If distractions and controversies were a statistic kept on the box score, Florida would have easily won that category Saturday night. But while the Gators spent much of the week dealing with the future of their embattled coach, Georgia was sticking to what has been working well for them: the present.
"The present affects the present. The past doesn't affect the present," said Georgia coach Kirby Smart following his team's 42-7 thrashing of the Florida Gators on Saturday.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak to UF, something that didn't matter to Smart and his players.
"Anything that's happened here before: what does that have to do with this team? It has nothing to do with that team," Smart said.
Georgia (8-0, 5-0 SEC) entered the weekend as one of eight undefeated teams in the country and before the night was over, the Bulldogs would wind up one of only five remaining.
Penn State, TCU and USF would all fall, clearing the way for the Bulldogs to move up to No. 2 in this week's top 25 rankings.
If there were any doubts that the Bulldogs would suffer some sort of letdown against Florida, those concerns were quickly wiped away after Georgia scored 21 points on just eight offensive plays in the first quarter.
It wasn't until the fourth drive of the day that the Gators managed to force a punt.
"When you come out and start fast like that, it has a big effect, and most games are not that way," Smart said of his team's ability to pounce on UF's early miscue. "But when you come out like that, it gives everyone a little more energy and a little more confidence."
The 21-0 halftime lead, which seemed unsurmountable based on the Gators' offensive struggles, could have been a lot worse.
Georgia attempted just four passes in the first half and seemed to pull back a bit offensively.
Sony Michel led the way with 137 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. It was his 74-yard romp midway through the second quarter, during which he burst through the hole on the left side of the offensive line and turned on the speed, outracing much of the Gators' secondary.
It was the first time Michel has experienced beating a Florida team during his time at Georgia.
"It's a wonderful win. We came back to get W's," Michel said of the decision by he and fellow tailback Nick Chubb made to return to the school for their senior seasons.
Georgia amassed more than 292 yards rushing: 214 of those yards coming from Michel and Chubb combined.
The Bulldogs control their destiny in the SEC East. They own a two-game lead in the division with upcoming games against South Carolina, Auburn and Kentucky.
When the first College Football Playoff rankings are released Tuesday evening, it's almost a certainty Georgia will find itself among the top four teams. But a spot in the semifinals would most likely only come with a win in the SEC Championship Game, perhaps against Smart's former team: Alabama.
That means more noise and more distractions.
"It's a challenge every week. The challenge exists in playing in the SEC. All of the other stuff is a distraction," Smart said. "The focus is South Carolina. That's a challenge in and of itself. We focus on the challenge in front of us, not the one that exists around us."
The Bulldog players appear to be receiving the message _ loud and clear.
"We try to not look too far ahead," said senior linebacker Lorenzo Carter, who had a career-high nine tackles and a sack against the Gators. "Once you start looking too far ahead, that's when you slip up. That's when you stop preparing as well as you should."
That includes all of that premature playoff talk.
"That stuff doesn't matter until the end of the season," Carter said.
