Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said his team’s 31-17 loss on Saturday to Georgia was a tale of two halves.
In the first half, his team couldn’t take advantage of its chances. In the second half, it couldn’t keep the Bulldogs from capitalizing on theirs. “For us, the margin of error was small and we didn’t take advantage of a couple of opportunities that we had early,” he said.
The bad breaks started on the game’s first play, one that Johnson said the team had practiced all year.
Quarterback Tevin Washington tossed the ball to wide receiver Tyler Melton, who ran back across the formation behind the line of scrimmage. Melton planted and tried to pass the ball to A-back Jamal Golden running down the middle of the field. Melton failed to see Stephen Hill running uncovered down the sideline. Melton’s pass was badly underthrown, allowing Georgia enough time to recover and break up the play.
Although Johnson said it didn’t determine the game’s result, that play was a sign of things to come.
Washington barely missed Roddy Jones running open down the right sideline later in the quarter. The pass went off Jones’ fingertips and was an example of the scattershot day Washington had passing. He went 3-for-10 for 34 yards and two interceptions.
“We had a good play called,” Jones said. “Tevin threw a good ball. I just couldn’t get both hands on it.”
Tech missed a chance to tie the game at 7 in the second quarter when it couldn’t score on third and goal at the 2-yard line. Defensive end Garrison Smith tackled Washington for a loss on a keeper. Justin Moore converted a 22-yard field goal, but the Jackets left four points on the field.
Tech bounced back and briefly grabbed the momentum with a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter. The 5-yard touchdown run by David Sims cut the Jackets’ margin to 14-10 with 1:13 remaining.
However, the Jackets inadvertently gave Georgia three points when Johnson called a timeout just before Blair Walsh missed a 41-yard, field-goal attempt with three seconds remaining in the first half. With a second chance, Walsh drilled the attempt to give the Bulldogs a 17-10 lead at halftime and snatch back the momentum, which Johnson described as deflating.
“It seems like sometimes that’s the way it goes,” Johnson said. “I have seen times when you call the timeout, the kicker makes the field goal, they have to kick it again and then they miss. If I had known they would have had a bad snap I wouldn’t have called a timeout.”
And then Georgia started making its own chances.
Brandon Boykin returned the second-half opening kickoff 60 yards to Tech’s 36-yard line.
“Not the way you want to start the second half,” Johnson said.
Aaron Murray hit Tavarres King for a 3-yard touchdown pass a few plays later to take a 24-10 lead.
Washington was intercepted on a couple of poor throws later in the third quarter. The first interception was thrown right to linebacker Mike Gilliard at the 25-yard line. Washington thought his receiver was going to break in front of Gilliard; instead the receiver kept going. The Jackets’ defense still forced the Bulldogs into a punting situation. Washington’s next pass also was intercepted. He underthrew Orwin Smith, giving Shawn Williams enough time to cut in front and make the interception at the 23-yard line. Georgia took advantage of this turnover, with Murray hitting Aron White for a 3-yard touchdown pass to give Georgia a 31-10 lead.
“For most of the game we felt like we could move the ball on them," Jones said. "Missed assignments, missed blocks -- those things killed us.”
