Georgia Plays First of Two Games in Atlanta
By Don Stone - Football Atlanta
The Bulldogs head to Atlanta for a pair of important games
just down the street from each other. First, what many consider to be the
only one that counts, the annual in state rivalry against Georgia Tech. It
will be the 106th all-time meeting between the two teams. Kickoff noon
Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium in a nationwide ESPN broadcast. Tech has
played UGA more often than any other opponent.
The 8-3 Yellow Jackets are ranked 25th in the AP poll
and 21st in the USA Today Coaches poll after an unimpressive 38-31 win at
Duke last Saturday. The Tech offense piled up 549 yards and five touchdowns
but let the Blue Devils score 31, making it way closer than it should have
been.
The Rambling Wreck will give the Georgia defense
one of its tougher challenges since South Carolina. They rank second
nationally in rushing (323.6) and third-down percentage (56.1) and sixth in
passing efficiency (163.3).
The Bulldogs are coming off an equally
unimpressive win against a bad Kentucky team. The defense did its job,
holding the Wildcats to 23 yards rushing and forcing four turnovers in a
19-10 win Saturday. The problem was a sputtering offenses that had averaged
42.3 points over the last three games.
Georgia leads the all-time series 61-39-5.
They are 32-26 and four at Georgia Tech. Even with the result dominance, the
games have been competitive. Six of the last seven meetings have been
decided by eight points or less. The Bulldogs have dominated in the last
decade, winning the last two and nine of the last ten. Last year in Athens,
the Dawgs won 42-34.
The winning team has scored at least 30
points in each of the last four meetings.
I look for it to be a low scoring game due
the quality of both defenses. Due to the higher number of quality athletes
on the Georgia squad, the Bulldogs should win it, maybe 24-17. But, its all
out the window in this rivalry. Anything can happen and usually does.
My favorite was the millennium game at the
end of the 1999 season when Luke Manget
hit a 38-yard field goal in the first overtime to end the highest scoring
game between the two teams. Joe Hamilton
passed for 438 yards and four touchdowns. Quincy Carter threw for 345. The
final score at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Georgia Tech 51, Georgia 48. The Bulldogs
would move on to face a Drew Brees
lead Purdue team in the Outback Bowl. I was at that one as well watching the
Boilermakers run up an embarrassing 25-0 lead at the half. The Bulldog
defense shut them down from their allowing the offense to put up 25
unanswered points and tie it with 1:19 remaining. Georgia finally win in
double overtime to complete the greatest comeback in the history of bowl
games.
An SEC Championship Game looms at the Georgia
Dome against likely opponent, the #1 ranked LSU Tigers. Where the Bulldogs
go after depends on how well they do against Tech and LSU. A return to the
Outback Bowl is possible as well as the Cotton Bowl and even the Sugar. We
can only hope the last two games provide half as much excitement and drama
as the final games eleven seasons ago did. |
