Georgia’s defense hasn’t needed many wake-up calls this year, but the Bulldogs received one Saturday against arch-rival Georgia Tech.
After taking the opening kickoff, the Yellow Jackets shocked the crowd at Sanford Stadium by driving 75 yards on 11 plays for a 7-0 lead.
However, the Bulldogs responded, stifling the Yellow Jackets from there until the offense settled down Georgia cruised to Saturday’s 37-14 win.
“It was definitely a wake-up call. We were definitely disappointed after that drive,” nose tackle Nazir Stackhouse said. “We just had to come together because it wasn’t part of our standard.”
Indeed.
The touchdown was the first allowed by the Bulldogs in the first quarter all year, much to Stackhouse’s chagrin.
“We wanted to end the seasons with no (first quarter touchdowns),” Stackhouse said. “Obviously, that did not work out in our favor, but it’s OK. We’re going to go back in the lab and figure out what’s wrong because we know other teams are going to try and copycat what Georgia Tech was able to do.”
The Yellow Jackets did not accomplish much more offensively after that.
Georgia came in ranked second nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 11.1 points a game. Tech managed 14 points, however, they were limited to just 68 yards on 26 plays in the second half. They finished with 255 yards on 64 plays.
Coming in, Georgia had allowed just nine points in the first quarter this season. In their remaining four drives of the first half, Tech was shut out and gained 112 yards.
“We just had to wake up,” defensive back Tykee Smith said. “It was a noon kick, and it took us a while to get going. That was basically it. Just a lack of execution and getting off the field on third down.”
There was no such problem in the second half.
Georgia limited the Yellow Jackets to just 1 yard in the third quarter and just 68 in the second half.
Highlighting the effort was a series of three straight sacks – with true freshmen Bear Alexander, Marvin Jones Jr., and Mykel Williams contributing one each.
Georgia Tech would score a garbage-time touchdown against Georgia’s second- and third-team units with the outcome already in hand.
“We played much better after the half. We made some adjustments. They did a really nice job. I’ve got a lot of respect for Chip Long, Brent Key, Jim Chaney. Those guys know football. They didn’t just forget football,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “Not only do they know football, but they also know us. That part was good for us to make some adjustments and do some good things and come out and give our offense the ball back."
Like so many teams before them, the Yellow Jackets’ run game never found any rhythm.
The Bulldogs limited Georgia Tech to just 40 rushing yards the entire game.
“We didn’t panic or anything,” linebacker Smael Mondon said. “We just went over the corrections; went over how we were going to fix it and play better.”
