UGA Football: Georgia vs. Ga Tech – Postgame Notes

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Bulldogs Storm Back To Force Overtime And Win It 44-42 In SEC/School Record 8th OT:

  • The No. 7 Bulldogs played their 16th overtime game in school history and are now 9-7 including 2-2 against Tech. The Bulldogs are 2-2 in OT games in the Kirby Smart era. Tech won the toss and chose defense. Georgia scored a TD on a 14-yard pass from Carson Beck to London Humphreys to finish a four-play drive and take its first lead of the night. Tech answered with a TD to make it 34-all. In the 2nd OT, Tech scored another TD and then failed to convert the two-point try to take a 40-34. Georgia responded immediately with a 25-yard TD pass to Cash Jones. The two-point conversion attempt failed to force a third OT at 40-all.
  • Neither team converted in the 3rd or 4th OT. In the 5th OT, Beck converted with a pass to Dillon Bell for a 42-40 lead and Tech answered with a conversion. In the 6th OT, senior Dan Jackson sacked Hayes King. Georgia did not convert its attempt. In the 7th OT, Georgia did not convert on a Beck keeper. Following a pass interference penalty on Smael Mondon, Tech was stopped to force the 8th OT.
  • In the 8th OT, Tech did not convert with heavy pressure by CJ Allen. Georgia converted as freshman Nate Frazier ran in for a 44-2 victory. It marked the longest OT game in Georgia and SEC history.
  • Before tonight, Georgia and Tech went to OT in 1999 (51-48 Tech in Atlanta), 2013 (Georgia 41-34 in Atlanta) and 2014 (Tech 30-24 in Athens).

Huge Comeback Victory Matches Biggest Deficit Overcome In Smart Era:

  • Tonight, Georgia fell behind 17-0 in the 2nd quarter and trailed 20-6 in the 4th quarter before rallying back. In the Kirby Smart era, Georgia trailed by 17 in the first half against No. 2 Oklahoma in the 2018 Rose Bowl (31-14) and rallied for a 54-48 win in double overtime. The largest second half deficit under Kirby Smart had been 14 to No. 4 Ohio State in the 2022 CFP semifinal in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta entering the 4th quarter (38-24) when the Bulldog stormed back for a 42-41.

Bulldog Senior Class Gets 52nd Win:

  • With tonight’s 44-42 victory, the 2024 Senior Class is an FBS-leading 52-4, adding to its school record.
  • Home Winning Streak At 31: With the win over Tech, seventh-ranked Georgia (10-2) now has won 31 consecutive home games dating to 2019, which leads in FBS and improves on its school. In the Kirby Smart era, the Bulldogs are 50-4 at home with six straight undefeated seasons at home and seven in his nine years at the helm. With its latest win over Tech, Georgia improves to 72-39-5 in the series including 7-1 under Smart as the Bulldogs retained the Governor’s Cup Trophy. Also, tonight marked the first time since 1994 that the teams battled on a Friday. Also, Georgia now has won 26 consecutive non-conference matchups and are 38-2 against those teams under Smart.

Dawgs After Dark:

  • The Bulldogs now have won 26 straight night games at home including 17-0 under Smart. The streak began with a 2010 win over Tech.

Summary Of The Offense:

  • After getting blanked in the first half, Georgia finished with 405 yards of offense on 69 plays.
  • Senior QB Carson Beck finished 28-for-43 for 297 yards and tied a school record with 5 TD passes. In the first half, he was 10-for-17 for 109 yards.
  • Down 27-20 with 2:05 left in the game, Georgia had the ball at the GT32. The Bulldogs tied it at 27 with 1:01 left to play on a three-yard TD pass to Dominic Lovett and subsequent PAT to finish a five-play drive in 1:01.
  • Trailing 27-13 with 5:37 left in the contest, Georgia trimmed it to 27-20 on a 17-yard TD pass to Dominic Lovett from Beck to cap a 75-yard drive in 1:58.
  • Down 20-6 with 14:17 left in the game, the Bulldogs cut it to 20-13 on a one-yard run by Nate Frazier, capping a 75-yard drive on 13 plays in 5:50.
  • Trailing 17-0 in the 3rd quarter, Georgia drove 51 yards in six plays for a TD to cut it to 17-6 with 9:53 left. The drive featured a 30-yard run by senior wideout Arian Smith, a 3rd-and-8 conversion to senior Cash Jones for an 11-yard gain and the drive ended with a 2-yard TD pass to junior Oscar Delp. It was Delp’s fourth TD catch of the season and third straight game with a TD.
  • Georgia entered the 4th quarter trailing 17-6 and 20-6 with 14:17 left in the contest. At the half, Georgia trailed 17-0 with 137 yards of total offense on 28 plays. Tonight was the first time since 2019 here versus Kentucky that the Bulldogs did not score in the 1st half. That game was 0-0, and Georgia won 21-0.
  • Georgia trailed at the half for the fifth time this year (@UK 6-3, @#4 Bama 30-7, vs. Florida 13-6, @#16 Ole Miss 16-7) and are now 3-2 in those games.
  • For the fifth time this season, Georgia did not score in the first quarter as the Bulldogs trailed tonight 3-0. Georgia is 4-1 in those games.
  • Down 3-0, Georgia went for a 4th-and-3 at the GT36 and converted it with an 18-yard completion to Dillon Bell. Later in the drive, on 4th-and-1 from the GT 14, Nate Frazier was tackled for no gain. Coming in tonight, the Bulldogs rank 5th nationally in 4th Down Conversions at 75% (15-for-20).
  • Sophomore RB Roderick Robinson II (4 carries, 3 yards plus 2 rec., 34 yards) made his debut after missing the first 11 games of the year due to injury.
  • In the Red Zone, Georgia went 4-for-5 with four TDs and turned it over on downs for the first time this year.

Defensive Review:

  • Tech tallied a season-high 563 yards of offense on 84 plays. With the game tied at 27 with 1:01 left, the defense held and forced overtime as Tech turned it over on downs. With Georgia down 27-20 and on a 3rd-and-one, senior Dan Jackson forced a fumble that was recovered by senior Chaz Chambliss at the GT32. It was the team’s 10th fumble recovery this season and first for Chambliss in his career.
  • With Georgia trailing 20-13 with 8:18 left in the game, Tech went 75 yards on six plays to extend its lead to 27-13 with 5:37 left.
  • Tech extended its lead with a field goal to go up 20-6 with 14:17 left in the game, covering 90 yards on 18 plays using 10:36.
  • Tech finished the first half with a 17-0 lead, gaining 307 yards of offense (157 rushing, 150 passing) on 42 plays with 19:48 in time of possession.
  • Georgia’s top tacklers tonight were Smael Mondon, Jr. with a career-high 13 stops while CJ Allen, Daylen Everette and Malaki Starks had 10 each.

Special Teams In Action:

  • Junior P Brett Thorson posted a 54.0 average on three punts including a 57- and 58-yarder. He has 15 punts of 50+ this year.
  • Junior Cash Jones had one kickoff return for 18 yards while sophomore Anthony Evans III had one punt return for three yards.
  • Sophomore PK Peyton Woodring’s 53-yard field goal into the wind to end the first half was short, ending a streak of eight consecutive field goals made. He is now 17-for-19 on the year with both misses from 50+. His other miss was a 55-yarder against Miss. State. He made his first nine field goals this year.

Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters:

Up Next:

  • The Bulldogs (10-2) face either Texas or Texas A&M in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on Dec. 7 at 4 pm (ABC). The Aggies (8-3) finish the regular season Saturday when they play host to the Longhorns (10-1) Saturday at 7:30 pm (ABC). This marks Georgia’s fourth straight appearance in the SEC Championship Game, the only school to have a longer streak was Florida who appeared in the first five games from 1992-1996.