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.”
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