Jackets give helping hand to Bulldogs in rout
ATHENS – Georgia didn’t need much help to beat Georgia Tech, but the Bulldogs received plenty. The result was predictable – a 42-10 loss for the Yellow Jackets on Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
Seeking perhaps the biggest upset in the history of the rivalry, Tech turned the ball over twice, botched offensive plays, tackled poorly and gave the Bulldogs generous field position.
The No. 3 Bulldogs did the rest, plowing through Tech’s defense and proving themselves the superior outfit for the 11th time in the past 12 years. It’s the most one-sided 12-game stretch in series history, replacing 10-2 runs that spanned 1971-1982, 1972-1983 and 1986-1997.
The loss brought to a halt Tech’s second-half run in which the Jackets rallied from a 2-4 start with four wins in five games to gain bowl eligibility and a spot in the ACC Championship game. After this dispiriting defeat, Paul Johnson will have to re-train his team’s focus on what could be even a greater challenge – Florida State in the ACC Championship game next Saturday night in Charlotte, N.C.
Tech will play the once-beaten and 10th-ranked Seminoles with a 6-6 record. Georgia (11-1) will likely play Alabama in the SEC championship at the Georgia Dome with a likely spot in the BCS championship game on the line if Alabama stops Auburn later in the day Saturday.
Tech’s chances took a direct hit even before kickoff when A-back Orwin Smith was ruled out with an ankle injury suffered last Saturday in the win over Duke. With Tech’s most productive offensive player sidelined, the Jackets gave more touches to A-back Robbie Godhigh and tried to establish the interior running game with B-backs David Sims and Zach Laskey Tech actually moved the ball effectively – at halftime, the Jackets had 238 yards of offense and were 4-for-8 on third downs. But the Jackets lost the ball on the opening possession when Godhigh was stripped by Georgia safety Bacarri Rambo near the goal line. Rambo intercepted quarterback Vad Lee on a deep ball to A-back B.J. Bostic to end the fourth possession. The fifth possession, the last of the half, was capped by a missed field goal from 36 yards.
The Bulldogs’ offensive line manhandled the Tech defensive front, clearing wide lanes for running backs Todd Gurley and keeping quarterback Aaron Murray safe in the pocket.
Georgia averaged 10.6 yards per play in the first half, scoring four touchdowns in its five possessions before halftime. It didn’t hurt that the Bulldogs’ average starting point on its five drives was just past its 40-yard line.
- Ken Sugiura of the AJC staff
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300 comments Add your comment
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
8:11 pm
The game went worse than I expected, but the result was entirely predictable. For all you Internet geniuses, complete the thought and inform us mortals who we should hire.
Congrats, Dawg trolls. Good luck next week.
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
8:13 pm
GTBob
will you be at this years presentation of the ACC Championship Trophy to this years winning team The SEC
Take The Wheel
November 24th, 2012
8:18 pm
… I know some of you live for this rivalry, but its not the like the sky is falling. We have bigger fish to fry!! forget about all the recruiting disparities and the other non-sense I’m seeing on here. I actually thought our offense moved the ball well. We were just unable to finish some of the crucial drives. I’m sure it became disheartening to continuously have long productive drives that never reached the end zone.
… and lets certainly not negate the fact that uga got away with holding, unnecessary roughness and taunting ALLLLLL DAYYYY! It was like we showed up to a street ball game.
smh.. they’re such a band of thugs. I can totally see why so many of them end up on the nightly news.
Take The Wheel
November 24th, 2012
8:23 pm
Our work is not done. We indeed have bigger fish to fry. We can still be ACC champs and play in the Orange Bowl.
Lets not implode. We need cohesion right now. Dont let this one loss (a predictable one at that) cost anymore than that one game.
Shake it off PJ and team. I personally would appreciate an ACC title and Orange Bowl birth MUCH MORE!! The UGA win will come. Dont beat yourselves or each other up too much. We need the team effort we saw at UNC and again Duke back. That team can compete with the best of them.
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
8:25 pm
Please Tech sign coach Fish Fry to 10 more years
Herschel Talker
November 24th, 2012
8:26 pm
WHERE IS GOLDENROD????? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
42-10. HAVE FUN IN SHREVEPORT.
guy
November 24th, 2012
8:30 pm
Coach Johnson is protected by the media just like obama is.
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
8:35 pm
According to GTBob
The SEC was way overrated
what happened
ramblingbuzz
November 24th, 2012
8:38 pm
The result was predictable but the total domination was hard to swallow. The talent and coaching disparity between the two teams is like night and day.
Georgia game story: Dogs breeze past Jackets with ease, 42-10 | UGA sports blog
November 24th, 2012
8:40 pm
[...] Tech lends Bulldogs a helping hand [...]
ramblingbuzz
November 24th, 2012
8:40 pm
And why do GT ans think the ACC title game will be any different if GT’s defense continues to struggle like they did against UGA?
FrustratedTechGrad
November 24th, 2012
8:41 pm
I honestly didn’t expect us to win, but that was an embarrassment! We’re neither recruiting the talent nor coaching it up. GT is a D-1 school for crying out loud. It’s tough academically, I know, but Stanford’s no picnic. I know people like to complain about the triple option offense, but heavenly days look at the production we get out of it with 2-3 star players. Given CPJ’s surly and acerbic demeanor he’ll struggle to recruit effectively, and it really shows up in the lack of talent on defense.
Woodstockgt
November 24th, 2012
8:41 pm
I defended CPJ and gt a couple weeks ago but I’m beginning to second guess it now. I didn’t expect gt to win today, but at least thought they would compete. I they did neither. Tech is really that bad and the ACC is obviously a complete joke. This should not be the case. I remember back in the late 90 s when Fsu was so good, they always beat Tech, but Tech competed and gave them a fight. We didn’t do either today. The discrepancy between UgA and tech has never been this large. Our defense sucks, and our offense sucks ( only scoring 3 pts against UGA s 1st string defense and its all on CPJ!
dufferdawg
November 24th, 2012
8:42 pm
Take the Wheel….I really don’t want to pile on here…especially since the Tech fan base is doing a pretty good job of that already. But you obviously aren’t familiar with physical defensive football…so I will give you a pass. But UGA wasn’t guilty of unnecessary roughness….just playing extremely hard just as you are supposed to. So don’t hate because your defense can’t play that way. GT truly needs a new coach that can get players excited to play for you. CPJ will never be able to do that….which is why all UGA fans hope he stays.
GT Baller
November 24th, 2012
8:43 pm
You know it has gone really bad when the Dawg trolls don’t even bother to harass us. Most of the Dawg fans on here are giving us sympathy…. Which is more painful than the harassment.
Thanks, Paul Johnson! You have done so poorly tha Dawg fans pity is as opposed to loathe us. No small fear!
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
November 24th, 2012
8:44 pm
Would’ve liked this game to be more interesting but the Dawgs came out blazing. I’m bored with this rivalry now, GT no longer relevant. Time to fire your coach and bring some energy/life to Atlanta.
Jefferson Davis Hogg
November 24th, 2012
8:44 pm
Just an opinion here GT fans and I’m not slamming your offensive system with my comments but high school football players for the most part don’t want to run the TO. They feel like it doesn’t prepare them for the next level. Also defensive players don’t like practicing against it! I spoke with a highly touted recruit recently who is now at Alabama but was recruited heavily by UGA and GT and he told me point blank ” I didn’t want to practice against their offence every day” Both UGA and GT recruit the same players quite often and many of last years UGA class were recruited by GT. I hate to say it, and I’ve even said it about my teams coach, but I think CPJ is your problem. You guys can, and always have gotten a few top notch recruits regularly through the years to be more competitive and still can with the right coach and system…Just my opinion and we all know what they say about those……..Go Dawgs!
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
8:49 pm
Coach Johnson would like to invite everyone to this years annual 2012 “Keep the North Ave Crime Down Fish Fry”
GIVE ME A BREAK
November 24th, 2012
8:53 pm
UGA is as good as MTSU.
billyBobjacket
November 24th, 2012
8:55 pm
Jackets give helping hand to Bulldogs (by hiring and keeping Paul Johnson)
5150, GTBob, Supersize: please tell me again how wrong I am when I say CPJ has got to go. You and George S keep saying he has Tech headed in the right direction, but UGA could have scored 50+ without breaking a sweat today, and we could barely score against the scrubs. Those two wide open pass misses were about the most embarrassing things I have seen.
FrustratedTechGrad
November 24th, 2012
8:56 pm
As a GT fan of almost 40 yrs I’m used to MTSU losses. Those head-scratching losses have become common enough so that they’re no longer unbelievable. During much of my history with the GT-UGA series, I’d bemoan UGA’s seemingly lucky breaks, but they frustrated me only because the game was competitive and often tensely fought. But today was unacceptable. Maybe the new AD will act when he sees all the empty seats next fall. GT will have to find someone else for my four seats. I’m not renewing.
GIVE ME A BREAK
November 24th, 2012
9:01 pm
If CPJ doesn’t beat FSU and then doesn’t win the bowl game, how can he not be fired? This is what he has done after 5 years. This offense can gain yards but that doesn’t translate into points and wins.
billyBobjacket
November 24th, 2012
9:04 pm
I heard Robert Godhigh was looking to kick the crap out of whichever one of his team-mates said something to P!$$ off Alec Ogletree!
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:07 pm
All I’ve asked is for you to tell me who would do better, billybob. That should be a fairly simple question for someone with your intellect to answer.
Smyrna Gold
November 24th, 2012
9:09 pm
@George Stein
Why do you keep asking “Who should we hire?” Heck, we don’t know, not our job but someone is out there and available to give us more bang for our bucks than CPJ. This progran is pathetic and everyone knows it including any honest Tech fan. Even the AD has bailed out and now, until something is done, most remaining fans will bail out.
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:11 pm
Simple, Smyrna. In the absence of a person whom you think would do better and the reasons why, I’m debating a ghost.
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
9:13 pm
George Stein
there are plenty of coaches that would do better than coach fish fry
Gus Malzone and Vandy’s coach for starters
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:14 pm
Gotta give reasons, SEC.
Al Bundy
November 24th, 2012
9:16 pm
Congrats to UGA and the entire SEC on a dominate performance! UGA has the better team and we have a lot of work to do before we can compete with the SEC. We have a coach who is pathetic for a number of reasons. 1. He doesn’t understand how important the GT vs. UGA game is to the state, the alumni, students, and the fans. 2. He puts little importance on defense or special teams because he thinks he can out score everyone. 3. He has zero people skills and comes off as an pompus jerk. 4. He can’t recruit D1 players.
And WnE was right!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’d love to hear WnE’s comments!
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:18 pm
A “dominate” performance? That’s precious.
billyBobjacket
November 24th, 2012
9:21 pm
There must be 15 coaches who would love the Tech location and facilities for the recruiting advantages and would sign for what we are paying CPJ. I don’t care how much of a “genius” he is, as long as we are playing David vs Goliath (or Godhigh vs. Ogletree, which may have been a bigger mismatch than the biblical one), we are in for more long Saturday afternoons like this one. Vandy, Virginia, Louisville, etc. all seem to have hired better coaches with arguably much poorer football environments…
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
9:22 pm
Vandy coach is a good recruiter and would keep players in the state
He has won 7 straight games since UGA pummeled them
He has done a great job at a program that has more limitations than Tech
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:22 pm
Ha! Virginia hired a better coach? The one our idiot beat 56-20? Am I supposed to take your opinion seriously?
billyBobjacket
November 24th, 2012
9:23 pm
Oh, and CPJ’s “bigger fish” just got fried by the Gators. How did that pathetic offense scored 37 on “free shoes”?
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:23 pm
We won three straight before UGA pummeled us. Try again.
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
9:25 pm
The Malzone system would bring in recruits that have passed on Tech due to Coach Fish Frys system not getting players ready for the NFL
Plus Malzone would easily win in the ACC and beat UGA not every year but I can bet he would make the series more competitive
But hey please sign coach Fish Fry to 10 more years; Im certainly glad you’re happy with him
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:25 pm
Can we assume Northwestern is a comparable program to Vandy? Because the genius who can recruit so well lost to them this season.
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:26 pm
Malzahn runs an ACTUAL high school offense. Try again.
Al Bundy
November 24th, 2012
9:26 pm
“pummeled” us? That’s precious!
Smyrna Gold
November 24th, 2012
9:27 pm
@George Stein
Why do you think CPJ should be retained or is the Best coach for Ga Tech. The football program is in a downward spiral and you want to debate the merits of CPJ?
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:29 pm
I’m not arguing one way or the other; I’m open to being convinced, Smyrna. Nice job ducking my question, though.
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
9:29 pm
Try again really?????
I think Malzone won a national title with his offense at Auburn
Tell us what has your wonder coach done in the worst conference in the FBS
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:30 pm
Yeah, I iPad got me. You got me. Congrats.
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:31 pm
I’m pretty sure Cam Newton had something to do with that.
Al Bundy
November 24th, 2012
9:31 pm
Our coach convinced a stupid AD that got us put on NCAA probation to give him a huge contract and 2.6 million per year!
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
9:32 pm
Hey Stein
Here’s an idea Middle Tenn coach would be a great hire at least he knows how to beat Tech by 3 TD’s
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:32 pm
Maybe he isn’t as stupid as you think he is, Al.
George Stein
November 24th, 2012
9:34 pm
But can he recruit, SEC?
Al Bundy
November 24th, 2012
9:34 pm
Sorry, stupid was a bad choice of words.
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
9:35 pm
Stein
I can already tell if Nick Saban were available you would still defend coach fish fry
oh well
as a UGA fan its really exciting to know there are a lot of genius Tech engineer fans like you out there defending the guy.
Please continue to defend him for the next 10 years UGA would love 9 more gimmie victories