JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Dan Mullen pointed to critical mistakes in assessing his team’s 34-7 loss to Georgia on Saturday.

True enough, the unranked Gators had the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs right where they wanted them for nearly half the game, trailing only 3-0 with three minutes left in the first half in a physical, toe-to-toe battle.

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“You know, defense kind of shut them down early,” said Mullen, whose Gators slipped to 4-4 with the loss. “We gotta get some points on the board when our defense is playing great team football.”

Georgia coach Kirby Smart had opted for a smash-mouth type of game with the Gators with his conservative decision to start Stetson Bennett over JT Daniels.

The Bulldogs’ elite defense, however, bailed out the offense and did in the Gators. They did so by creating three turnovers in a 2 1/2-minute span that led to 21 points with the offense needing only two plays and 47 yards.

“The defense was playing great,” said Mullen, whose team outgained Georgia 355-354. “The offense has gotta respond. We gotta score some points early.”

Florida redshirt freshman Anthony Richardson, making his first career start, was 12-of-20 passing for 82 yards, two interceptions and a fumble.

“Obviously it’s a tough situation going when you’re playing the great defense like Georgia has, and you give them credit for having some really good defensive guys,” Mullen said. “Overall, he did some things really well and, you know, he made a couple of a couple of errors, as well. But that’s stuff that we will coach him up on and get him better at.”

Mullen, like Smart, might have had more offensive success had he started a different quarterback.

Verteran Emory Jones came on in relief of Richardson and was much more effective, 10-of-14 passing for 112 yards.

Florida has a favorable back end of the schedule and would appear in line for another 8-4 season, with contests remaining at South Carolina, vs. Samford, at Missouri and at home against Florida State.

Mullen seemed to indicate he doesn’t think the Gators will see another defense like Georgia’s this season.

“I will say this: I think they’re an excellent defense, (and) I think they have depth, they have some talent on the field,” Mullen said. “And, I think they play really hard and their coaches do a good job putting them in position to make plays.

“They play with confidence‚ and when there are opportunities there to make plays, they make them.”