Dawgs quickly took all the suspense out of this year’s Tech game

Bacarri Rambo is congratulated by Mark Richt after his record-tying interception. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)

The Georgia Bulldogs set the template for their fourth straight win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Saturday right from the start.

Literally.

Malcolm Mitchell returned the opening kickoff to the Tech 44. Aaron Murray threw a pass to tailback Todd Gurley, who then ran the ball to the 17 on the next play. Another pass to to surprisingly acrobatic big tight end Artie Lynch put the ball at the 3, and then Gurley ran it in for the first score.

Time elapsed: 1 minute, 3 seconds.

The Georgia offense pretty much continued to have its way with the Tech defense until Mark Richt started emptying the bench, but that was only half the winning equation.

The key to beating Tech is defending their pesky triple-option, and Georgia showed how it would do that on the Jackets’ opening drive, too. Tech chewed up yardage and was moving toward the Georgia goal line, thanks in large part to those option pitches, when Bacarri Rambo took matters (and the ball) into his own hands, snatching it away from a Tech player and returning it to midfield.

Tech’s clock-eating offense racks up big yardage, and Saturday was no exception, with the Jackets getting 426 yards (306 on the ground, 120 in the air) and controlling the ball twice as long as the Dogs (39:56 to 20:04). But until the Georgia subs gave up a meaningless TD long after the game had been decided, Tech couldn’t manage more than a field goal.

Meanwhile, the Georgia offense built a big lead early and cruised to a 42-10 win that wasn’t as close as that score would lead you to believe.

There were plenty of heroes in red jerseys.

Gurley ran for 97 yards on 12 carries, Murray completed 14 of 17 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Rambo was a one-man wrecking crew, also snagging an interception that tied Jake Scott’s UGA career record of 16 in addition to the take-away fumble recovery. Alec Ogletree seemed to be all over the field, notching 15 tackles. Christian Robinson had another strong game with 13 tackles (two for loss) and before big John Jenkins had to leave the field he got 11 tackles plugging the middle.

It wasn’t quite the equal of the 51-7 butt-kicking 10 years ago, but Saturday’s domination of the Jackets by the Dogs came close.

All in all, a chilly but gorgeous November Saturday was a complete joy for the Red and Black faithful, culminating with a nice surprise: an on-field ceremony after the game in which Gov. Nathan Deal presented the Governor’s Cup to the winners of the in-state rivalry.

“Keep up the good work,” Deal told the Bulldogs. “We’re looking for a national championship.”

One more win and that will be a distinct possibility.

What a blast this season has been!

Feel free to share your views of Georgia’s latest blow-out win over Tech.

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— Bill King, Junkyard Blawg