Perhaps Georgia can consider a forfeit next time it has to play Georgia Tech before an SEC Championship game appearance.
The No. 4-ranked Bulldogs (11-1) did what they were supposed to do on Saturday. They dispatched their in-state rivals and did it fairly decisively, 52-7.
But it appears that it may have been an extremely costly victory. First of all, the Bulldogs lost star running back D'Andre Swift in the game. A short time later, they'd lose receiver George Pickens.
Swift, a junior from Philadelphia, was sent to the sideline injury tent with a left-shoulder malady after getting tackled and fumbling at the Tech 4-yard line early in the third quarter. It was the second lost fumble of game for Swift, who did not return.
Swift finished with 73 yards on 10 carries. His status for next Saturday's game against No. 2 LSU is not immediately known. Coach Kirby Smart is expected to provide an update after the game.
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Things would get worse for Georgia's offense two possessions later. Pickens, who did not play in the first half on Saturday for unknown reasons, was ejected with 4:28 remaining in the third quarter for fighting. The star freshman from Hoover, Ala., threw several punches in a row at Tech defensive back Tre Swilling after they had locked up on a touchdown pass play to Dominick Blaylock on the opposite side of the field. Swilling was not ejected on the play.
By rule, the ejection is expected to sideline Pickens for the first half of next Saturday's game. The Bulldogs' leading active receiver finished with one catch, which went for a 41-yard touchdown.
All of it just made for another lively chapter in Georgia's 126-year-old rivalry known as "Clean Old-Fashioned Hate." It was the Bulldogs' third in a row in the series, which they lead 68-39-5.
Tech, in its first season under coach Geoff Collins, ends the year at 3-9.
As for next Saturday's conference title game, the Bulldogs already knew they were going to be without leading receiver Lawrence Cager. The graduate transfer from Miami suffered a broken ankle in practice on Wednesday. He'd missed all or part of the last five games due to chronic shoulder separations.
The good news for the Bulldogs – besides recording 11 or more victories for the third consecutive season under coach Kirby Smart – was their defense continues to play healthy and inspired. Besides a second-quarter touchdown given up on a 17-yard field after a turnover, Georgia suffocated an extremely over-matched Tech defense. By the time, Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm went to the sideline early in the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets still hadn't managed 98 yards for the game.
Fromm continued to struggle passing the ball, however. While he finished with 254 yards and four touchdowns, his 14-of-29 throwing performance represented the fourth consecutive game in which he completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they got on track in the second half after a less than stellar first one. After limping out of the first half with a 17-7 lead, they scored touchdowns on three of their first four possessions in the third quarter. The 21-0 quarter made it 38-7 and sent a lot of the Georgia starters to the sideline for the day.
That was a good response after what had been on display the first half. After playing an almost flawless first quarter and staking themselves to a 17-0 lead, Georgia followed by playing its worst quarter of the season in the second. The Bulldogs muffed a punt, allowed an onsides kick, fumbled, gave up a touchdown and missed a field goal.
Remarkably, they never lost the lead. But they definitely lost momentum as the Yellow Jackets celebrated wildly on the way to the locker room trailing 17-7.
The contrast was incredible from the opening period, when Tech managed just 22 yards on 14 plays and the Bulldogs scored 17 unanswered points. It was trending for a blowout when UGA scored its second TD of the day with 4:52 remaining in the first quarter. It came on a 20-yard pass from Fromm to tight end Charlie Woerner. That represented the first career TD for Woerner, coming 12 games into his senior season.
But things quickly devolved from there for Georgia. It appeared the Bulldogs were trying to force feed their passing game, which has been poor the last third of the season and subpar for most of the day. On their first possession of the second quarter, like their first of the game, the Dogs were three-and-out on consecutive incompletions.
Tech obliged with its sixth straight three-and-out. But Dominick Blaylock mishandled the subsequent punt and Tech recovered at the Georgia 17. The Jackets would score four plays later on a six-yard pass to tight end Tyler Davis. That was at the 10:58 mark of the second quarter.
The Jackets were successful on an onsides kick, recovered by Jaylon King at the Georgia 47. But the Bulldogs' defense held strong.
Tech would get one more shot to get on the scoreboard after Swift's first fumble of the day gave them possession at Georgia's 42. But after the drive stalled at the 10, Tech's Brenton King missed a 27-yard field goal wide right.
This article was written by Chip Towers, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
