On a cold and gray afternoon, Georgia Tech’s 2013 season came to a meek end.
Hoping to win a second consecutive bowl game, the Yellow Jackets were defeated at the Music City Bowl by Ole Miss, 25-17. After driving for a touchdown on their first possession of the game, the Jackets were largely shut down for most of the remainder of the afternoon.
Only a 72-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Vad Lee to Darren Waller and a field-goal drive, accomplished on back-to-back possessions in the second half, interrupted prolonged stretches of offensive futility.
“I don’t think we were ever in sync on offense at all, never really got in any kind of rhythm,” coach Paul Johnson said. “It was just kind of haphazard. We’d hit some plays here and there but nothing to gain any consistency.”
After last year’s cathartic Sun Bowl win over USC which broke Tech’s seven-game bowl losing streak, the Jackets resumed the painfully familiar routine of trudging into the offseason and sending off the senior class with a last full serving of defeat. Since Tech’s 1999 Gator Bowl win over Notre Dame, the Jackets have lost 11 of their past 15 bowls.
“It definitely hurts, especially when you had as many chances as we did to win the game,” A-back Robert Godhigh said.
Tech, ranked No. 4 in the country in rushing offense going into the game at 311.7 yards per game, was held to 151 on 49 carries, a 3.1-yards-per-carry average. This season, five teams ran for more yards on Ole Miss than the Jackets did Monday, all but one of them needing fewer carries than Tech to do it.
The Rebels outnumbered the Jackets on toss plays to the perimeter and were disruptive on the interior running game. Barring the pass to Waller, Tech could not find the antidote to relieve the pressure.
Tech scored on its opening drive, a crisp 74-yard possession in which Lee converted a 3rd-and-11 with a 17-yard completion, for a 7-7 tie. The Jackets then came up empty on their next seven possessions, during which time Ole Miss used advantageous field position and a better-than-expected running attack to take a 23-7 lead with three minutes to play in the third quarter.
Tech got off the mat with a field goal and Waller’s touchdown to rally the Jackets to 23-17 with 13:25 to go. After the Tech defense forced a three-and-out, the Jackets started on their 41-yard line with 11:55 to play. They could move only eight yards before being forced to punt.
The Jackets found hope again when Adam Gotsis blocked his second kick of the game, returning the ball to Tech at its 20 with 4:36 to play. But on the first play from scrimmage, following a false start by Waller, disaster struck when wide receiver Corey Dennis took a lateral from Lee on a reverse, planning to throw to Godhigh, who was open downfield.
However, defensive end D.T. Shackelford was not blocked and chased Dennis back to the goal line, where two more Ole Miss defenders joined pursuit and forced a fumble into the end zone. Right tackle Ray Beno recovered it for a safety and the final eight-point advantage for Ole Miss.
Tech had one final chance, receiving the ball at its 20 with 37 seconds remaining. Under a heavy pass rush, as was the case for much of the game, Lee threw an interception.
It was one last opportunity wasted on a day full of them. Ole Miss kicker Andrew Ritter had one extra point blocked (also by Gotsis), missed a field goal low and had his last try blocked. The Rebels fumbled three times but retained all of them. Tech forced Ole Miss into 16 third downs, but allowed the Rebels to convert seven of them.
“Ole Miss kept us in the game all along,” Lee said. “They were doing some bad things. We just didn’t take it.”
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