JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Georgia senior receiver Lawrence Cager returned from a separated shoulder and bruised ribs to inflict pain on the Florida defense on Saturday.
Cager, a graduate transfer from Miami, had a career-high 7 catches for 132 yards with a TD and 2-point conversion catch to lift the Bulldogs to a 24-17 win over the Gators at TIAA Bank Field.
The Bulldogs’ ground game was asserting itself in the fourth quarter with six runs that went for 23 yards and two first downs when Jake Fromm faked a handoff and found Cager wide open for a 52-yard TD that made it 24-10 with 10:01 remaining.
Cager, who missed the Oct. 19 win over Kentucky after leaving the South Carolina game the prior week with the injuries, had three third-down conversion catches in the first half of the win over the Gators.
The first big catch from Cager came on a third-and-14 at the UGA 36 on the Bulldogs’ first possession, sustaining what proved to be a field-goal drive.
Cager came up with an 11-yard first-down catch on the second drive, before more heroics on Georgia’s third possession, leading to a touchdown.
Fromm found Cager for an 8-yard gain on a third-and-4 at the UGA 47, and again on a third-and-6 at the Florida 22 for a 12-yard gain. Three plays later, UGA scored its first TD of the game on a Dominick Blaylock TD catch from Fromm.
