Dogs Awaken To Trample Tech
Top-ranked UGA Finds Its Second Half Stride In A 37-14 Home Win
For a while, it was a ballgame. Georgia Tech stung Georgia with the first score, and from there the Dogs had to scrap a bit to create a meager 10-7 halftime lead. Unlike the past several editions of this recently lopsided rivalry series, the outcome of Saturday’s game remained in question for a spell.
Then in the 3rd quarter top-ranked Georgia took proper advantage of a few gift-wrapped opportunities to pull away from the visitors in the fashion expected for a 36 point favorite.
The notable irony here was that in this game, from Tech’s perspective, finally “progress was being made”. Those words will forever echo in the memories of Tech fans who lived through the Geoff Collins era on the Flats. Week after week, year after year, he insisted that his team was making progress. Collins had uttered that phrase again last year, even after a 45-0 pasting by Georgia in Atlanta, in a game which literally could have been twice as one-sided had Kirby Smart so desired. Accordinly, deep inside Saturday’s outcomAccordingly, perhaps a faint glimmer of hope for the Tech crowd. The huge gulf that exists between these two programs might not be quite as large as the blowouts suffered by Collins since 2019 had led us to believe.
Even so, the team in Red had a massive advantage in talent and resources, and all of that came to bear in the second half. The Dogs scored 27 straight points before allowing Tech a 4th quarter score on a trick play to bring the final margin to 37-14. That last score didn’t make the oddsmakers happy, grantors of a 36 point spread. But it was likely sufficient to pacify any college football playoff voters who might have been tempted to hammer Georgia had the Dogs not hammered Georgia Tech.
Saturday afternoon was a fine day to celebrate Senior Day for the Dogs. But Tech scored first and then threatened to score again. They lost that opportunity when TE Dylan Leonard dropped a pass over the middle as he was galloping ahead, moving deep into Georgia territory. Tech was thus unable to extend their lead, and so they lost a small chance to make Dog fans- and maybe players– worry a bit. Instead, Georgia tallied 10 points of their own to go up 10-7 at half.
In the second half, those bigger Tech mistakes handed Georgia some easy chances. There was a poor snap on a punt that gave Georgia the ball deep in Tech territory. Then a fumble by RB Jamie Felix turned the ball back over to the Dogs. They did what good teams do– they scored.
With Tech’s 2nd half struggles, the game stats began to reflect Georgia’s overall superiority. Each team had one turnover and each team had 6 penalties. But Tech managed only 40 yards rushing on some 26 carries. By contrast, Georgia netted 264 yards on the ground. And the Dogs defense tallied 12 tackles for loss. That is football superiority in its very essence.
Georgia thus wrapped up another perfect regular season at 12-0. They take on LSU on Saturday in Atlanta in the SEC Championship game.
Georgia Tech finished at 5-7 with only a miniscule chance for a bowl invite, based on the sad fact that there are not enough 6 win teams out there to fill all available backwater bowl slots. That said, 5-7 is a high- water mark for Tech since the end of the Paul Johnson era in 2018 when the Jackets went 7-5( thought at the time to be mediocre). Indeed, a 5-7 record in 2022, with 4 of those wins coming under the leadership of interim coach Brent Key, has some Tech fans ready to hand him the job. Only time will tell on that, but it’s undeniable that Key got far more actual progress — the good kind, that everyone can see– out of this Tech team than did Collins who was turned out after a 1-3 start.
Thus begins another interesting post- season for both these teams. In only one case is the post-season a happy occasion. That would be Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs, who have a strong shot to repeat as national champs. Georgia Tech on the other hand, is trying to find the best candidate to lead the Jackets out of the sad mess they’ve been mired in for 4 seasons running.
It’s demonstrably difficult to repeat as national champion. But given present circumstances, Georgia’s immediate goal may be the less daunting of the two .
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports.com