Tech loses bragging rights, chance for something special
Look a little different than the end of last year's Tech-Georgia game? The Jackets lost to the Bulldogs, 30-24, and they won't soon forget this. (Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@AJC)
Signs of change were everywhere.
Bobby Dodd’s stands weren’t half-red. Thus, the game didn’t have the usual neutral-site feel to it. Bowl officials didn’t jam the press box. What for? Georgia Tech’s future was fairly simple, and Georgia’s was fairly depressing. The Jackets could be headed to the Orange Bowl, a game with history. The Bulldogs could be headed to the PapaJohns.com Bowl, a game with anchovies. The Dogs even had a temp-Uga on the sideline.
But if the Jackets feel like they just got knocked back in time, there’s a reason.
A year ago, they stunned Georgia at home and tore branches off the sacred hedges. On Saturday, with an eight-game winning streak and a fantasy season unfolding, they fell behind early to the Bulldogs 17-3 and fell short in a comeback. They lost 30-24.
The 12 months of bragging just kicked off from the other direction.
It doesn’t mean Tech can’t win the ACC title. It doesn’t mean the Jackets can’t play in Miami and finish 12-2. But this one will sting for a year because this is one most expected they would win. They were playing a mediocre Georgia team coming off a loss to Kentucky, and it doesn’t get much worse than that.
Tech coach Paul Johnson downplayed the significance of this game earlier in the week. He believes everybody should focus on the big picture, and that picture includes conference championships and competing for BCS bowls, not just bragging rights over big brother from Athens. “I don’t want to leave the wrong impression because I do realize that the game is important and I know for a lot of our fans that this is the game they want to win,” Johnson said. “[But] we want to get to the point where our program is bigger than one game. We want to win the game, but we want to do some other things that just beating Georgia won’t do for you.”
And Johnson’s right. Tech’s season is about more than beating Georgia. But beating Georgia ranks pretty high.
Bottom line: This was the Jackets’ chance to take charge, and they failed.
Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt left the game in the first quarter with a sprained ankle but returned later. (AP photo)
This won’t do much to boost morale in the ACC’s offices, either. The conference’s two championship game entries, Tech and Clemson (to South Carolina), both closed the regular season with losses to SEC rivals.
Tech trailed 17-3 at halftime. It clawed back to within 30-24 in the fourth quarter after a touchdown run by Josh Nesbitt, who keyed the comeback when he returned from an ankle injury. When Georgia’s Blair Walsh missed a 55-yard field goal attempt with three minutes remaining, it gave them one last chance. But a dropped pass by Demaryius Thomas at the Dogs’ 35 ended the final threat.
There was a general consensus that this would be a high-scoring game, with the game’s two defensive coordinators, Georgia’s Willie Martinez and Tech’s Dave Wommack, taking turns absorbing blows like those old inflatable clowns that keep bouncing back up after being punched. (In Martinez’s case, there’s no guarantee he’ll be bouncing back up after the season.)
What nobody figured: At halftime, Tech would be trailing 17-3 and its run-dominated offense — one of the top units in the nation — would be outrushed by Georgia 204-80. (On second thought, maybe it’s Wommack who won’t be bouncing back up.) That kept the Jackets’ offense off the field.
Not only was Tech limited to four possessions, it lost Nesbitt, who might as well be this team’s transmission. When he suffered a sprained ankle with 1:03 left in the first quarter, every projection about this game changed. He tested the injury on the sideline, eventually went into the locker room, presumably for a wonder cure, and returned during the second. But backup Jaybo Shaw ran the next possession and threw an interception, which the Bulldogs turned into a touchdown and the 17-3 halftime lead.
But Nesbitt played Tech’s final possession of the half, not looking full-speed, and then returned strong in the third quarter. He led the Jackets to touchdowns on their first two possessions of the second half (including a 77-yard scoring pass to Thomas). But the Dogs’ responded with touchdown and field-goal drives and held a 27-17 lead. If nothing else, it had turned into the game most expected.
But the end wasn’t what Tech players or fans expected. Last year was about getting attention. This year has been proving their worth. It can still be a great season. But not nearly as great it could have been.
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1,802 comments Add your comment
Harleyman
November 29th, 2009
10:49 am
Love getting my licks in on this blog. But unlike the Techies, most Dawg bloggers will be gone in a couple of weeks and move on to next year, and to more real football rivalries in the SEC.
TCFATL
November 29th, 2009
10:50 am
Dear AJC Sports Staff,
Repeat after me (for use in future career opportunitities):
“Would you like fries with that?”
The AJC is a horrid rag, in a dying business model, with an evaporating circulation.
The reason for that has traditionally been your unexplainable devotion to the wrong political dynamic in Atlanta, in Georgia and nationally. Criminals run in the same circles.
But now that vice has spread from Op / Ed to Sports. Your writers dry humped Tech all season, and trumpeted the Lambda Lambda Lambdas as the big men on campus.
Just look at how shoddy your coverage is today. It’s milk toast. Look at Bradley’s column. Look at Schultz’s column.
Do you guys need a hug?
DawgFan
November 29th, 2009
10:51 am
Word just in……………Ealey and King STILL running. Also, REAL college football comes to Atlanta with the arrival of the SEC. #1 Florida vs #2 Alabama. Tampa hoping to sell 30K for ACC Championship of # 18 Ga. Tech and unranked Clemson. ABC pulls airing of ACC Championship to play Three’s Company reruns in hopes to boost ratings. What a joke! LOL. ACC Football, LOL!
And BTW: UGA 30 Ga. Tech 24. The “Joke by Coke” treated us well AGAIN!
Disgusted in Carrollton
November 29th, 2009
10:52 am
Been a Tech fan 50 years. Couldn’t believe it when stupid(PJ) said “this is not like the Super Bowl” and” one game doesn’t make or break our season.” It’s bigger than the Super Bowl and it does make or break our season. Outcoached,outplayed,and embarrassed as a Tech fan and for the ACC.Number 2 in rushing in the country and he passes 4 straight times with the game right there for the taking.Heard enough about the “genius.”
BitDawgBarking
November 29th, 2009
10:53 am
George Tate
November 29th, 2009
10:09 am
enjoy yore Papa johns pizza dawg boys, HaHaHaHa!
Enjoy turning back into Tech again. The end of the year roll over and spread em has started for the mites.
DawgFan
November 29th, 2009
10:53 am
The post above says it all. UGA is planning for next year with high hopes and always does. Tech doesn’t want this year to pass because they know their success is short lived. Of course they do play in the ACC, so that is always good enough to be bowl eligible. Heck, Vanderbilit would be bowl eligible every year in that conference.
Big Dawg 97
November 29th, 2009
10:53 am
Was anyone really surprised?
The best team won.
I know, you know it and the American people know it.
idiotsinohio
November 29th, 2009
10:54 am
the sad part with this entire BLOG is that we, the UGA fans are now doing what the techies did on the UGA blog for the past year…..rubbing it in. Thank goodness, most of the dawg nation has class and there are only a small minority of morons that don’t get it. Face it ….tech is a good team and so are the dawgs. Go Dawgs!
indianman
November 29th, 2009
10:55 am
saint simon what you going to talk about now that learn you to run your mouth ga 30 tech 24 ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
President Obama
November 29th, 2009
10:55 am
The national political correctness committee has just released this ruling that it is again acceptable to use the term “jackettes” for Georgia Tech football.
Bama Fan in TN
November 29th, 2009
10:56 am
No wonder nobody likes GA fans. Guess what, you are still going to the Pizza Bowl, and calling Tech fans nerds doesn’t really hurt their feelings, it just proves the “would you like fries with that” point.
Dawg Fan 74
November 29th, 2009
10:56 am
Does this mean all of the whiners will stop telling CMR changes are needed?
TradeMark
November 29th, 2009
10:56 am
That’s OK, UGA fans…I guess you gotta feel good about something in your lives…outside of the Pizza Delivery gig and all…
1eyedJack
November 29th, 2009
10:57 am
First down, Washaun Ealey!!
DawgFan
November 29th, 2009
10:57 am
Disgusted: I agree with you. I couldn’t believe with nearly 2 minutes left that Johnson threw 3 hail Mary’s. He was being an ass to be honest, thinking that our poor defense would not stop the passes. He had to throw of 4th down. Johnson is going to kill your team with his superior approach and that if the first pass is incomplete, then throw it again and again. UGA has been poorly coached and stupid penalties and decisions cost UGA a couple of games this year, but Johnson saying he didn’t think they could run it with only 1 time out and not having success in the game up till then was crazy.
OVERRATED!!!!!
November 29th, 2009
10:57 am
YES! Georgia Tech was way overrated! As anyone can see that two middle of the pack SEC teams are easily better than any ACC Champion team!
Sanford Drive
November 29th, 2009
10:57 am
Bama Fan,
Oh please. We’ve been hearing it all year from Techies. We’re just returning the favor. I’m sure no Bama fan has EVER talked smack. Also, bama people don’t reserve the right to use fast food references.
Nesbittch
November 29th, 2009
10:58 am
30-24…it’s OUR TURN jackets! And it isn’t going to get old!
30-24 ——- 8 out of 9 ——– 30-24
DawgFan
November 29th, 2009
10:58 am
Bama Fan, DId you hear the Governors Mansion burned down in Alabama this morning? Right down to the wheels.
Brooks
November 29th, 2009
10:59 am
YELLOWWWW JACKETSSSS
YELLOWWWW JACKETSSSS
YELLOWWWW JACKETSSSS
Tough luck jackets. Reality has set back in and the state is back to where it always will be. Tech is a second tier program that can’t handle getting knocked around and smacked in the mouth. Can’t wait to see how many Tech fans go strutting around town now. Everybody was a Tech fan. Everywhere you looked you saw Tech license plates and sweatshirts. That ACC championship is going to taste sweet now ain’t it. Paul Johnson is no longer the god of all coaches. All he has left is Jaybo and his gold chain. How many F bombs do you think he dropped last night. I’d say around a hundred. All year Tech’s defense was awful. Had to outscore everybody including Vandy. Gave up 31 points to Vandy. What a joke. The Dawgs might have lost a lot of games this year but I would trade everything for the W last night. Priceless-absolutely priceless. Get ready for another L next year and beyond Techies. Dwyer, Thomas, Morgan, Burnett and the rest of Tech’s big timers are leaving. Nesbitt, Roddy Jones, and Anthony Allen won’t beat the Dawgs in Athens. Listen to this Techies- Ealey, King, Marlon Brown, Da’rick Rogers, Orson Charles, Aaron Murray, Branden Smith, and a whole lot of defensive talent coming in. It was good 1 year run. I guess it you beat somebody every year they won’t play you any more. IT’S GREAT TO BE A GEORGIA BULLDOG. STATE CHAMPIONS-AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! 30-24
Bama Fan in TN
November 29th, 2009
10:59 am
Sanford, go dump 70 tons of trash in Athens. You’re still buttsore from that Blackout black-eye.
have you seen him?
November 29th, 2009
11:00 am
Have you seen him?
m
November 27th, 2009
9:50 am
The new name for you whiny crybaby dawgs is the BITTER QUITTERS!!
You all started out bragging about how you were going to stomp Tech and now you have quit ever before the game…earning your new name…the BITTER QUITTERS.
Paul Johnson is going to kick the dawgshiiiite out of y’all and you are going to like it……WHY??? Because you are a bunch of BITTER QUITTERS..
Even your dog committed suicide because he coundn’t stand to watch the ANNUAL STOMPING OF THE DAWGS anymore.
So cry and cry and cry you bunch of BITTER QUITTERS!!!! We are going to laugh at you from now on!!!
High IQ
November 29th, 2009
11:00 am
First and foremost Dave Wommack needs to be FIRED!! Uga played their best game of their miserable season and TECH still had a chance to beat them with their star player injured. We will take a year of bad breath uga fans talking (usually incoherent talk followed by burps) but not matter how good the win feels, TECH will out-rank you at the end of this year and the beginning of next year!
heyberto
November 29th, 2009
11:00 am
I love seeing Tech fans eat Crow.. thank you Bulldogs!!
A Rob
November 29th, 2009
11:00 am
Dawg fans,
Congrats on the win….you guys earned it and took it. Hope both teams finish up with a few more wins, setting up another great offseason and rivalry for years to come. Nice to see the rivalry back. Tough loss for my Jackets, but still some unfinished business despite the loss.
Bama Fan in TN
November 29th, 2009
11:01 am
Har Har DawgFan, still not winners in a real conference, 4-4. Now go brush your tooth and have a good morning working at The Varsity.
have you seen him?
November 29th, 2009
11:02 am
have you seen him?
m
November 27th, 2009
9:19 am
Tony, according to YOUR picks, the sec will have lost the season series with the ACC by losing 4 out of 7. This is the second year in a row (last year was 6 out of 10 for the ACC over the sec in the regular season).
Also, when TECH stomps ugag, TECH will undefeated in the sec this year with a 3-0 record!!
Why don’t you just come out and admit that this bullshiiiite about sec superiority is a MYTH!!!
The sec is the weakest that I have ever seen it in my lifetime…the sec has two decent teams and 10 patsies.
If we had a real playoff with 16 teams, the sec would be exposed for the hyped up weak sister that it really is.
But I hope you all enjoy Saturday nights ANNUAL STOMPING OF THE DAWGS!!!!
Pi$$onaDawg
November 29th, 2009
11:03 am
I am sad and like little boys.
have you seen him?
November 29th, 2009
11:03 am
have you seen him?
Yellow Fuzz
November 27th, 2009
9:55 am
m,
Nice (and appropriate) term for the azzhole dog nation! I like it.
DawgFan
November 29th, 2009
11:04 am
Bama, Let’s see. Love those Shula years. Oh, and I hope you enjoy the Sugar Bowl because that is where you are going again because Florida is going to whip you like a bad boy. Hopefully Bama won’t be the only SEC team that loses their bowl game this year like you embarrassed the conference losing to Utah last year. For goodness sake, Utah beat Ga. Tech in the Emerald Nut Bowl in a baseball stadium a couple of years ago. Please win this time.
dawgs2004
November 29th, 2009
11:04 am
Saint Simons this is for you, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, 30-24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your pest lost.
Brooks
November 29th, 2009
11:05 am
Bama Fan in TN, Bama is going to get their boxes of Tide stole from them next Saturday. You know it too. You are coming on here to make yourself feel better. Sugar Bowl bound and another L to Cincinnati or TCU. Alabama is not a big time team. They will get theirs. Just watch. Let’s talk about Georgia-Alabama games over the last 10 years if you really want to talk smack. GO DAWGS!
DawgFan
November 29th, 2009
11:06 am
Oh and Bama Fan, We know how to be #2 in the nation, that’s where we were 2 years ago in the final standings.
Dawgs OWN the maggots HAHAHAHAHAHA
November 29th, 2009
11:07 am
‘Nuff said.
Maddawg
November 29th, 2009
11:08 am
To the tune of Yech’s fight song….
“I’m glad I’m from Georgia and not from Georgia Yech,
I’m glad I’m a Bulldog and not a Wramblin’ Wreck,
Georgia’s so much better as anyone can tell,
Oh, glory to ole Georgia
And Tech can go to hell !!!”
yech and the ACC are a JOKE lol
November 29th, 2009
11:09 am
Weak a$$ maggots.
hardmanb
November 29th, 2009
11:09 am
Congrats to the Bulldogs, especially the players and coaches. For UGA this was an indisputably great game. The win was clear, no excuses, no questionable calls…a complete and clean win. Richt’s program is completly justified. Bobo and Martinez showed that they can coach and motivate players. Bobo crafted a masterful game plan and called it flawlessly. Martinez showed he could deliver a defense that could stop and frustrate the #2 national rushing offense, and #4 national total offense, and could motivate the players to smother every advantage of an opponent. This was a complete vindication of the coaching staff, and they all deserve raises, contract extensions and consideration for national coaching honors.
DawgFan
November 29th, 2009
11:09 am
BTW: Does anyone know why they replaced the artificial turf at GA. Tech with grass? SO the cheerleaders would have somewhere to graze at halftime.
And Bama, being from Bama and living in Tenn? What happened, did they kick you out? Why didn’t you move next door to Mississippi? I am sure they would have welcomed you with open arms.
Bama, really just kidding. I myself am pulling for Bama. A real team in a real conference. That’s why the SEC has won 3 out of the last 4 NC and 5 of 7.
Get Real
November 29th, 2009
11:10 am
Bama Fan,
Why are you posing? Just own up to the fact you are a Yech fan and you have nothing to say about your own team so you would like to pose as a winner in the truly great SEC.
GT Fan
November 29th, 2009
11:11 am
Yep, we got beat and UGA deserved the win without a doubt. What’s so funny is everyone jumps right back on the band wagon as usual. I have yet to see a real UGA fan who sticks with their team even when they lose! Neither teams had class last night!
superDawg
November 29th, 2009
11:12 am
Nerd herd missing what a great day.Sonny Purdue should declare this spank a nerd day.
GT Fan
November 29th, 2009
11:12 am
The only good teams in the SEC are Florida and Bama!
Ed
November 29th, 2009
11:14 am
St. Simons, WHERE ARE YOU? 30-24! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
30-24 HAHAHAHAHAAAHAAAA
November 29th, 2009
11:14 am
OWNED… again. LMAO
Hal
November 29th, 2009
11:16 am
Bama Fan, you guys just like Tech fans think last years “dominating” wins were worth more than they were. Sure, y’all dominated the first half… but you only won by 11 and even though you knew Stafford had to throw the ball all night you couldn’t stop him. We ran out of time and even Saban said he was glad the game was over.
But all SEC fans rejoice… order is restored or actually affirmed. A combined 101-51 point win including all 3 ACC/SEC tilts yesterday with the 2 ACC CG combatants being embarrassed just makes a SEC fan at heart feel good.
Get Real
November 29th, 2009
11:21 am
GT Fan,
Please do tell who are the good teams in the acc? Waiting with baited breath for this one as it should be one helluva good laugh……………..
BOOGIES THE MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 29th, 2009
11:21 am
AMBER ALERT !!!!!!!! YELLOW FUZZ STILL MISSING………… LAST SEEN IN VARSITY RESTROOM SHAKING HANDS WITH GT Sweet and Low…. Going back to bed… Check back in later..Yall keep me posted………………….
Duke
November 29th, 2009
11:21 am
Saint Simons, we just planted a flag on your field….suck it…30-24
UGA OWNS TECH
November 29th, 2009
11:22 am
Ha ha ha I love it!! We listen to you sorry ass nerds for the last 12 months brag about your first win in 8 years (by 3 points). You all think “the tide had turned”. WRONG!
WE OWN YOUR @ss! (and always will)
30-24 ha ha ha ha!
BugKiller
November 29th, 2009
11:24 am
NOW THESE ARE THE BUGS I REMEMBER!
Because you can’t talk about you guys beating us…
… YOU have to talk about the OTHER TEAMS that beat us!
Just remember… you just LOST to a thoroughly MEDIOCRE SEC team.
That’s right, we KNOW who we are.
WE ARE WHAT WE KNOW WE ARE.
We’re mediocre and poorly coached.
WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT SAY ABOUT YOUR TEAM THEN… THAT YOU GOT STOMPED BY US TO THE TUNE OF 350 RUSHING YARDS???
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
The Bugs can’t take it!
They’re ALREADY cracking! Their whole world of DELUSION is crashing down around them!
If a three-point win last year was “getting stomped” little Bugs, what is a 6-point win by us this year?
A HUMILIATING BEATDOWN!!!
YOU GOT BEAT!
AND YOU CAN’T DEAL
BECAUSE NOW YOU KNOW
THAT YOUR TEAM AND CONFERENCE AIN’T FOR REAL!!!