Georgia makes a statement with a dominant victory at WLOCP

Kirby Smart came out after a 36-17 win over Florida No. 9 with a message to send.

"Everyone has interviewed these kids and all we have done is work," Smart told CBS.

Here, "everyone" includes Smart. In the aftermath of Georgia's loss to LSU two weeks ago, Smart called his line of defense and said the Bulldogs had been overtaken by the Tigers. Jake FrommQB, the star of the team, had the worst performance of his career this afternoon, leaving many people wondering if the time of Justin Fields had arrived.

Georgia reacted energetically against the Gators, dominating the game as its defense was invaded by the crowd. Florida had 275 yards of offense against Georgia's 429, and the Gators returned the ball three times. Fromm did what he always did in his career with the Bulldogs: play the quarterback intelligently and effectively, finishing 17 for 24 with three touchdowns.

With the win, the Bulldogs found themselves facing a rival in the making. As Smart told his players who left the field two weeks ago, they also kept all their goals in front of them.

For Georgia, the situation is similar to that of last year, when Auburn beat the Bulldogs No. 1 40-17 after a 9-0 start, pushing many people to think that the Bulldogs would be excluded from the race to the SEC. We all know how it ended. Will the same thing happen for team # 2 in 2018? It's hard to say. Alabama clearly seems to be the No. 1 SEC, and the Georgia team did not show the same weakness (the defensive front, the stoppage of the race).

If the Bulldogs can beat Kentucky on the road next week (they will be big favorites), the SEC East is anything but blocked. In this case, we will probably have Georgia v. Alabama for the second time in just over a year.

A word about Florida: The Gators are no longer part of the playoffs for college football and the SEC East race in 2018, but you must recognize how much Dan Mullen has improved the Gators rankings in just one year. Florida (6-2) could easily finish the regular season with 10 wins. If Mullen can recruit (the Gators rank only at the 22nd national rank in 2019), these clashes between Florida and Georgia could be fun for years to come.