Florida Football: 3 takeaways from tough SEC East loss to Georgia

1. Georgia basically locked up third straight SEC East title

It felt like this might be the year where the Bulldogs succumb to the pressure of other teams on the rise and cede their position atop the SEC East standings. Florida, in particular, has presented itself as a team to reckon with both inside and outside conference play.

But that narrative was cast to the wayside on Saturday as Georgia dismantled Florida piece by piece and effectively locked up a spot in Atlanta a month before the SEC championship game. The Bulldogs now have a two-game advantage over Florida, and the Gators are hardly guaranteed to run the table from here on out.

Georgia faces Missouri in Week 11, and the Tigers are the last team that could potentially win in division play. Auburn still welcomes Georgia to the Plains and Texas A&M comes to play between the hedges before Kirby Smart’s crew closes out the regular season with their non-conference state rivalry game against Georgia Tech.

Florida, meanwhile, still has Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Florida State. With Georgia needing to lose two of their last three conference games, Gus Malzahn’s team just became huge fans of Missouri, Texas A&M, and Auburn.

With the win, Georgia kept alive its resuscitated chances at a College Football Playoff appearance. Florida’s chances of even a New Year’s Six berth are on life support. Once again, the gulf presented itself between these two rivals in the late teens of the 21st century.