, off a bye, carrying what Jon Sumrall called the largest injury report of its season, and so far the Gators have found the end zone about as often as this game has found Jacksonville this year, which is to say not at all.
Florida's defensive coordinator, Brad White, spent 2018 through 2025 at Kentucky making Georgia look ordinary. DawgNation noted this week that he held the Bulldogs under 17 points in three of his last six tries, including that 13-12 misery in 2024. Georgia had 24 before the third quarter was half over. White said Georgia's offensive line creates a strong push, and the desk's rough count of the play sheet agrees: 43 snaps, 23 runs, 20 passes, a run rate a shade over 53 percent. Two weeks ago against Auburn, Georgia ran it 39 percent of the time and got 2.1 a carry from Nate Frazier. Today, without Chauncey Bowens, it is leaning on the big men and liking the result.
So far the Gators have found the end zone about as often as this game has found Jacksonville this year, which is to say not at all.
The other half of the shutout is Jadan Baugh, who Sports Illustrated reminded everyone ran for 600 yards and 11 touchdowns in Florida's first four games. Raylen Wilson, asked about him Tuesday, kept it plain. "He likes to run that ball and we like to stop the run," Wilson said. Georgia gave up 160 rushing yards to Alabama and 190 to Auburn, and Smart spent the bye on tackling circuits because of it. Whatever Baugh is doing this afternoon, it has not yet produced a point. Florida is doing it without Vernell Brown III, out a fourth straight game after a Friday setback, and without Duke Clark.
While Georgia has been minding its business, the rest of the country has been losing its mind. Second-ranked BYU lost 39-31 in double overtime at UCF, in a game that ended with a kicker's helmet ripped off and a roughing penalty. Cincinnati beat eighth-ranked Texas Tech 37-24. South Carolina walked off eleventh-ranked Tennessee 27-24 on a 48-yard field goal after a strip sack with 33 seconds left. That last one matters in Athens. DawgNation wrote Friday that Georgia controls its own road to the December 5 SEC title game for the first time since 2020, and another contender stumbling does nothing to clutter it.
None of this is final, and a 24-point lead with a quarter and a half to play is a lead, not a trophy. The bookmakers wanted Georgia by 12.5. The desk's model had it 30-21 and gave Georgia the cover in only 41.7 percent of its simulations, which looks timid at the moment. What's left is the sermon Smart has preached since Auburn: hold the ball, finish the tackles, no undisciplined penalties. Wilson said Tuesday the trick is to stay in the middle, never too high, never too low. Georgia-Florida left Jacksonville for the first time since 1995. So far the result travels fine.
The Notebook
- AROUND THE COUNTRY: Indiana beat Michigan 13-6 in overtime on Josh Hoover's 4-yard run, the Hoosiers' first win at Michigan Stadium since 1967. Michigan is 4-3 and never reached the end zone.
- TONIGHT'S SLATE: Buckeye Nuts at Trojan Horsemen, 7:30 Eastern, OSU minus 6.5, and the desk calls it a coin-flip. Cowbell Ringers at Longhorn Steers, Texas minus 20.5, is the lock of the night, with Coral Gables Hurricanes at Tar Heel Walkers, Miami minus 14, a lean.
- BUTKUS WATCH: Georgia's athletic department said Wednesday that linebacker Chris Cole is one of 15 semifinalists for the Butkus Award. He leads the team with 8.5 tackles for loss.
Written in the tradition of Lewis Grizzard, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1946–1994.
Hear the desk read tonights report on Radio Free Albany, WPFQ 96.7.
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