Tech's run defense victimized by Georgia

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By Carroll Rogers

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

From the game's opening drive, to the counter punch Georgia delivered on a long play to open the second half, the Bulldogs victimized Georgia Tech on the ground.

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Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com Georgia tailback Caleb King breaks free on a 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

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It was a major role reversal for a Tech team used to controlling the line of scrimmage and the clock with a dominating running game of its own. But on Saturday night, the Yellow Jackets did little but backpedal.

Georgia had had only one 100-yard rusher all season. On Saturday, the Bulldogs had two of them by their first play of the third quarter. Washaun Ealey finished with 183 yards, and Caleb King with 166.

"I think you have to give Georgia some credit," Tech coach Paul Johnson said. "They came in with a plan to run the ball and they ran the ball. It didn't surprise anybody. We kind of knew that's what they were going to do; we just couldn't stop it."

Georgia's 339 yards rushing was by far the most Tech had allowed this season. Vanderbilt had the previous high with 218.

"We were flowing too fast to the ball and over-running the backs and up the field they go," Tech linebacker Brad Jefferson said.

The freshman Ealey hit the 100-yard mark for the first time in his career on a 34-yard run five minutes into the second quarter. King, a redshirt sophomore, joined him there on a 75-yard touchdown run on Georgia's first play of the third quarter.

In a game of moving backwards, King's run was the play that really knocked Tech back. After trailing 17-3 at halftime, the Yellow Jackets had struck on a 76-yard pass play from Josh Nesbitt to Demaryius Thomas to cut Georgia's lead to 17-10. They had momentum for the first time, but Georgia snuffed it out immediately.

King burst through a hole, raced past safety Morgan Burnett and then watched Mario Butler struggle to get off a block as he sped to the end zone.

"We were over-running everything, so we started playing zero coverage, playing straight man-to-man and put an extra safety on a back," said defensive coordinator Dave Wommack, who didn't see results on that play even with the extra defender in the box. "We missed tackles too."

King and Ealey became Georgia's first duo of 100-yard rushers since Danny Ware and Thomas Brown did it in 2004 against Vanderbilt. Tech had given up only two 100-yard rushers all season in Mississippi State's Anthony Dixon (106 yards) and Virginia Tech's Ryan Williams (100 yards).

Georgia opened the game with a 10-play, 74-yard scoring drive, in which the Bulldogs ran on every play. King scored standing up, with Mario Edwards getting only a piece of his thigh.

If the Bobby Dodd Stadium crowd wasn't quiet enough already, it got downright hushed late in the first quarter when quarterback Josh Nesbitt – Tech's best chance to keep Georgia's offense off the field – left the game with what appeared to be a right ankle injury.

In his absence, Tech ran four plays from scrimmage and netted two yards and an interception by backup Jaybo Shaw. By the time Nesbitt came back late in the second quarter, Georgia had set the tone for the game.

The Bulldogs rushed for 204 yards in the first half. Only two teams had rushed for more than that on Tech in a game this season – Mississippi State with 209 and Vanderbilt with 218.

The Bulldogs hit wide open cutback lanes and ran away from defensive end Derrick Morgan. For much of the first half, both Ealey and King found gaps to slip through and then picked up a second burst of speed.

"They cut back some, they ran straight downhill at the bubble some, they pretty much just ran wherever they wanted," Johnson said.

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