I have to admit that beating Tech is usually a lot more about relief than joy to me. Occasionally there are the routs like 2002 or 2012 that you can allow yourself to enjoy, but I fall squarely in the camp that considers this the one game Georgia can’t lose. Fortunately the team is rarely as uptight about the Tech game as I am. Georgia leaned on every bit of patience and resolve it had to erase a 20-point deficit and earn a 41-34 double-overtime win over Georgia Tech, Georgia’s fifth-straight win in the series.

Tech had to consider this a great opportunity to notch a win. They had over two weeks to prepare for the game with only a throwaway Alabama A&M warm-up between Clemson on November 14th and the Georgia game. The Dawgs didn’t have a bye week or an option team like Georgia Southern this year ahead of Tech week, and so they’d have to prepare for this offense in less than a week. Tech knew that the Georgia defense was likely to give up yards and points, and when Aaron Murray went down…the stars were aligning.

Whether Tech was licking their chops over all of that or it was just my internal pessimistic monologue, the first quarter did little to hurt Tech’s confidence. Spotted a lead of 17 (and eventually 20) points, Tech had an offense built to chew clock, and Georgia was forced to all but abandon the running game.

As if to prove how tough it would be just to get the ball back in the hands of the Georgia offense, Tech’s first drive of the second quarter was a typical water-torture march that took up over half the quarter. Adam Erickson (who had a solid game) pinned Tech on their own 8 with a 52-yard punt. Georgia’s defense couldn’t take advantage of the field position, and Tech began a 15-play drive that covered 87 yards and used up over 8 minutes.

But the end of that drive began the slow turn of momentum back in Georgia’s favor. Facing a 1st-and-goal, Tech fumbled and recovered on first down. A dive was stuffed on second down. The third down pass was thrown away out of bounds, and for the first time this season Tech didn’t turn 1st-and-goal into a touchdown. The field goal still hurt, but the Georgia defense gained a small amount of traction. They forced a punt on Tech’s next possession and left the offense enough time to finally put a scoring drive together. Tech would only have one more sustained scoring drive in the game, and Georgia’s offense (barely) got the possessions they needed to take the game into overtime.

Offense

I hope people got a chance to hear Hutson Mason’s post-game interview on the Fifth Quarter show. A friend summed it up this way: if Murray talks like a coach, Mason talks like a player. The unfiltered joy and blunt honesty in Mason’s comments took us right into the head of a guy starting his first game, and it helped to explain what we saw. Mason noted that Tech put in a few new twists and stunts that didn’t help things early on. He also revealed that it took some time to get used to game speed – experience that can’t be simulated in practice or even in mop-up duty.

When asked to nail down when things began to settle down for him, Mason pointed to the scoring drive before halftime. After a 4-of-8 start that included an interception and three drives ending with punts, Mason led Georgia on five straight scoring drives to take the game into overtime. The first four of those scoring drives each covered at least 63 yards, and the three touchdown drives each went for at least 74 yards. He completed everything from screen passes to a deep ball to Lynch, but he really made his living throwing the 15-yard out.

Mason’s biggest issue was trusting the protection. As he admitted in that post-game interview, he was a bit too quick to give up on plays, and it got him into trouble. But that’s all part of the learning curve. With Tech’s defense intent on bottling up the run and facing an early deficit, Mason had to cram an entire season’s worth of experience into a quarter or so. The running game carried the load in overtime, but Mason had very little margin for error leading the comeback in the second half. He made the throws, had decent protection, and the receivers made enough catches to keep the momentum going.

If Georgia fans were looking to the Tech game as a sign of how the Georgia offense might perform in the post-Murray era, they had to like what they see. Add back in Mitchell, Scott-Wesley, Marshall, and a healthy Gurley – not to mention any newcomers – and Georgia should have another potent offense in 2014.

• What was with the drops? Certainly there’s an adjustment with a new quarterback and the overturning of a long completion to Bennett was just an awful call, but Georgia’s receivers had an unusually tough time coming down with balls they looked to have caught.
• Bennett’s double move on his third quarter touchdown was sick. It was about as effective a fake as Stafford’s pump that freed up Massaquoi in 2006.
• Prior to his injury in the LSU game, Todd Gurley had five receptions through four games for 42 yards and 1 TD. In the five games since his return, he’s posted 25 catches for 302 yards and 4 TD. He’s tied for third on the team in receptions and tied with Wooten and Lynch for the most receiving touchdowns. The last few opponents have tried (and mostly succeeded) to limit Gurley’s impact in the running game, but credit to he and the coaches for finding other ways to make big contributions. He’s too good not to be involved in the offense.
• I’m glad to see Gurley nearing some important milestones despite missing so much time. He’s already at 10 rushing touchdowns, and he needs just under 100 yards rushing in the bowl game to post another 1,000 yard season. Let’s get it for him.
• Georgia’s caught some tough breaks with injuries this season, but it was good fortune that both Bennett and Conley were able to come back from their injuries. The Dawgs don’t win this game without them.

Defense

I know the story is Tech catching Georgia off-guard by passing the ball, but reality is much more simpler. Tech’s first two passes – a 68-yard completion and a 43-yard completion that accounted for 111 of their 232 passing yards – came on obvious passing downs. These were 3rd downs of 8 yards or more. It wasn’t some unexpected wrinkle of the Tech offense to throw it on 3rd and long; it was the same situation in which the Georgia defense has struggled all season. The only big pass that might be credited to Georgia overplaying the run was the touchdown pass on 1st-and-10 following Mason’s interception and Drew’s facemask.

When it came to actually defending the option, Georgia’s defense wasn’t that poor. Tech was in those 3rd-and-long situations because the defense had put Tech behind schedule after first and second down. Tech had a few big runs but no knockout blow touchdowns. The Dawgs frequently blitzed the middle, and they made several plays behind the line. There was some serious work being done by the front seven – Herrera was great, Floyd and Jenkins were active when the plays went outside, and Chris Mayes backed up his pregame talk. It was that pressure that forced a poor throw in the fourth quarter in the direction of Josh Harvey-Clemons. Harvey-Clemons soared and secured the interception that eluded him at Auburn, setting up Georgia’s game-tying field goal.

Georgia’s biggest shortcomings were, to no one’s surprise, in the secondary. The unit was down two starters, and Tech attacked those areas. It wasn’t all on Dawson – the safeties didn’t do much to support the corners on slant passes. On the other side, Swann had one of his better games. Georgia has called some maddening timeouts before big third and fourth down plays this season, and they called one as Tech faced 3rd and 7 from the Georgia 40 inside of a minute to go. Perhaps Georgia wanted to get a look at Tech’s formation, but it’s also worth noting that Dawson was lined up on the boundary receiver. When the teams lined up after the timeout, Swann had the coverage. Swann kept tight coverage on the play and what looked to be a back shoulder pass fell harmlessly incomplete. Tech was forced to punt, and we were set for overtime. Swann’s best moment might’ve come on the final play. The tipped pass looked to be headed into the arms of Godhigh, but Swann came over the receiver and batted the ball back out of the endzone to end the game.

It’s frustrating that three of Tech’s four biggest pass plays came on 3rd and 7 or longer and led to 17 of their 27 points in regulation. You’d expect these issues that were so prevalent in September to have been cleaned up by the last game. They haven’t been, and so we are still talking about the inconsistency of a defense that can make so many good plays in isolated moments and then reliably fail to get off the field.

• I still don’t know how Mayes didn’t recover the second quarter fumble inside of Georgia’s 10. The defense managed to hold and force another field goal, but those were an important three points. Great play by Mauger to strip the ball.
• Once the defense got out of the first quarter, you can point to several individual moments that helped keep the game in reach. Ramik Wilson covered a third down pass just well enough to force Tech’s first punt late in the second quarter, and Georgia posted their first score on their next possession.
• As big as the final play was, it wouldn’t have happened without the third down that preceded it. Needing just two yards, Tech went wide to the left side. Swann fought off his block and cut off the outside. Floyd shot to the ball. Drew and Harvey-Clemons joined in pursuit. The loss of three yards meant that Tech could no longer consider the dives or keepers that they like to use near the goal line. Georgia hadn’t been great against the pass, but you’d still take Tech passing on 4th and 5 over an option play in short yardage.
• Anyone else fairly certain that Tech would’ve gone for two had they punched it in there?

Even with all of the shortcomings on defense and injuries, Georgia fans will remember this team for its fight. There wasn’t the lifeless blowout loss like the 2012 South Carolina game. Its four losses – and several of its wins – were tense fourth quarter battles. With the season’s goals ended at Auburn, with the starting quarterback added to the pile of injuries, and especially facing an early 20-point deficit, I’m sure a lot of people expected that Georgia would rather just put this season to bed and regroup for 2014. I’m glad they didn’t. I’m glad this game means something to the coaches and the players, especially the seniors who will now receive their personal Governor’s Cup replicas.