Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate: Georgia Tech Outmatched in Final Game of 2021

Georgia Tech and georgia met in Atlanta under a cloudless sky for the 115th edition of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate on Saturday. Although the game was played in Atlanta, there was an overwhelmingly large amount of red in Bobby Dodd Stadium, but that was to be expected. It was also expected that Georgia Tech wouldn’t have much of chance to win, with most gambling outlets giving the Yellow Jackets at least 35 points.

On the first play of the game, Gibbs let a kickoff nestle around the five yard-line before finally picking it up and taking it three yards forward. That terrible field position and an aggressive uga defense led to a three-and-out for the Tech offense to start the game. Georgia quickly turned that into great field position and some points, but thanks to a stingy defense and a dropped pass, those points only came in the form of a FG. The bulldog defense held GT to another three-and-out and would quickly take advantage of the stop. Stetson Bennett put together an 8-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to take a 10-0 lead with just under 5 minutes left in the first quarter. The Tech defense gave up another big pass play down the middle and left WR Jermaine Burton pretty wide open in the end zone (if you ask me, there was a bad offensive holding call that the refs missed but... no excuses I guess).

Tech would finally convert a first down on its third drive, but negative plays afterwards led to another punt. This one was almost blocked, but it ended up pinning the dwags inside their own 15-yard line. At the end of the first quarter, GT had 18 yards of total offense, compared to 157 for the bad guys, and the georgia offense was on the move again. A sack by the Tech DL was for naught as uga quickly found the end zone through the air once more. With 13:33 remaining in the first half, uga had pushed the lead to 17. Unfortunately, georgia continued to show its dominance thereafter, forcing another Tech three-and-out after a big sack on first down. David Shanahan was the player of the game early for Georgia Tech, sticking another punt inside the 25-yard line. Two plays later, the Tech defense gave up another big pass play across the middle, resulting in a 77-yard TD pass to uga freshman Brock Bowers. 24-0 with 11 minutes left in the half.

The remainder of the first half didn’t look much different, as Tech’s offense struggled to gain significant yards, and uga continued to outperform in every phase. A few stalled drives by both teams took the ballgame to halftime. After the first thirty minutes, Tech’s offense gained 67 yards and scored 0 points while its defense allowed 24 points and 272 yards, 226 of which came through the air. The bulk of the student section remained in attendance at the start of the second half, so that was good to see, but Jahmyr Gibbs wouldn’t join as he sat the rest of the game. His injury status remains unclear. Unfortunately, the uga offense marched directly down the field (with the help of an untimely PI call on third down) to take a 31-0 lead at the start of the second half. The TD drive took over 5 minutes off the clock and pretty much put the final nail in the coffin. On the next drive, Yates hit Dylan Leonard on a 40-yard pass play down the sideline, but Tech failed to convert a fourth down play that was preceded by a false start penalty. The georgia fans were too loud, causing confusion up front for the Jackets... And that should tell you everything you need to know about this game.

Georgia Tech finished with 0 points for the second straight game and gave up another 450+ yards on defense.

Of all the tough outcomes the second half of the year, this was maybe the most excusable simply because it was against the #1 team in the country. However, it was definitely the most painful for the same reason - the #1 team in the country happens to be that team from Athens. That’s a wrap for football season on The Flats. Some big changes need to be made in the offseason to get the program back on track. We’ll dive into that as the weeks go on.

Until next time. Go Jackets!