Bulldogs Overpower Jackets
Georgia Cruises 38-7, Avenging 2016 Loss and Bolstering Their National Playoff Status
High noon in Atlanta, November 25. Here’s Georgia, 10-1 ranked #7 in the nation. Host Georgia Tech is 5-5 and “ranked” #7 in the 14 team Atlantic Coast Conference. Georgia is looking to take another big step toward a national title. Tech is harboring a faint hope to qualify for a low-level bowl bid. At a glance, these are two teams headed in vastly different directions.
About 3 hours after kickoff, the issue is complete. Truthfully, though, it was settled much sooner than final whistle. For Tech, the game didn’t start well or end well, and in between was shaky too.
Georgia won the toss. Perhaps it was an omen. Tech’s Jerry Howard found odd adventure in Rodrigo Blankenship’s opening kickoff. Howard backed up a bit toward his own goal line, appeared to signal fair catch, then tried to play it on a bounce. He barely controlled it before being swept under by a wave of exuberant Bulldogs. The question now was ball placement–the Tech one-yard line–or a safety? After a big confab (the first of several) the refs decided on a third option–it was pronounced a touchback, giving Tech the ball on its own 25. A nice gift, but not nearly enough to keep this contest close.
Tech gained 16 yards on 6 plays. Following the punt, Georgia moved crisply, using 12 plays to cover 61 yards with Nick Chubb doing the honors from a yard out. The 7 point lead felt much bigger.
Two possessions later, Georgia scored again, Jake Fromm to Javon Wims from 21 yards out. This time, though, Georgia Tech answered with a long drive of their own, moving 75 yards on 12 plays as TaQuon Marshall hit Ricky Jeune for the final ten yards.
Now it was 14-7, and you wondered if the battle had in fact been joined. But you didn’t wonder long. Georgia drove 52 yards using a mere 42 seconds to set up a Blankenship field goal from 37 yards. As the half ended, he nailed it, and in the process nailed Tech’s coffin shut.
Given, the deficit was only 10, with the entire 2nd half yet to play. But Tech had gone scoreless in the 2nd half a week earlier against Duke (Duke!) and now this day they would do that again. Prior to that Duke game, Georgia Tech had not had a scoreless half since 2011. Now they have done it 2 weeks in succession. It was a noteworthy non-accomplishment, one that was emblematic of Georgia Tech’s 2017 season. Yes, they had produced 2 thousand-yard rushers (Marshall and Benson) for only the second time in school history. Yes, they had beaten #17 Virginia Tech only 2 weeks earlier and were undefeated at home on the year. But all season, the team has produced only erratically. This game would be yet another down note.
Today the talent gap between these two programs was on full display. And perhaps worse, the vague malaise that had pervaded the Yellow Jackets performance a week earlier in Durham seemed to surface once more.
And so, Georgia added three 2nd half touchdowns and the score finished out at 38-7. The final tally came on a 78-yard pass play from Fromm to Ahkil Crumpton. More telling, though, was a 4 yard run by Sony Michel in which he easily dispatched two would-be Yellow Jacket tacklers en route to the end zone.
The game ended on Tech’s last possession with a fumbled snap. By contrast, Georgia’s final snap (of their regular season) was taken by Jacob Eason. You might recall his name. Eason was the most sought-after high school quarterback in the nation in 2015. He was Georgia’s starter in 2016. Now he’s a backup to freshman Jake Fromm on a team that just went 11-1, playing for the SEC title next week. That is serious depth on the Bulldog roster.
Yes, these are two teams headed in very different directions.
Yellow Jacket Head Coach Paul Johnson said he was “disappointed and frustrated.” He sounded downright bewildered in trying to explain his team’s lack of consistency. Johnson lauded the Georgia defense, saying “they are really good–news flash,” but he pointed out several missed opportunities for Tech that were costly. In the end, he promised “a long hard look at everything.”
He will have ample time for that. Tech’ s already thin bowl prospects are now in vapor mode, hinging on the remote chance that all bowl slots are filled with teams having 6 or more wins– and that Tech could get a waiver for having their 12th game canceled by Hurricane Irma. Then again, stranger things have happened (see Tennessee and Miami games). It has been that kind of year for Georgia Tech.