Georgia Tech quoteboard
“It was a tough game. I was proud of our guys’ effort. It’s a hard game to lose, a gut-wrenching game. It would have been for either side. Really, there’s not a whole lot to say about it.”
Coach Paul Johnson
“Really, starting with the last possession of the first half, we never really got any pressure on the guy. He had all day to throw the ball. That was a killer.”
Johnson on the pass rush
“I thought he played well. He made some nice checks, I thought he managed the game well, he got pressure on the interception. That was really about the only one that I can think of. That was a poor decision, but he played very well, I thought.”
Johnson on quarterback Vad Lee
“I just felt like we needed to get a few more hits on him, in the second half especially. But I felt like in the first half, where we’re getting to him and we were getting some helmets on him, he was pulling down his throws a bit quicker and that was probably causing their receivers to drop them a bit. We just had to get some pressure on him in the second half and we couldn’t do it.
Nose tackle Adam Gotsis on Georgia quarterback Hutson Mason
“We never assumed that we were going to win this thing. We knew that we were going to have to slug it out. The offense, as I said earlier, the offense put up 40 points or whatever it was. We can’t blame them. We’ve got to blame the defense. It’s on us at the front, I feel, and we just have to get some pressure on them at the end and we couldn’t do that.”
Gotsis
“It just feels like your heart’s been ripped out of you. Because it’s such an emotional game, especially a rivalry. My first thought was to the seniors, (that) we couldn’t get it done for them.”
Gotsis on the last play of the game
“He did a great job from the beginning of the game. He wasn’t rattled. He stayed calm and cool. He played very well. We just couldn’t come up with the victory.”
A-back Robert Godhigh on Lee
“We worked on it this week with the play action and stuff, knowing they’d be a little aggressive. We hit them for a couple big plays here and there.”
Godhigh on the passing game
“He did, but I still have to get open at the end of the day. Can’t rely on the refs to make a call for us.”
Godhigh on possible pass interference on a third-quarter pass play by Georgia linebacker Ramik Wilson immediately before kicker Harrison Butker’s missed field goal
“They definitely made some adjustments, left an extra guy in to block at times. They tried to get the screen game going. They made some good adjustments going into the second half.”
Defensive end Jeremiah Attaochu on Georgia’s offense
“I wanted to play hard. I wanted to win this game, especially for our seniors, because I can imagine how they feel right now, not being able to beat Georgia. That game matters a lot here. Being here, it was special, the game was special. It was a great atmosphere and we really wanted to win. We really wanted to win.”
Lee
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
