Tough day for Tech special teams
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson recognized that something was afoot when Georgia lined up for a field goal early in the fourth quarter. Johnson said he saw Bulldogs holder Adam Erickson look over to the Georgia sideline and get a thumbs-up sign from a coach. Johnson said he wanted to call a timeout at that point, but couldn’t get to an official.
“I didn’t know what was coming, but when they got the thumbs up from the side, I knew something was coming,” he said.
Erickson flipped the ball to kicker Marshall Morgan, who ran 28 yards to the Tech 3-yard line for a first down before being tackled by safety Isaiah Johnson. It proved a critical stop, as the Jackets forced a field goal, permitting the Bulldogs to take just a 17-14 lead.
While kicker Harrison Butker contributed the game-tying 53-yard field goal at the end of regulation, Tech’s longest field goal since 2007, it was a rough day for Tech’s special teams, with a blocked field goal and a blocked point-after try, as well as short kickoff returns.
Johnson said that Georgia was coming over snapper Trevor Stroebel in a possible violation of rules designed to protect the snapper.
“It was over the guard and over the snapper,” Johnson said. “But that’s not an excuse. We need to block.”
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.
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