JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The post-Billy Napier era at Florida nearly began with a bang Saturday — but fifth-ranked Georgia survived, rallying for a 24-20 victory to keep its hopes of reaching the SEC Championship Game alive.

Trailing 20-17 midway through the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 SEC) came up with a huge fourth-down stop inside their own 20-yard line. Moments later, Chauncey Bowens then knifed his way through the Gators defense on a 36-yard touchdown run to take the lead.

Despite starting the game short-handed at receiver and losing standout freshman Dallas Wilson to a foot injury in the second half, Florida (3-5, 2-3) mustered enough offense with DJ Lagway, Jadan Baugh and Eugene Wilson III to keep pressure on its rivals in its first game under interim head coach Billy Gonzales. But Lagway’s last two passes — including a fourth-down throw at his own 31 — fell incomplete.

With the win, Georgia’s College Football Playoff odds increased to 90 percent, according to The Athletic’s Austin Mock.

36 yards to the 🏠

📺: ABC#GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/9UWgYSYUHA

— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) November 1, 2025

‘Never say die Dawgs’ again

Kirby Smart has been using that label since last year, and fans have latched on. It was too predictable it would happen again in this game, as aggravating as that remains to the team and its fans.

Georgia has now come from behind in the fourth quarter in wins over Florida, Tennessee and Ole Miss. It also trailed at halftime at Auburn before pulling it out.

The defense, which has struggled much of this year, got a huge stop to give its team a chance. Gunner Stockton and the offense, which had struggled for much of Saturday, came through.

But getting into this position against a team struggling so much that it fired its coach? That was a case of equal blame.

Stockton and the offense had a great drive to start the game, going 75 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. And another great drive to open the second half (74 yards, five plays). But each time, Georgia followed by failing to move the ball. Stockton had good passes on the touchdown possessions but otherwise was uneven. He also seemed to hold the ball too long on a couple of sacks. Georgia’s running game was solid but without breakaway runs aside from Bowens’ go-ahead score, and the passing game didn’t make up for it.

Georgia’s defense, meanwhile, firmed up in the middle of the game after giving up 10 points, both on short fields. But when Georgia took a 17-10 lead early in the third quarter, the defense let the Gators back in the game, committing a couple of defensive pass interference calls to set up the game-tying touchdown.

Smart said this week that tackling was the core of the defense’s issues. Those weren’t fixed during the bye week. And the pass coverage and pass rush issues were also still there. But the run defense has been there all season — and it was there on the fourth-down stop.

Billy Gonzales’ debut

Sometimes when there’s a midseason firing, the team quits. Sometimes it has the opposite effect.

The latter appeared to be the case Saturday, at least in the first game out for Florida. The Gators didn’t back down — reference intended — after falling behind on the opening drive. They came back again after Georgia jumped back up 17-10 in the third quarter.

The new offensive play caller, Ryan O’Hara, made an effort to get the ball to Wilson III, who had just 18 catches for 118 yards in the first seven games. Wilson had 121 yards on nine catches Saturday.

There were also well-timed runs for Lagway, including a 26-yarder on a second-and-20 on the drive that led to the game-tying touchdown in the third quarter.

Gonzales’ first big-game management decision paid off: He punted on fourth-and-inches from Florida’s 43, even after Georgia’s offense had moved the ball well on its opening drive. But Florida’s defense validated Gonzales’ decision, getting a hold, and soon the Gators had a 10-7 lead.

Then another decision paid off, although it wasn’t as much of a reach. Gonzales let Trey Smack try a 54-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, and Smack, who hasn’t missed a field goal since the opener, nailed it, giving Florida a 20-17 lead.

But another big decision did not work: Gonzales went for it on fourth-and-short rather than kick a field goal that would have put Florida up 23-17. The run up the middle was stopped well short. Georgia went down and scored the go-ahead touchdown.

More key officiating calls

It wasn’t on the scale of the Auburn game, but Georgia was again involved in a first half that had some key officiating rulings. One that went Florida’s way, the other Georgia’s.

The first involved officials making the rare call that a quarterback had simulated a snap by his motions to cause an opponent to jump offside. Trailing 10-7, Georgia had fourth-and-8 from the Florida 36. At first, it appeared the Gators had jumped offside, but after a discussion, the officials ruled that Stockton had exaggerated his motion while clapping.

Smart protested, to no avail. Pushed back 5 yards, Smart elected to punt, and it was downed at the 11. Had Florida been whistled for offside, Georgia would have had fourth-and-3 from the Florida 31, well within Peyton Woodring’s field-goal range.

Then, in the final minute of the first half, Stockton was initially ruled to have fumbled as he attempted a pass forward while being hit. Stockton’s arm was clearly going forward, but the question was whether he had firm control of the ball before releasing it. The replay ruling was that he did, giving the Bulldogs another chance. Two plays later, they kicked a field goal to tie it at halftime.

Finally, the critical review near the end of the game: Florida’s J. Michael Sturdivant was ruled on the field to have not caught what would have been a long completion to just outside Georgia’s red zone. Replays were unclear on whether the ball hit the ground or not. After a lengthy review, the call on the field was upheld.

Florida went for it on fourth down, didn’t get it, and Georgia took over at the Florida 30 with a little more than three minutes left. It was able to convert and put the game away.