Georgia didn’t need much help to beat Georgia Tech, but the Bulldogs received plenty. The result was predictable — a 42-10 loss for the Yellow Jackets on Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
Seeking perhaps the biggest upset in the 107-game history of the rivalry, the Yellow Jackets offered up two costly turnovers, poor tackling, weak pass pressure, poorly executed offensive plays and spotty special-teams play. Needing to play nearly perfectly just to have a chance against a Georgia team with national-championship hopes, the Jackets missed the mark by a mile.
Said quarterback Tevin Washington, “It felt like we laid an egg.”
No. 3 Georgia proved itself the superior outfit for the 11th time in the past 12 Tech-Georgia games, this time by a wide margin. It’s the most one-sided 12-game stretch in the series’ history, surpassing 10-2 runs by Georgia 1971-82 and 1972-83.
It’s Tech’s most decisive loss to the Bulldogs since the 51-7 loss in 2002. In coach Paul Johnson’s five-year tenure, the 32-point margin of defeat is the second widest, following the 38-3 Chick-fil-A Bowl loss in 2008.
“It was a pretty good thumping,” said Johnson, who has now presided over four consecutive losses to the Bulldogs after the increasingly distant 45-42 win in 2008. “We could not slow them down at all, which has been a recurring theme the last few times we’ve played them, and we couldn’t finish drives offensively.”
Tech falls to 6-6 as it heads into the ACC Championship game against Florida State next Saturday in Charlotte, N.C.
A season that has been a series of ups and downs continues into a 13th game on a steep descent. Tech began 2-4 with two overtime losses and an embarrassing loss to Middle Tennessee State, then won four of its next five before this knee-buckling punch from the Bulldogs.
As daunting as the odds were in Athens, they’ll be no less so against the Seminoles. Jay Kornegay, sportsbook director at the Las Vegas Hilton, estimated the Jackets would be a 19-point underdog to Florida State, and that was before Saturday’s game.
“We’ll see how they respond,” Johnson said. “You don’t get these opportunities very often. You need to take advantage of them.”
Tech’s troubles began even before the noon kickoff. A-back Orwin Smith, Tech’s most dangerous offensive player, was held out because of an ankle injury suffered in last Saturday’s win over Duke. Robert Godhigh, the starter opposite Smith, received most of the touches for the A-backs as B.J. Bostic, Synjyn Days and Deon Hill rotated in Smith’s spot.
The Jackets’ problems continued from kickoff. Malcolm Mitchell returned the opening kickoff to the Tech 44-yard line, a precursor to a four-play drive to get into the end zone for a 7-0 lead just 63 seconds into the game. Getting a surge up front from the Tech offensive line, the Jackets raced on their opening possession to the Georgia 20, from where Godhigh ran a toss play to the doorstep of the Georgia goal line.
As he drove a pack of Bulldogs to the end zone, safety Bacarri Rambo swiped the ball out of Godhigh’s arms and fled to midfield. Eight plays later, Georgia was up 14-0.
Godhigh, a former walk-on, scored five touchdowns in the previous two games and has been perhaps the team’s most consistent player this season. He conceded the momentum-changing nature of the play.
“It was our first drive, we had got down into the red zone,” he said. “That’s all we had talked all week, was no turnovers. I lost the ball on that first drive. It just kind of messed it up, I guess, for the offense.”
Given that Tech had given up 40-plus points in five of the previous eight games, the two-touchdown deficit was perhaps all the advantage the Bulldogs needed. Georgia continued to press forward, grabbing yardage in chunks and turning aside Tech’s defensive front seemingly at will. Georgia had few, if any, surprises in the game plan, feeding on a diet of power run plays that opened up gaps in the Tech line.
“We fitted (the blocks) pretty good, but the creases were so big that anybody could just run and pick and choose which way they wanted to run,” inside linebacker Quayshawn Nealy said.
After the Godhigh fumble, Tech’s final four possessions of the first half ended with a field goal, a failed fourth-down attempt, an ill-advised interception by quarterback Vad Lee and a missed field-goal attempt. At the half, Tech had gained 238 yards by halftime, held the ball for more than 21 minutes and had converted four of eight third-down plays. However, because of the two turnovers and a Georgia offense that was averaging 10.6 yards per snap, the Bulldogs led 28-3 and Tech’s fate was sealed.
The Georgia onslaught continued, as running back Todd Gurley piled up 97 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries. As was the case last year at Bobby Dodd Stadium, quarterback Aaron Murray was again the picture of efficiency, taking advantage of a practically airtight pocket to complete 14 of 17 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns.
As the game wore to its frustrating conclusion, Tech defensive players began to bicker and point fingers, Nealy said.
“I think it was just because of the game and the timing and everything,” he said. “We’re still a team, we’re still together, and at the end of the day, we’re going to have each other’s back.”
Against the Seminoles, as against the Bulldogs on Saturday, it’ll take a lot more than that.
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