ATHENS, Ga. _ To have a chance against No. 5 Georgia, Georgia Tech needed to be close to perfect. The Yellow Jackets began to fall short of that objective shortly after the opening kickoff, and the gap between perfection and Tech's level of play only widened throughout the afternoon.
For Tech supporters, the result was a dismaying 45-21 loss to the archrival Bulldogs on a gray afternoon at Sanford Stadium. Tech's 219 yards of offense, many gained when the game was well out of reach, were the fewest gained by the Jackets against Georgia in coach Paul Johnson's 11-season tenure at Tech.
Tech's hopes to win a third consecutive game in Athens and to drop Georgia out of the College Football Playoff hunt were dashed before the first half ended, perhaps when Georgia exploited a mismatch and caught linebacker Brant Mitchell trying to keep up with wide receiver Mecole Hardman on a deep route, resulting in a 44-yard touchdown pass from Jake Fromm for a 28-7 lead with 9:22 to play in the second quarter.
Georgia (11-1) left little doubt of their superiority over Tech (7-5). On defense, the Bulldogs got off blocks and penetrated the backfield. On plays to the perimeter, they ran free to the ball and limited the Jackets to short gains on plays that can often produce explosive plays.
Needing big plays to take the pressure off the offense to grind out first downs, Tech's longest play of the game through three quarters was 10 yards, a run play by A-back Qua Searcy. There were no completions.
When Georgia had the ball, the Jackets missed tackles and were outrun. When Fromm dropped back to throw, he waited for receivers to get open while inside a virtually impregnable pocket. The Tech defense, whose ability to procure turnovers and come up with timely stops masked weaknesses, was scored on its first seven possessions and did not record a takeaway.
Georgia opened the game by taking the opening kickoff and reaching the end zone with a nine-play, 75-yard drive in which Bulldogs receivers and backs repeatedly broke tackles for extra yards. On Tech's possession, the Jackets reached their 45 and faced a fourth-and-1, and Johnson sent in backup quarterback Tobias Oliver in place of TaQuon Marshall to try for a conversion. But Tech was called for a false-start penalty, and the Jackets punted the ball away.
The false start was perhaps the first glaring mistake, one that gave Georgia the opportunity to go up 14-0. The Jackets led 38-7 by halftime.
The touchdown by Hardman was preceded by a Tech possession in which the Jackets busted a play on third-and-10 and then were stopped on fourth down when Marshall was sacked under heavy pressure.
It was an impressive performance by the Bulldogs, who came into the game ranked 13th in both total offense and total defense. The Dogs outgained the Jackets 447-219 in total offense and 285-128 rushing. Georgia averaged 7.3 yards per play to 3.6 for Tech.
The only bright spot for the Jackets was Juanyeh Thomas' 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter, which cut the Bulldogs' lead to 14-7 and briefly gave Tech a glimmer of hope.
Thomas became the first player in Tech history to return kickoffs for touchdowns in consecutive games, following his return of a free kick for a score against Virginia the previous Saturday after a safety. (Free kicks are categorized as kickoffs.)
It was a muted finish to Tech's four-game winning streak, in which the Jackets had stormed back from a 3-4 record to gain bowl eligibility by defeating Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Miami and Virginia.
Tech will now wait to learn its bowl destination, which will be decided next Sunday after the conference championship games. The Military and Independence bowls seem to be possibilities.
