Georgia’s 2013 football season was brutally summarized in the span of two plays in the third quarter of Wednesday’s Gator Bowl matchup against Nebraska.
The No. 22 Bulldogs came within inches of recording a safety against the Cornhuskers after quarterback Tommy Armstrong couldn’t handle a high snap. But on the next play — third-and-14 from the half-inch line — Armstrong hit a wide-open Quincy Enunwa down the left sideline for an NCAA-record 99-yard touchdown.
Freshman cornerback Shaq Wiggins trailed the receiver with outstretched arms as if to say “what’s happening?” Freshman safety Quincy Mauger failed to make the tackle at midfield. And just like that Nebraska led 24-12 with 4:58 remaining in the third quarter.
The Cornhuskers made it hold up, and that pretty much summed up the year that was for Georgia — inches away from success, seconds away from disaster. After opening the season with a No. 5 preseason ranking, the Bulldogs’ season ended with an 8-5 record and surely will be unranked when the final polls are released.
It was the seventh game this season decided by five or fewer points, and Georgia was 3-4 in such games.
“We just couldn’t finish,” sophomore outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins said of the Bulldogs’ problems all season. “It seems the worst things happened to us this year at the worst time imaginable.”
Georgia also gave up 73-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-long to lose to Auburn 43-38 on Nov. 16. Opponents entered Wednesday’s game converting 41 percent on third down this season. Nebraska was a relatively tame 4-of-13.
“It’s not an exciting thing to see, obviously,” Richt said of witnessing another colossal defensive breakdown. “… There are other players that made mistakes on that play, but when it happens in the back end it’s monstrous.”
Afterward, Wiggins indicated the Mauger was out of position on the play. But the Bulldogs were in a two-deep zone, and both players should have defended the deep route.
In any case, Georgia didn’t handle the down and distance well. Nebraska offensive coordinator Tim Beck told reporters that the original play call was for Armstrong to run a quarterback sneak. But when they saw how close the Bulldogs’ defensive backs were playing to the line of scrimmage, they checked to a deep ball because they thought they could beat them “over the top.”
It was a devastating play in a tight game.
“When you give up a 99-yard pass like that, you’ve got to play a lot of plays to overcome that,” defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. “That’s seven points for them, that’s field position. It’s at least a 10-point swing. But give our guys credit. They kept playing and fighting, and we had a chance to win.”
Nebraska avenges last year’s 45-31 loss to Georgia in the Capital One Bowl and finishes 9-4. The Cornhuskers were led by I-back Ameer Abdullah, who finished with 122 yards rushing and scored a touchdown. Armstrong, who stepped in when Taylor Martinez went out for the season with a foot injury in Game 4, threw for two touchdowns and had 163 yards.
Quarterback Hutson Mason, getting his second start for the Bulldogs, finished with 320 yards on 21-of-39 passing with a touchdown and an interception. Tailback Todd Gurley finished with 86 yards rushing — 11 short of 1,000 for the season — and added seven receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown.
The Bulldogs still had a chance to win late in the fourth quarter with two possessions deep in the red zone. But four dropped passes — two by tight end Arthur Lynch and two by receiver Rantavious Wooten — contributed to Georgia failing to score points on its last two possessions. Lynch’s drop at the Nebraska 6 on a fourth-down play ended the Bulldogs’ chances.
“There were two plays I could have made to help this team and obviously send the senior class out on a winning note,” Lynch said. “I came up short. … My apologies to my teammates. I felt bad it came down to me and I couldn’t deliver, but these guys are a resilient group, proud of this group.”
Georgia had an abysmal day in the red zone. On six possessions inside the Nebraska 20, Georgia finished with three field goals and one touchdown and failed to score twice. Sophomore kicker Marshall Morgan came through with four field goals.
“Just to go all the way down there and just give it to them on fourth down. That’s a bad feeling there,” said Gurley, who carried the ball five times for 27 yards and caught one pass for 2 yards on the last two possessions.
It was a mistake-filled game for the Bulldogs, played in rain-soaked conditions. The Bulldogs committed two turnovers — a muffed punt return by Reggie Davis and an interception thrown by Mason — and each led to Nebraska touchdowns.
Georgia got the ball twice in the fourth quarter trailing 24-19. Wooten couldn’t hold on when he was hit by Nebraska’s Andrew Green on what would have been a first down on fourth-and-2 at the Huskers 14. Richt decided not to try another field goal and try to get the ball with just under five minutes remaining.
“I really didn’t think about kicking the field goal,” Richt said. “I knew if we made it we could keep the drive going and maybe take the lead. If we didn’t make it, I knew they’d be backed up pretty far and we could play defense and have another shot at scoring.”
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