Georgia continues mastery of Yellow Jackets, ensures another good year

Georgia extended its mastery of the state Saturday, outlasting Georgia Tech 13-7 at Bobby Dodd Stadium to hand the Yellow Jackets a loss for the 13th time in their past 15 meetings.

The Bulldogs must now wait until Dec. 6 to learn the news of their bowl fate.

Here’s a closer look at Saturday’s victory that pushed the Dawgs to 9-3 on the season.

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

1. Georgia isn’t in SEC title game, but the Dawgs have had a good year considering all the adversity: At most schools, a nine-win regular season that includes victories over rivals Auburn and Georgia Tech would be reason to celebrate, but Bulldogs Nation remains hungry for the school’s first SEC title since 2005 and clamors for more.

But the reality is that a nine-win season without Nick Chubb is a heck of an accomplishment. This Georgia team has a lot of flaws that Chubb masked with his powerful legs until his season-ending knee injury at Tennessee. The fact the Dawgs could still win their last four games and five of their final six is a credit to coach Mark Richt and his staff’s ability to adapt and improvise.

2. Sony Michel is the real deal: The sophomore tailback rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown against the Yellow Jackets and became the 13th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau. He’s a star in the making the rest of the country had best get to know.

3. Georgia desperately needed a second receiver to step up and freshman Terry Godwin did so: Senior receiver Malcolm Mitchell has seemingly been quarterback Greyson Lambert’s lone target for much of the season, but the Dawgs needed another receiver to step up and make plays to take the pressure off Mitchell and help the offense run smoothly.

Godwin tallied career-highs in both catches (eight) and yards (78) to help the Dawgs outlast the Yellow Jackets.

4. Lambert can be a serviceable QB when used properly: The much-maligned graduate transfer from Virginia at last showed enough confidence to vertically attack the field and played well overall. Lambert completed 18 of 25 for 224 yards, but did so without the mind-numbing mistakes that have characterized his play in recent weeks.

He appeared to thrive in the play-action game that made those completions easier and completed passes to six different receivers.

5. Georgia’s defense finds a way to come up with timely plays: The Bulldogs forced three Georgia Tech turnovers, including sophomore cornerback Malkom Parrish’s game-winning interception on the game’s final play, to save the day. Georgia also forced a turnover on downs.

REPORT CARD

Offense — (B-): This was one of the better offensive performances Georgia has recorded in weeks, albeit against a weak defense.

The Dawgs rolled up 402 yards of offense, but were again too often undone by silly mistakes and penalties that killed drives. Georgia entered 13th in the SEC in third-down conversions and didn’t better its standing by going 4 for 14.

Michel was again brilliant and atoned for the deficiencies with his 187 yards of total offense (149 rushing, 38 receiving) to power the visitors to their fourth consecutive win to close the regular season. Lambert was solid, going without a touchdown or interception. The inconsistency on offense was the big reason why the Dawgs were able to muster just three points off three Georgia Tech turnovers.

Defense — (A-): Defensive coordinator Jeremy’s Pruitt’s bunch looked vulnerable at times to the Yellow Jackets’ triple option attack, but made big plays when needed to limit their hosts to a season-low seven points and just 194 yards rushing.

Georgia forced three turnovers, the biggest being Parrish’s game-winning pick in the game’s final seconds, and also came up with a big fourth-down stop to kill a Georgia Tech drive in the opening period. Senior linebacker Jake Ganus registered a team-high 12 tackles, including eight solo stops.

Special teams — (C+): Kicker Marshall Morgan went 2 for 3, hitting field goals from 19 and 37 yards out, respectively, before missing left on a 40-yard try early in the fourth period. Brice Ramsey averaged just under 35 yards per punt before being replaced by former starter Collin Barber. The two combined to average just 36.8 yards per kick in five punts.

Coaching — (B+): More creative play-calling from offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer reaped dividends as Georgia finally showed signs of offensive life again. Lambert completed his first five passes and appeared much confident from that point on than he has shown in recent weeks. He would connect with six different receivers for the game. His arm and Michel’s legs put Georgia the closest it has been to a balanced offense (184 yards rushing, 224 passing) it has been in weeks.

Pruitt, for the most part, had answers on the defensive side of the ball to everything the Yellow Jackets tried.

Overall — (B): Beating a 3-8 Georgia Tech team is hardly enough to warrant a parade, but it was good win for the Dawgs and it kept them on pace for a 10-win season. Their mastery of the Yellow Jackets will continue to reap pay big dividends with in-state recruiting.

GAME PLAN

• Schottenheimer’s obvious determination to spread the ball around in the passing game kept the Yellow Jackets off balance and allowed Lambert to get into an early groove. Seldom-used fullback Christian Payne had two catches for 35 yards in the game after entering the game with just two receptions for 22 yards for the season. The play-action game was extremely effective from the outset, as Schottenheimer wisely saw that Georgia Tech was keying on the Georgia running game by consistently stacking a number of players at or near the line of scrimmage. The play-action passes allowed for Lambert to complete a number of high-percentage passes to receivers, who had slipped out behind the defense.

GAME BALLS

RB Sony Michel: The sophomore tailback totaled 149 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau for the season. Michel added three catches for 38 yards.

WR Terry Godwin: The freshman recorded career-highs in both catches (eight) and yards (78) to become the effective second receiver the Georgia offense has lacked for most of the season.

SS Dominick Sanders: The sophomore’s timely interception at the Georgia 1-yard line in the second period was his fifth of the season and prevented a likely Yellow Jackets score. It was one of three turnovers Georgia forced.

DT James DeLoach: The senior came on in relief of an injured freshman Trent Thompson and came up with a big fourth-down stuff of Yellow Jackets quarterback Justin Thomas in the first quarter before also recovering a third-quarter fumble.

John Hollis

John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.