For over 57 minutes, Georgia Tech sat in the driver's seat positioned for its biggest win in multiple decades.

Then Dan Jackson flew in like a possessed demon out for Haynes King's soul, breaking the football from his grasp on a crucial third down. As Jackson forced the fumble and knocked King to the turf, Chaz Chambliss recovered the football and gave Georgia new and sudden life in a game that seemed over.

This allowed Georgia to tie the game up with under two minutes to go, ultimately sending this year's battle of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate to overtime. And in the end, after eight ridiculous overtimes, the Bulldogs came out ahead 44-42.

Jackson's hit was not only the play of the game but the play of the season.

The Bulldogs were down 27-20 at the time, and only had briefly got it to that score after trailing 27-13 late in the fourth quarter. Had the Yellow Jackets picked up a first down on that run, Georgia Tech could have continued to salt the game away.

Instead, the Georgia offense responded, with quarterback Carson Beck throwing a 3-yard touchdown pass to Dominic Lovett to tie the game at 27.

It was a sloppy overtime, with both teams failing on multiple two-point conversions after the second overtime. After stopping the Yellow Jackets on their attempt in the eighth overtime, running back Nate Frazier punched in Georgia's attempt to win.

Georgia trailed 17-0 at the half, 20-6 in the third quarter and 27-13 in the fourth quarter. Behind Beck, with the help of Jackson's big play, the Bulldogs were able to rally and win their seventh straight against Georgia Tech.

Beck's day ended 28-of-43 passing for 297 yards and five touchdowns.

Georgia's defense, however, found it difficult to stop Georgia Tech. King completed 26 of 36 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns, and contributed 24 rushes for 110 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

While Georgia Tech sat in control for most of the game, Georgia found a way to survive and earn its 10th win of the year just before the SEC Championship next week.

If the Mr. Magoo Committee of Morons is a respectable group of college football observers, then Georgia is likely in the College Football Playoff no matter what happens next week.

Georgia will face the winner of Texas and Texas A&M for the conference crown. It would be quite an absurd turn of events to see Georgia punished for reaching the SEC Championship, but nothing seems to be normal with what the committee has shown so far in its prior rankings.

Did Georgia attempt to fix its defensive issues against the run this week?

OK, here's where the hard truths begin.

UMass exposed Georgia to a point where you would have assumed this coaching staff would have drilled the needed fundamental fixes into each of the defensive players' brains.

Instead, much of the same occurred and it was tough for the defense to stay committed to their assignments. Credit Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner for routinely staying a step ahead of Georgia's defensive coaches, which have sorely missed Will Muschamp on the sideline this year.

So what exactly did the defense do in practice this week? Inquiring minds are curious.

Odd decision: Following its first touchdown in the third quarter, and trailing 17-6, Georgia decided to go for two. In theory, a coach does this because they want to give the team a chance to win with a touchdown and field goal while anticipating possessions being at a premium. In the end, this decision -- albeit to no one's knowledge in the moment -- cost the Bulldogs a chance to win this game 28-27 in regulation.

Fortunate pass interference: On fourth-and-goal in the fourth quarter, Oscar Delp drew a pass interference in the end zone, which gave the Bulldogs new life. The play probably could have been called either way, with Georgia on the fortunate sign of things. Two plays later, Frazier punched the ball into the end zone to make it a one-score game.

Jackson's forced fumble: Without Jackson's sack-fumble, Georgia doesn't go to overtime. This was an incredible play at a crucial point of the season.

Offense: C

The offense took a while to get going but also didn't have much time to work due to Georgia Tech controlling the line of scrimmage. In the fourth quarter, Georgia's offense admirably got the the Bulldogs in position to win this game -- again, thanks to Jackson's forced fumble. But once again, Georgia could not establish a run game, amassing only 108 yards on 26 carries.

Defense: D

Jackson's big play moved this grade from F to a D. Outside of that, nothing much changed from last week, which is astonishing. Georgia's trend of missing tackles continued and the defensive front could not slow down the Yellow Jackets' rushing attack. Georgia Tech's 92-yard drive that took six years to complete and resulted in a field goal was as bad as it's been in a long, long time.

Special teams: C

Peyton Woodring has been money all year long but badly missed a 53-yard field goal that would've given Georgia points at the end of the first half. Anthony Evans III muffed a punt that Georgia fortunately recovered. Thorson had another excellent outing as the only player worth the price of admission on Friday.

Offense: B-

Defense: C+

Special teams: B+