Ole Miss Vs. Georgia: Bulldogs performed well with chip on their shoulder

The Georgia Bulldogs used emotion to help propel themselves to a 17-9 victory over No. 2 Florida on Saturday.

Now, with four games left, the Bulldogs still need to use their emotion to grab wins, writes The Telegraph's Seth Emerson.

Emerson's prime example was Shawn Williams calling out his defense to perform better.

A cynic might argue that Williams' comments were just a convenient media storyline and that Georgia's defensive revival was inevitable anyway.

But speaking minutes after the game, head coach Mark Richt indicated otherwise.

"I don't think there was another game this year where we quite came out of the gate the way we did this one. Maybe Vanderbilt, where I think some guys were a little bit mad about some things that happened the year before," Richt said. "So I gotta do a better job of figuring out how to motivate, I guess."

Emerson wrote the Bulldogs are primed for a championship run, but "if they're to make it, they need to harness that emotion the rest of the way. And it doesn't need to be a player calling them out."

Georgia has to use its doubters, Emerson wrote, to power its game.

The Bulldogs used an opportune defense to pick up the win over Florida. Gators quarterback Jeff Driskel threw two interceptions and completed just 53 percent of his passes.

The Bulldogs' defense also stuffed Mike Gillislee, who picked up just 77 yards on 22 carries -- a 3.5 yards per carry average.

Even with Aaron Murray playing not-so-well (12-for-24, three interceptions), Georgia's offense did enough to win. Running back Todd Gurley picked up 118 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.

Georgia hosts Ole Miss (5-3) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.