Outmanned Tech fights to the end but can’t finish the drill
One guy coached a winning game. The other coach won. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Athens – Give Paul Johnson a couple of months and he could take the remaining Rolling Stones and have those geezers rushing for 300 yards a game. Say what you will about the man, but he can coach the heck out of what he has. At issue Saturday night was whether he had enough.
There aren’t many coaches who can outdraw Johnson with the X’s and O’s, but the game, as we’re constantly reminded, isn’t played on a whiteboard. It’s played by real-life players. And Johnson’s Jackets lost to Georgia here Saturday not because they didn’t play hard or well but because in the end they just weren’t as skilled. Try as they might, and they tried mightily, they could never take the lead.
If anything, Saturday’s game showed us how clever Johnson is. He bled 512 yards out of an offense missing its best player. Tech held the ball for 38 minutes and 14 seconds, ran 92 plays to Georgia’s 48. And even at the end, when the Bulldogs appeared to have scored the clinching touchdown, they looked up and realized the old fox on the far sideline had one-upped them again.
As Johnson said, allowing Georgia to score was “the only way we could win the game.” And rather than alert its players to the possibility and advise them to get a first down and then fall on the ball, the Bulldog staff was caught unawares.
“We didn’t coach very good there,” Mark Richt said, speaking of Washaun Ealey’s 20-yard touchdown run with 1:29 remaining that put Georgia up eight points. “We got outcoached right there. It was good strategy by Coach Johnson. I thought when it happened, ‘He got us there. He got me.’ ”
It was that kind of night. Georgia won the game but left the distinct impression that it had gotten away with one. Johnson’s Jackets messed up early and often and still were one drive from winning the thing. (And then, one possession later, one drive from forcing overtime.)
Tech fizzled twice early — getting stopped on fourth-and-2 at the Georgia 19 after recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff, fumbling inside the 10 not five minutes later. And here came the Bulldogs, seizing a 14-point lead that at the game’s outset seemed like twice that much. But back came Tech, back on the strength of those two Johnson staples: A running game and a sheer stubbornness.
Even the hardiest of Jacket backers were dreading this strange game, in which the team with the lesser record entered favored by two touchdowns. Georgia clearly has better players than Tech, and without quarterback Joshua Nesbitt there are moments when it seems Tech has nothing at all. And yet the visitors kept fighting after falling behind by those two touchdowns, and soon it was apparent that the team lacking its best player wasn’t lacking in guts.
It was 14-all with one minute left in the first half, 21-all with a minute left in the third quarter. And this wasn’t because Tech was playing letter-perfect football; on the contrary, it had taken three Georgia turnovers and gotten nothing from them. And still the game was tied, the underdog having become the aggressor, the Bulldogs looking as confused as they had all season. (Which, given how the season had gone for Georgia, was saying something.)
Late in the third quarter Tech was driving to take the lead when Roddy Jones fumbled. Georgia nosed ahead on Washaun Ealey’s touchdown burst on fourth-and-goal. Then Tech fumbled again, quarterback Tevin Washington pitching to Jones as the Tech back was about to get splattered, and the resulting loose ball was taken for a touchdown by Georgia linebacker Justin Houston.
Another two-TD lead for the home side, this with barely a quarter to go. Surely there was no responding from this, not with the redoubtable Nesbitt a spectator with his broken arm. But doggone — no pun intended — if the Jackets didn’t surge to one touchdown and then, beggaring belief, another. With 4:56 remaining, the Jackets were within a point of even.
And Scott Blair, who hadn’t missed an extra point all season, missed the extra point. And surely that was that. But no. Georgia didn’t lose six times by its ability to deliver under pressure. The Bulldogs moved within field-goal range, chose to go for it on fourth-and-1 and saw Aaron Murray fumble the snap. At last Tech had its chance to take the lead.
And it couldn’t manage a first down. Tevin Washington was dropped for losses on first and second down, threw incomplete on third and fourth, and the Jackets had to be done, didn’t they? But Johnson pulled his let-’em-score trick and still his Jackets kept coming, flying across midfield with 45 seconds left. And then finally it was done, Washington delivering an interception.
Georgia had won and rendered itself bowl-eligible, but the lasting memory of this game won’t be of the Bulldogs and their escape: It will be of Johnson and his Jackets and how close they’d come with all their fumbling and without their No. 1 quarterback. It will be of the coach with the lesser players forcing the Bulldogs to the brink. If Paul Johnson can ever recruit similar talent on a consistent basis — admittedly, it’s a big if — Tech won’t wind up 6-6 again anytime soon.
“I wish I could have found a way to help them win the game,” Johnson said, speaking of his players, but he’d done all any coach could do. He’d put them in position. His undermanned team just couldn’t finish the drill.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
859 comments Add your comment
superDawg
November 28th, 2010
12:03 am
GT WON This Game look at the score board.I don’t think so nerd.
saint simon
November 28th, 2010
12:03 am
Worst team at tech in 15 years, and you guys eke it out. Congrats dogs.
PS: keep grantham, he only gave up 500 yards.
WE STILL OWN TECH
November 28th, 2010
12:03 am
UGA BEAT TECH BOTTOM LINE D BAGS
Paul Johnson
November 28th, 2010
12:04 am
Mark Richt, Please take the Miami job because I am tired of get out coached by you. The first year I was just lucky but now I know that you own me and my high school offense.
dawgfan
November 28th, 2010
12:04 am
Paul In RDU,
I didn’t realize I said Grantham was the head coach at UGA. I thought I said he was 1-0 vs. Georgia Tech, which he is. Even slick Willie pulled to .500 against the great Paul Johnson. Kind of makes you wonder what all the hoopla is all about doesn’t it?
saint simon
November 28th, 2010
12:04 am
congrats dogs, you beat our worst team in 15 years
Chick
November 28th, 2010
12:04 am
Mark, not to get rumors started but any thoiughts on Richt’s status and possible Miami job?
GT65UGA89
November 28th, 2010
12:04 am
How the mighty have fallen …seriously. Not talking smack ~hard to do that when your team loses~ just telling it like it is. UGA fans now get ridiculously excited by beating a mediocre GT team at home.
I said it back at the end of 2008 and I will say it now, UGA’s better days under Mark Richt are behind them ~long behind them now. UGA is now a second-tier team in the SEC, and things will never get better until a coaching change is made. Based on talent, UGA should have won this game by 17-21 points, yet if not for two costly fumbles, tech comes out on top in this one. A team with it’s second string QB just ran for 411 yards against UGA at home.
As for Tech, 6-6 is two games under what my expectations of 8-4 were for the season. I thin things will be better at Tech next season, 9-3, 10-2 and competing for another ACC title and BCS bowl. Need a playmaker or two to step up on both sides of the ball in 2011.
Dawgs
November 28th, 2010
12:04 am
the refs even SPOTTED you 14 pts. Even the refs couldn’t give you the game this year. hahahaha
Drivin and Cryin back to the Ghetto
November 28th, 2010
12:04 am
Fact is: We should have scored 3 more TD’s but we fumbled we almost gave u the game and you still lost.
Mark Bradley's cousin and superDawg's lover
November 28th, 2010
12:05 am
Would you Thuga fans really pay money to see your pathetic team in a bowl game? If so, you must be really hard up for cheap entertainment. Then again, it wouldn’t be entertaining.
Slick
November 28th, 2010
12:05 am
I keep hearing from Bradley (and other media) how much of a genius CPJ is and yet he’s lost 2 of 3 to UGA. Channeling my inner Spurrier – they got this great coach, I don’t know what happens to him.
Wow...
November 28th, 2010
12:05 am
Can someone please explain the “nerd” thing? What does that mean, and how is it insulting? . Anyone who is on their computer at midnight on a Saturday needs a good excuse. I am getting up in 5 hours to fill my boat with Redfish, what is everyone else’s excuse?
THWG
Drivin and Cryin back to the Ghetto
November 28th, 2010
12:05 am
Congrats Tech you lost to the Worst Georgia team in 15 years
Burgess
November 28th, 2010
12:05 am
Dang, MB…I would think a better game coach could come up with at couple of passing plays that may work.
saint simon
November 28th, 2010
12:05 am
Richt is gone, which sucks cause he is dumb as rocks compared to CPJ. I hear Ray Goff is looking…
bood sam
November 28th, 2010
12:05 am
hudlems drunks thugs win a lot of ballgames
GT65UGA89
November 28th, 2010
12:05 am
To Hell With Georgia
…from a UGA grad
MiamiJacket
November 28th, 2010
12:06 am
Randy shannon just got fired at UM. Word down here is that Mark Richt is at the top of the wish list of UM. That could be CMRs last UGA vs. Tech game.
still a dawg fan
November 28th, 2010
12:06 am
If coach bobo made that call for a running play on our last TD instead of taking a knee then he should be fired.We didn’t need a TD,all we had to do was take a knee & run out the clock.Instead we gave GT a chance to tie the game.What a COACHING BLUNDER.
dawgfan
November 28th, 2010
12:06 am
Bradley, “a game coach?” Mmmkay, whatever the hell that means. Here’s what the games say:
Richt 2 Johnson 1
But congrats to Johnson for being a better “game coach.” He should get “game coach” of the year, if anybody knew what the hell Bradley was talking about.
Navigator
November 28th, 2010
12:06 am
Johnson has too big of an ego, like letting UGA score at the end to get the ball back. Any other coach would have accepted the mistake that caused the loss and walk away with a better effort than anyone thought possible. But that left a bad taste as a fan, and the failure to have a competent passing attack to set up the run hurt at the beginning and the end. He made judgment mistakes just like the players did, and the defense (for the whole season) couldn’t stop any decent passer, and it cost them the game (again).
Akita Dawg
November 28th, 2010
12:06 am
I’m tired of all this crap. UGA beat Tech again. Mark Richt is 9-1 against the insects. Tech had a better record going into this game than Georgia and once again lost (like last year). Tech ran almost 100 plays, georgia ran 40 plays and Dawgs still won. Everyone wants to complain about Grantham, yet Al Groh’s defensive gave up 35 points in 40 plays. No Georgia is not a very good team this year, but they beat the so called Genius Paul Johnson once again. Georgia faces an option team once a year, beats them 2 years in a row and people complain. Tech’s got some serious issues. Johnson’s teams aren’t getting better. The gimmick is over. If he doesn’t modify his offense, he’ll lose even more years to come. Bottom line, Tech LOST. Even if they make the extra point, Georgia is knocking at the door with less than 3 minutes left. Georgia was easily in Walsh’s range to win it. The extra point is probably irrelevant. When Tech had to pass they looked like a single A High School Football team. Get real folks!
atltiger15
November 28th, 2010
12:06 am
all these top 5 recruiting classes, and all the dawgs can do is win 6 games, seriously
BUZZ ME
November 28th, 2010
12:06 am
FACT: You beat us with our back-up QB
FACT: Crime Dawg fans are delusional
Burgess
November 28th, 2010
12:06 am
Anybody else notice, how in less than a season….Gailey has Buffalo competitive ?
saint simon
November 28th, 2010
12:07 am
Congrats dogs, our worst team in 15 years put 500 yards on you with a backup freshman QB… I can see you guys in top 5 of SEC East next year. easy.
superDawg
November 28th, 2010
12:07 am
Our D was suspect but in the end they WON the game.
Dawg-Ed
November 28th, 2010
12:07 am
Mark —
Your piece is a shining example of purely arbitrary expectations.
Paul Johnson loses a close game — in which in his team makes some bonehead mistakes — and he’s a genius. If Mark Richt had lost because his kicker couldn’t hit a PAT, then you would (further) call his job in question, pointing out that a missed PAT is obviously a sign of poor discipline and sloppy coaching. And one of the big Tech mistakes you cited was simply a good defensive stand by UGA (one of the few we had all night, btw).
Yes, yes, we all like CPJ’s candid way with the media, which be refreshing for you. Even as a Dawg fan, I enjoy his bluntness, a perishing art-form that used to be essential to winning college football games. (Check any of the Bear’s shows after a loss.)
But how long are you going to keep the bar so low? CPJ coaches at Georgia Tech, not Georgia State. If Boise State can get athletes, why can’t Tech… in a talent-rich South? Tech’s program will never really permanently step up to the next level until Tech’s expectations step up to the next level. The big question for Tech is has CPJ chosen/inflicted a philosophy/strategy that will protect Tech from being miserable, but never really enable it to be more than just an occasionally over-achieving underdog?
Now — with all of that said — let us hope that UGA will bounce back next year, as it has done a couple of times under CMR. If not, expectations will not be nearly as forgiving as they are at Tech. It’s not enough that our coach is smart and principled, which CMR is. He needs to win 10 games a year, or our Jacobin wing will run him off for flavor-of-the-month.
Don’t get me wrong, Mark, I think you called Tech and UGA really well this year. But this end-of-the-semester-man-crush-confession was not your best observation… nor a favor to the Tech program.
titanium_UGA
November 28th, 2010
12:07 am
very impressed with the tenacity of tech.they clearly wanted this game more,but just didnt have the guns to get it done.god win for uga in an otherwise frustrating season.i hope the uga defense can learn the 3-4 better in the off-season.always good to get a win over the in-state rival!God-Bless!
WE STILL OWN TECH
November 28th, 2010
12:07 am
9 OUT OF 10! do i need to tell you what the record will be next year? 10 OF 11 WHOOOOOO!
Dan
November 28th, 2010
12:07 am
((((42-35))))
atltiger15
November 28th, 2010
12:08 am
D has been suspect all year, some things never change even those coaches change….hmmm
superDawg
November 28th, 2010
12:08 am
TUCK FECH!—— NUFF SAID!!!!
Drivin and Cryin back to the Ghetto
November 28th, 2010
12:08 am
Fact is: Tech runs 2 plays
Grantham knows what to expect and will own you again next year
Fact is: There were about 40 Div 1 prospects there that saw a hell of a game that alot of them will pick georgia becasue they want to go to a great academic school that is the best college town in america and a top tier football team with a coach with integrity.
saint simon
November 28th, 2010
12:08 am
9 out of 10 or 9 out of 13?
Mark Bradley's cousin and superDawg's lover
November 28th, 2010
12:08 am
ESPN just announced that they have lost their contract with the SEC. Too many people called in to their cable providers during the game to cancel their subscriptions. To keep their viewers ESPN management has agreed to not show Georgia games until 2025.
dawgfan
November 28th, 2010
12:09 am
Good point Akita. Georgia Tech had a better record than us coming in to this game. They were ranked higher than us in the preseason. Yet Johnson apologists like Bradley and all Techies act like it was an epic act of heroism that they even stayed in the game with us. Its like this every year when we beat them and its the biggest pile of BS I have ever seen.
yellow fuzz
November 28th, 2010
12:09 am
saint simon really our worse team in 15 years beat you BEST team in 20 last year …ACC champs.
..UGA ..I think that trumps 500 yards offense don’t you?
Great win!!!!!!!!
November 28th, 2010
12:09 am
We needed this!!! Love it!!!! We beat Tech’s biggity ass! Nuff said? Its Sat nite….ummmmm sunday now….Lets party!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UGAgrad
November 28th, 2010
12:09 am
We won.
WE STILL OWN TECH
November 28th, 2010
12:09 am
HEY TECH FANS STOP TALKING YOUR NOTHING TO US AND NEVER WILL BE, 9 OUT OF 10!
atltiger15
November 28th, 2010
12:09 am
tech ran 2 plays and put 34 on the board. What does that say for the players and coaches for the dawgs..not much
DantheDawgFan
November 28th, 2010
12:10 am
FACT: Georgia has won 9 of the last 10 vs. Tech.
FACT: 42-34
saint simon
November 28th, 2010
12:10 am
UM hires Richt, grantham becomes HC… Please god let it happen…
Only worse game coach than richt is grantham… Did you see those halftime adjustments? Me neither…
Paul Johnson
November 28th, 2010
12:10 am
I wish I could teach QB’s how to play the position as well as Mark Richt.
Athens
November 28th, 2010
12:11 am
As a UGA grad I applaud you, but tonight was not your night. We still own you.
saint simon
November 28th, 2010
12:11 am
UGA preseason #3 this year LOL
HelluvaEngineer
November 28th, 2010
12:11 am
it is astonishing to note how uga fans *continue* to hold a grudge based on an event that happened *two* years ago when *one* gt fan came on the ajc boards and made an arse out of himself. the fact that this one event drew so much ire that TWO YEARS thereafter, uga fans want to thump their chests. this shows, if nothing else, far too many people have far too much time on their hands!
Drivin and Cryin back to the Ghetto
November 28th, 2010
12:11 am
Did you see Tech run more than 2 plays?
Me Neither.
Did you see Tech’s QB try to pass the ball?
Me Neither.