It wasn’t the biggest game Orson Charles has had with the Georgia Bulldogs, but it may have been the most satisfying.
The junior tight end proved to be the Bulldogs’ most consistent threat on offense Saturday. He was a matchup nightmare for Georgia Tech, who tried to cover him early with 5-foot-10 linebacker Julian Burnett. Charles finished with a game-high five receptions for 95 yards.
“It just developed as the game went on,” Charles said of being Georgia’s primary target. “We worked in practice against the different coverages they run, and we felt good about our chances to get open. But it wasn’t really the plan for me to get a lot of balls. That’s just kind of how it worked out, and I’m just happy we came through with a win.”
Charles, a preseason All-SEC selection, had been somewhat quiet of late. He had totaled four catches in the previous two games and hadn’t threatened the 100-yard receiving mark since the first game of the season, when he had a career-high six receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown against Boise State.
But he entered Saturday leading the Bulldogs in receptions and left with a team-best 40 catches. Fellow tight end Aron White added a touchdown on a 3-yard catch.
Big day for Smith
Senior defensive end DeAngelo Tyson went down with an ankle injury on the second play of game when he was the victim of a chop block by Tech. A personal foul was called against the Yellow Jackets, but Tyson was unable to return.
That meant the Bulldogs had to turn to Garrison Smith to fill the void, and the sophomore filled it. Smith came through with seven tackles, tops among defensive linemen, and stopped Tech quarterback Tevin Washington for 2-yard loss on third-and-goal at the 2 that forced the Jackets to settle for a field goal late in the first quarter.
“I knew Garrison wanted to play well because he actually has a brother [Greg Smith] who played at Tech,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “I just know when you get a house divided by a rivalry it makes you want to win that much worse. He made his choice for Georgia, and I knew it’d mean a lot for him today.”
Subdued celebration
Other than another kiss from his wife, Katharyn, at the end, Richt’s postgame celebration was much more subdued than the one after the Kentucky game. Richt explained why afterward.
“I didn’t celebrate much for two reasons,” he said. “One was the game next week [against LSU for the SEC championship]. The second is because my ribs really hurt right now.”
Richt tried to do a belly-flop slide across the wet floor of Georgia’s locker room at Sanford Stadium last Saturday in celebration of the Bulldogs’ SEC East clinching victory over Kentucky. But he hit a dry spot, stopped quickly and ended up on the bottom of a dog pile.
“I thought they’d be better by now, but they’re not,” Richt said of his ribs. “I was shaking hands instead of hugging. Hopefully they’ll understand.”
Fullback sighting
Zander Ogletree got the first carry by a Georgia fullback this season, and it was a big one.
The sophomore took a handoff at left guard on third-and-2 at the Tech 30-yard line late in the third quarter. Ogletree burst through contact at the line of scrimmage and rambled 21 yards to the Jackets’ 9.
Ogletree’s last five yards or so were spent in lockstep with Tech safety Isaiah Johnson, who gained a pretty good grip on the ball. The ball popped free when Ogletree landed on his back at the 9. A subsequent replay review by the ACC booth officials upheld the ruling on the field that Ogletree was down before losing possession.
It was a significant play. Three plays later Aaron Murray hit tight end White with a 3-yard touchdown pass that put the Bulldogs ahead 31-10.
Munson remembered
Both teams honored former Georgia radio legend Larry Munson before and during Saturday’s game. Munson died Sunday at the age of 89.
Tech honored him before the game with a video on the scoreboard, narrated by Tech radio announcer Wes Durham.
Georgia’s players wore a helmet decal that featured Munson with his headset, along with “1922-2011” and “Hunker Down One More Time,” one of his more famous sayings.
Georgia’s marching band continued the honors by spelling out M-U-N-S-O-N during its halftime routine.
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