You can sum up Saturday’s Governor’s Cup game between the Dawgs and the Yellow Jackets with one third-quarter play.
After completing a 40-yard pass that took them to Georgia’s 29-yard line, Tech was about to try and convert on fourth-and-9. The crowd in Bobby Dodd Stadium rose to its feet, roaring.
Unfortunately for the Jackets, the vast majority of those in attendance at their stadium were wearing red and black, rather than gold and blue, so, when they yelled, the home team flinched. A false-start penalty made it fourth-and-14, and an incomplete pass ended Tech’s only meaningful offensive threat of the day.
Of course, by that point, the visitors from Athens already were leading 31-0, and they finished the day with a 45-0 shutout of what brand-conscious Tech coach Geoff Collins has tried to bill as the “home team” of Georgia’s capital city.
Yes, there’s been a #404Takeover since Collins hit town, sporting his Tech blue shirts emblazoned with ATL and sipping from a Waffle House cup, but not the kind of takeover he had in mind.
The visitors from the 706 area code have won all three games played so far in the Collins era, continuing a trend that was well established before the Atlanta area native became the Jackets’ coach.
In fact, Georgia has been victorious the past four games against Tech and has won 10 of the past 12, 17 of the past 20 and 24 of the past 30.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said in his press conference that “it felt like a home game when you looked up in the stands.”
No wonder some Dawgs fans have taken to calling Tech’s stadium Athens West, or Georgia’s home away from home, or Historic Mark Richt Field (in honor of the former Georgia head coach who helped build the string of wins over Tech in Atlanta that now stretches back 22 years).
Highlights of Saturday’s win included the continued amazing exploits of freshman tight end Brock Bowers, who caught a slant pass and then split the Tech defense and outran the entire Jackets secondary on a 77-yard touchdown reception. Later, he went up high to grab another TD pass in the end zone, expertly coming down with one foot in bounds.
Bowers led the Dawgs with 3 catches for 100 yards and the two scores, and now owns the UGA record for receiving yards in a season by a tight end, with 643 on 36 receptions. The old mark was 574 by Orson Charles on 45 catches in 2011. Bowers’ team-leading 652 yards on 37 receptions is the most in a season by a tight end, with at least two games left to play.
All of which puts an exclamation point on how ridiculous it was for him not to have been a finalist for Mackey Award, honoring the nation’s best tight end.
For the day, offensively, Georgia had 208 net yards rushing and 255 net yards passing, for 463 yards of total offense. Tech had 98 yards rushing, 73 yards passing, for a total of 171.
Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett had a fine day, completing 14 of 20 passes for 255 yards and 4 TDs. And that was with a couple of dropped passes.
In the first half alone, Bennett completed passes to nine different receivers. Both his 25-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Burton and the fade in the end zone to Bowers were perfectly thrown.
And, yet, he wasn’t satisfied. “There will be some things to fix,” said Bennett, who completed 65% percent of his passes for 1,985 yards, 21 touchdowns and 5 interceptions during the regular season. “Those two drives right before the end of the half were not good enough. Once we watch the film, we’ll have a better idea of what those mistakes were. It’s always good to go out there and score like we did today. Hopefully, we can carry that momentum into next week.”
Unlike last week, when all four of Georgia’s scholarship quarterbacks got into the game, only three played Saturday. JT Daniels took over with 12:40 left in the fourth quarter and directed the Dawgs on one last, all-run scoring drive, and Carson Beck got in for Georgia’s last drive, running out the clock.
The Dawgs stayed with the running game more in second half, wearing down a Jackets defense that had packed the box against them in the first half. On the ground, tailback Kenny McIntosh led with 66 yards on 2 carries and scored a touchdown on a terrific 59-yard run in which he fought off a Tech defender who had a great angle. Also, there was great blocking by the tight ends to create that hole.
Daijun Edwards was second among Georgia runners, with 43 yards on 6 carries, and he also had a TD, on which he made a very nice cut.
On the defensive side, Georgia held Tech to an average of just 3.1 yards per play, with junior linebacker Nakobe Dean leading the team with six tackles. The Dawgs had 3 sacks.
Tech running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who entered the game ranked No. 1 nationally in all-purpose yardage (163.8 yards per game) had just four touches (for 3 yards) before leaving the game shaken up in the first half.
The Dawgs did give up a bit more yardage on the ground than they would have liked, but keep in mind that we’re grading them on a tough curve based on their own excellence.
And, Georgia had no penalties and no turnovers Saturday.
Still, Smart saw room for improvement. He told DJ Shockley of the Bulldogs radio network that the Dawgs need to work on being able to run the ball between the tackles, and he also thought the run defense was a little soft at times.
On the injury front, receiver-kick returner Kearis Jackson suffered a rib injury in the first quarter and did not go back into the game, though Smart didn’t think it was serious. Left tackle Jamaree Salyer (who aggravated a foot injury in practice) and safety Christopher Smith (still out with a hurt knee) did not dress out, but watched the game from the sidelines.
On the other hand, superstar wide receiver George Pickens, who tore up a knee in spring practice, is back, showing what amazing strides sports medicine has made. Pickens was inserted into the game for several plays, mostly as a decoy, though he did catch one pass. It will be good to have him available during the stretch run.
Overall, Georgia’s defense recorded its third shutout of the year, marking the first time the Bulldogs have blanked three opponents in the same season since 1981.
The Dawgs have allowed just 83 points in 12 games, an average of 6.9 points per game. That’s the lowest total for a season since 1986, when the Oklahoma Sooners, led by linebacker Brian Bosworth, gave up 6.8 per game.
Oh, and, for the year, Georgia has outscored its opponents 488-83. Not too shabby, considering this is a team known primarily for its defense.
While the 12-0 regular season record is a first for the Dawgs, Smart and his players weren’t overly focused on celebrating that distinction.
“I hate to just demean it. It’s a big deal. It’s an honor. It’s great,” Smart said after the game. “But it’s the next step in the process for this group. This group has had a single-minded focus. It never said, ‘Hey, let’s go 12-0.’ It just said, ‘Hey, let’s beat everybody we play.’”
Added quarterback Bennett: “It’s a big accomplishment. But, now the real fun starts.”
Ah, yes, the SEC Championship Game with Alabama looms, and, as linebacker Nakobe Dean put it: “What we have done in this regular season is all good, but it’s always about how we finish the season. If we don’t finish the right way, none of this really matters.”
Looking ahead to the conference championship game in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Smart told Shockley: “We’re not going to make it bigger than it is. It’s a big game. …SEC championships are as hard to come by as national championships.”
Then, he added his typical admonition: “We’ve got to play better than we have in the past couple of weeks.”
Facing Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide again for a championship has some Dawgs fans fearful, but most seem cautiously optimistic. If you compare how the two SEC division champs did against Auburn, the Dawgs won 34-10, with the Tigers having their starting QB playing and Georgia going with its backup. Bama had to come back to nip Auburn 24-22, and took 4 overtimes to do it, with the Tigers playing their backup QB and Bama’s Bryce Young being a Heisman candidate.
Yes, it’s true that Georgia has not faced a passing offense as explosive as Alabama’s so far this season. But, by the same token, the Tide has not faced a defense anywhere near the caliber of Georgia’s.
Of course, we all know how “luck” tends to smile on the Tide (helped along by great coaching and talent). So, until the Dawgs finally do it …
But, if not this year, and this Georgia team, when?
It’s Bama week. It’s SEC Championship week.
