CHICK-FIL-A BOWL: LSU 38, GEORGIA TECH 3: Blissful month ends with loud thud

One month ago, Georgia Tech won a football game in Athens that was considered such a significant moment in its history that players snapped off pieces of the hedges, seniors voted for the final score to be inscribed on rings and the head coach was given a new contract with a 53 percent pay hike.

I’m not sure exactly what happened between Nov. 29 and Dec. 31. But that must’ve been some pothole they hit on Northside.

Playing a bowl game two miles from campus, the Jackets seemed intent on smothering any life they had breathed into the program and the fan base. They followed a 9-3 regular season and a sweet month of post-Georgia nirvana with a 38-3, mother of all meltdowns to LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome.

This game was supposed to be a reward. It turned out to be some bad acid flashback to bowl flops of years past. But at least back then, the Jackets suffered their humiliation in Boise and nobody really cared. Or noticed.

“We got outplayed. We got outcoached. It was a pretty good beating,” coach Paul Johnson said.

He summarized things nicely. If only his team was that efficient Wednesday.

Several weeks of hearing how great they were must have eroded the Jackets’ focus. Johnson never came out and said that, but he commented: “Clearly, we weren’t ready to play. So that comes back to me. But clearly they were bigger and faster than us, too, if I was watching the right game.”

He might be right. But after so many self-inflicted wounds, most people stopped watching.

It didn’t start well. Tech’s Scott Blair knocked the opening kickoff out of bounds, giving LSU the ball on the 40. The Tigers drove to a touchdown in three minutes.

Suddenly, it was like somebody kicked opened the lab door and a mutant virus escaped.

In a span of about 14 minutes, the Jackets were outscored 28-0 —- and if only it were that simple and painless.

They were penalized for roughing the passer to kick start a 76-yard touchdown drive in less than four minutes; napped through an ensuing LSU onside kick; fumbled a punt return; allowed another touchdown drive (then again, the Tigers were on an implausible third straight possession); watched as the LSU quarterback, Jordan Jefferson, completed his first nine passes (Still with us? Get ready. Now it gets really stupid.); sprayed lighter fluid on this inferno with an ill-advised fake punt on fourth-and-8 from their own 22 (I’m assuming that didn’t trigger an incentive clause in Johnson’s reworked contract); allowed a 25-yard touchdown pass for a fourth score; gave the Tigers a short field with a short punt and a long return and then folded for a 17-yard TD run.

I tried to figure out a way to abbreviate that sequence. But it would’ve been like trying to get the full flavor of what the Wicked Witch’s flying apes did to the Scarecrow’s arms and legs and stuffing by saying just, “Well, he lost by knockout.”

Johnson again: “We self-destructed.”

This is the same LSU team that lost its final four SEC games —- including one to Arkansas, which should count twice. The Tigers’ only victories in the final six games came over Tulane and Troy.

The Chick-fil-A bowl figured to be a huge letdown for the Tigers from last year’s BCS title game. If one team figured to lack motivation and focus, it was LSU, not Tech. Oops.

What happened doesn’t erase the first 12 games. It doesn’t erase the wins over Boston College, Clemson or Florida State, or blowing the doors off Miami and Georgia with a combined 86 points.

But it did take you back —- back to a time you didn’t want to remember.

jschultz@ajc.com

NOT A GOOD FINISH

A look at Georgia Tech’s worst losses in bowl games:

Year..Bowl……….Result

2008..Chick-fil-A ..LSU 38-3

2005..Emerald ……Utah 38-10

1971..Peach ……..Ole Miss 41-18

1978..Peach ……..Purdue 41-21

1961..Gator ……..Penn State 30-15

1967..Orange……..Florida 27-12

2000..Gator ……..Miami 28-13

CLOSE SERIES

Since the Peach Bowl/Chick-fil-A Bowl went to an SEC vs. ACC matchup, the SEC holds a 9-8 edge, courtesy of LSU’s win Wednesday night:

> Dec. 31, 2008: LSU 38, Georgia Tech 3

> Dec. 31, 2007: Auburn 23, Clemson 20, OT

> Dec. 30, 2006: Georgia 31, Virginia Tech 24

> Dec. 30, 2005: LSU 40, Miami 3

> Dec. 31, 2004: Miami 27, Florida 10

> Jan. 2, 2004: Clemson 27, Tennessee 14

> Dec. 31, 2002: Maryland 30, Tennessee 3

> Dec. 31, 2001: North Carolina 16, Auburn 10

> Dec. 29, 2000: LSU 28, Georgia Tech 14

> Dec. 31, 1999: Mississippi State 17, Clemson 7

> Dec. 31, 1998: Georgia 35, Virginia 33

> Jan. 2, 1998: Auburn 21, Clemson 17

> Dec. 28, 1996: LSU 10, Clemson 7

> Dec. 30, 1995: Virginia 34, Georgia 27

> Jan. 1, 1995: N.C. State 28, Mississippi State 24

> Dec. 31, 1993: Clemson 14, Kentucky 13

> Jan. 2, 1993: North Carolina 21, Mississippi State 17