Dogs Maul Tech in Dominant Display

Georgia Tech Falls 45-21 In Athens To An Impressive Bunch Of Bulldogs

In retrospect, it’s easy to see where things went bad for visiting Georgia Tech in their annual match-up with Georgia , 2018 edition. It was when UGA received the opening kick. That was the moment. From there things just snowballed on Tech.

Georgia took their first possession and smoothly moved 75 yards on 9 plays, scoring on a 5 yard toss from QB Jake Fromm to WR Riley Ridley. The drive included an almost beautiful blend of running and passing. The process was coldly efficient. No pass fell incomplete. No run failed to gain. It took 4:37. Rodrigo Blankenship made the PAT and Georgia had a 7-0 lead.

Then they did it again. And again.. And once more. And then once more after that. The first five possessions in the first half ended in touchdowns for Georgia. Tech’s beleaguered defense finally found a modicum of relative success on the Dogs 6th possession, holding them to a field goal as the half ended. Kirby Smart would later say he was unhappy that the Dogs’ 2 minute offense had failed to score. "Some people don’t know when to get out of bounds", he said, referring to his TE Isaac Nauta. The dwindling seconds of the half thus necessitated a field goal try, which Blankenship banged through from 25 yards out.

Smart’s take on this moment was telling. By that point the contest was no contest at all . It had become a glorified practice drill for his Dogs, disguised as a rivalry match. Of course, part of Smart’s job is to be dissatisfied with something, though he had to work at it in this case. His Bulldog offense had scored on all 6 first-half possessions , producing 38 points. They gained 343 yards, with a near exact 50/50 mix of running and passing. They had no turnovers.

Georgia Tech’s only first-half score–really their only offensive thrust of any sort– came from Juanyeh Thomas. For the second consecutive week, the Tech freshman returned a kickoff for a touchdown This 100-yard effort came after Georgia’s second TD and gave Tech a glimmer of momentary hope. That moment quickly passed when the Bulldogs reciprocated with yet another machine-like drive to hike their lead right back to 14 at 21-7. When the first-half clock mercifully ticked down, the Dogs headed to the locker room up 38-7. There were plenty of statistics to document Tech’s overall first-half futilty. Here’s just one that captures the theme–Georgia had more touchdowns (5) than Tech had first downs (4).

The game didn’t look much different in the 3rd quarter. The Dogs added 7 more points, while Tech scored none. Were this a boxing match, it would have been stopped here, if not before. The Yellow Jackets kept working , though, and they did score twice in the 4th quarter to make the final score a tad more respectable at 45-21. But no one who saw the game was overly impressed by the slightly leaner margin of victory. Long before the final whistle, Smart had literally called off the Dogs. Back-up QB Justin Fields subbed out Fromm after Georgia pushed the score to 45-7. Fields got to try 3 passes, and ran the ball a few times as Smart waited out the game looking to avoid injury ahead of the big game Georgia has next week against Alabama.

Want more evidence of Tech’s misery by the end of the 3rd quarter? Try these numbers : Georgia 401 total yards gained, Tech 103. …Georgia 13 of 16 passing, Tech 0 of 5. And perhaps worst of all, Tech’s nation-leading ground game (353 yards/game) had generated only 103 yards on 39 carries, accounting for a paltry 7 first downs.

On the Jackets’ first possession of the game , when they lined up to try to convert a 4th and 1, a motion penalty pushed that challenge to 4th and 6, prompting Paul Johnson to switch stategies and punt. That was a penalty acting as a turnover of sorts. But this was not a day where Tech was done in by turnovers (0), or penalties (2) or coverage issues in special teams.

Tech simply could not get any traction out of its running game. None. And since their offense is entirely based on that, there was no place to go. Yes, they can occasionally throw the ball effectively, but really only successfully when there’s an element of surprise. When the world knows they have to throw, things can get ugly fast. As in, 3 sacks, 9 tackles for loss by Georgia on the day. Paul Johnson spoke to this post-game "Our offense needs to possess the ball for us to have a chance." On this day, against a broadly superior defense, his offense was lost, as was any faint chance at an upset.

That the Yellow Jackets kept fighting is testimony to their fortitude. Their two 4th quarter scores were but bland salve for the domination they had experienced. Watching Qua Searcy punch in Tech’s second touchdown of the day brought to mind his dramatic game-winning score here in 2016, Smart’s first year at Georgia. Coincidentally, that Tech victory was the last time Georgia has lost at home. Only 2 years later, the talent difference on the two rosters seems striking. Of course, the talent gap between Georgia’s roster and many other teams has also widened. That is testimony to Smart’s ability to identify, procure and develop the type of players he wants to help him accomplish what he wants to accomplish.

Speaking of which, next up for Georgia is the SEC Championship game in Atlanta next week against Alabama. The Dogs have been looking forward to this opportunity since their overtime loss to Alabama in last year’s CFP championship game. Georgia will likely be a slight underdog going into that game, but not if Tech folks were making the odds.

Georgia Tech finishes its 2018 regular season with a 7-5 record, good for 2nd place in the ACC Coastal division. That’s about where they were pegged, though few could have foreseen them beating Miami and Virginia Tech but falling to South Florida and Pitt. Tech will get a bowl bid shortly. They did not go bowling last year, so this situation is extra-welcome , especially by the senior class who would prefer a prettier exit scenario than the one they experienced here in Athens on this cold Saturday in late November.

Captions:

1) Georgia Coach Kirby Smart accepts congratulations from Governor Nathan Deal as he presents the Governor’s Cup to UGA again this year.

2) Tech’s Brad Stewart goes high to pull down a touchdown pass from TaQuon Marshall in the waning seconds of the game.

3) Tech’s Qua Searcy scores from 3 yards out late in the 4th quarter. Searcy scored a more dramatic touchdown here in 2016 to lift the Jackets to victory that day.

4) Georgia’s offensive line afforded Fromm excellent protection all day, helping him connect on 13 of 16 passes for 175 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Patrick Conarro