Improbably, Georgia Tech has done it again.
In the 109th playing of the Tech-Georgia game, the No. 16 Yellow Jackets ended the No. 9 Bulldogs’ five-game winning streak in the series with a 30-24 overtime win at Sanford Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Cornerback D.J. White’s interception of Georgia quarterback Hutson Mason on the Bulldogs’ first overtime possession was the final play of a wild contest that saw the lead change hands four times in the final 12 minutes of regulation and the overtime period.
“I am so proud of our players,” coach Paul Johnson said. “That’s the way they’ve played all year, the resiliency to kind of hang around.”
B-back Zach Laskey’s two-yard touchdown run proved the winning score on Tech’s opening possession of overtime.
As has been its method so often this season, the Jackets came back to win, rallying from 7-0 , 14-7, 17-14 and 24-21 deficits t0 send the game to overtime as time expired on Harrison Butker’s 54-yard field goal.
The Jackets (10-2) won their 10th game of the season against two losses, just their fourth 10-win season since coach Bobby Dodd’s retirement after the 1966 season. Tech has completed its circle of redemption, having ended losing streaks to nemeses Virginia Tech, Miami, Clemson and now Georgia (9-3).
Tech’s defense easily played its best game of the year, holding Georgia’s offense to just two touchdowns. The Jackets forced two turnovers inside their own 5-yard line and, in another critical effort, limited Georgia to a field goal after the Bulldogs had a first-and-goal from the Tech 3-yard line early in the fourth quarter after a successful fake field goal.
With Florida State’s win over Florida Saturday night, Tech has practically secured an Orange Bowl berth, its first since 2009 and second since 1966.
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