Chris Cole, Georgia defense ‘played fast, played hard’ vs. Florida

It almost felt a little like a flashback for Chris Cole.

For the second time this season, the Georgia linebacker, nicknamed “Tarantula” and “Daddy Long Legs” by his teammates for his freakish athleticism, scooped up a fumble and was off to the races.

In the second quarter of No. 3 Georgia’s 27-8 win vs. No. 17 Florida Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Florida quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. (in after Aaron Philo’s second interception of the day) was sacked for a loss of three yards by Quintavius Johnson, who also forced a fumble on the play.

Cole recovered the fumble at Georgia’s 34-yard line and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown, giving the Bulldogs a 24-0 lead before halftime. This marked the first time Florida had been shut out in the first half all season.

Cole made a similar play in Georgia’s 41-13 win against Oklahoma Sept. 26, recovering a wonky fumble by quarterback John Mateer and returning it 85 yards for a touchdown.

“It was a great play by Q,” Cole said of Johnson’s forced fumble. “… Them getting the ball from the QB and just me scooping and scoring. And again, you know, just first off, not getting caught, and second, not getting tackled by the QB. So it was, you know, a blessing. Awesome.”

Cole becomes the first Georgia defensive player to score two touchdowns in a season since Eric Stokes in 2020.

He led Georgia with nine tackles in Saturday’s win, plus a sack and a tackle for a loss.

Georgia’s defense did some heavy lifting in this matchup, with three interceptions and Cole’s fumble return ensuring Florida stayed off-balance. The Bulldogs scored 17 points off four turnovers.

“If you get sacks, then you get turnovers,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “Most fumbles occur on sacks. We got pressure on the quarterback. We affected both quarterbacks, and anybody will tell you if you can’t run the ball and they struggle to run it, it makes you one-dimensional, and then everybody gets to feast and rush the passer, and that was a big play in the game.

“It was a huge momentum play because, again, it’s really a 14-point swing. If they go down and score, fumble, Chris picks it up and scores, which he has a knack for doing.”

It’s a heck of a play to have a “knack” for, but Cole’s teammates aren’t shocked.

“It’s unreal,” Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton said. “I definitely, I get to see it every day at practice and kind of the freaky stuff that happens. But he’s an unreal player and a great teammate. And, you know, he works just as hard during the week for that to pay off.”

The Bulldogs put up 217 rushing yards and held Florida to 48 yards on the ground, limiting Jadan Baugh to 38 rushing yards on 17 carries, a major emphasis entering this matchup. They’ve studied Baugh all year.

“Our focus was just stopping the run,” Cole said. “You know, we knew Florida coming in, they had a lot of good running backs and especially (Baugh), so we had to be able to stop the run and just kind of stop the explosive plays.”

The Bulldogs tallied only 14 yards of offense in the third quarter, compared with 76 for Florida, and were nearly shut out in the second half before kicker Peyton Woodring made a 21-yard field goal with 3:35 left in the fourth quarter.

Florida had a prime opportunity to score in the third quarter at the Georgia 3-yard line, but Jones threw an interception right at Georgia’s Braylon Conley in the end zone. The Gators didn’t score until midway through the fourth, after a fumble by wide receiver Talyn Taylor stopped the Bulldogs just as they looked set to build their lead.