Second quarter blog

3:26 left in second quarter, Florida now leads 21-7

Pat Dooley, the longtime columnist for the Gainesville Sun, told me a few days ago he thought this game would be decided by turnovers and special teams. Neither team was good enough to win on its own, he felt.

So far he's right on. Georgia's third turnover of the game leads directly to another Florida score, and the Bulldogs are suddenly down a couple touchdowns.

The typical emotions of the Georgia-Florida game look to be back too: Following the touchdown run by Trey Burton, pushing and shoving commenced at the line.

That led to a comic moment as the referee, turning his mike on a couple seconds too early, was heard by millions here and on television to yell: "Get back to your side of the ball now, every one of ya!"

If only he had cursed.

I know Georgia fans are cursing right now. But there's plenty of game left here. The offense needs to stop committing turnovers, and the defense has to make some adjustments.

6:06 left in second quarter, Florida takes 14-7 lead

Aaron Murray's first mistake didn't cost Georgia any points. His second one did.

Murray's first fumble of the year gave Florida the ball at the Georgia 29. The Gators proceeded to try to give it away with penalties. But Deonte Thompson made a nice third-down catch near the sideline, turning around to haul in the pass before Sanders Commings could realize the ball was there.

That put it at the 2, and a play later Jeff Demps punched it in.

Georgia had the ball near midfield when Murray was sacked, and the ball came loose. It looked like Murray was trying to get rid of it, but the ball went backward.

Murray, who turned it over three times in eight games, has turned it over twice now in the first half.

A.J. Green, who didn't have a catch in the first quarter, finally caught a receiver screen, went seven yards, and finished the play with a nice stiff-arm of the Florida defender. (If Green had stiff-armed Chris Hawkins like that, Georgia probably wouldn't be 4-4.)

12:22 left in second quarter, Georgia ties it at 7-7

I guess Aaron Murray was just waiting to make his first completion of the day a memorable one.

The freshman hit Tavarres King on a 63-yard touchdown pass, and we're tied. Murray's pass deep downfield hit King almost perfectly in stride; King was a couple steps behind the defender, whom tried a leg tackle that King shook off around the 10.

That's obviously a great sign for the Bulldogs. If they can get the pass and the run going, they probably have one on Florida, which only seems to have the run game going.

Plus, Murray can shake off the poor first quarter. When a freshman struggles like that, he often sinks - it happened to Nebraska's Taylor Martinez. It just goes to show that Georgia may have a special one in Murray.

14:41 left in second quarter, Florida takes 7-0 lead

Florida gets the game's first score. Chris Rainey took an inside handoff and went up the middle 20 yards, and into the end zone.

It doesn't so much look like the Gators changed a lot on offense. It's just that Rainey is back. The controversial tailback has 52 yards on eight carries, and an 8-yard catch.

The Gators went 91 yards on that drive, most of it on the ground, but with a few timely completions by John Brantley.

Akeem Dent did return for Georgia, so there's that.

Now, let's see if Aaron Murray can get the Georgia offense going.