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Post Georgia 24 – Georgia Tech 30: Talking to myself

Tuesday December 2, 2014

Like many, I stood there unable to move for several minutes after Huston Mason’s interception ended the game. Going back and watching the scene on the broadcast confirms what I remember: a stunned crowd and team trying to make sense of what happened. I’m still trying. To help focus myself, I’ll reply to a handful of tweets I sent out just before the game.

I asked this question for two reasons: first, big pass plays helped Tech jump out 20-0 on Georgia last year. I wondered if Johnson would test Georgia’s secondary again. Second, Tech came into the game with one of the top-ten rated passing attacks (a spot ahead of Georgia, in fact.) Though they were completing just over 50% of passes, they were getting a lot from the passes they did complete.

As it turned out, Tech’s passing game played only a minor role in the outcome. They completed 6 of 16 passes for just 64 yards and one score coming at the end of the first half. But it’s the split that tells the story. Tech attempted just two passes after halftime. As with Florida completing just 3 of 6 pass attempts, Tech didn’t need to throw in the second half because their running game was functioning so well.

The Georgia defense did a fair job against the run in the first half, but they couldn’t sustain it. Whether it was fatigue, the return of bad habits, or Tech finding and exploiting a weakness, Georgia’s line was overmatched against the dive. Though Ray Drew played the game of his life, the dive often went off-tackle to the side opposite Drew where the defensive linemen were less effective. Georgia’s interior linebackers recorded a staggering number of tackles, but many of those came chasing down a guy who had broken through the line. Tech put together a string where five out of six drives went at least eight plays. Georgia had only three possessions in the entire second half (true, there was a nice fumble return in there too.) That’s a lot of time for the defense to be out there, and they just couldn’t get off the field. It became classic option water torture.

Oh did turnovers play a part in the game. Georgia’s three red zone turnovers were crippling. Tech’s two fumbles led to 14 Georgia points. I’d go so far as to consider the blocked placekicks by both teams as turnovers. There were huge swings in momentum all day. It must’ve made for an entertaining game for neutral watchers. Tech and Georgia fans had to be dizzy. For Georgia, both fumbles came when backs made extra effort near the goal line. With so many fumbles bouncing back Georgia’s way throughout the season, the ledger adjusted itself at the worst possible time.

Both sides of the coin in that tweet. Yes, Georgia got out to a much better start this year. They marched down the field with relative ease, scored, and then forced Tech to punt. Georgia’s defense was playing well enough that the Dawgs had a fair chance to go up by three scores in the first half. They never trailed until late in the 4th quarter. But then there’s the “make the most of every possession” detail. Georgia had seven possessions inside of the Georgia Tech 40 that generated a total of 17 points. Five of those possessions resulted in only three points. The three red zone turnovers are obvious enough, but two other scoring chances were significant. The outstanding field position earned on the possession after Swann’s fumble return resulted in two yards gained and a blocked field goal instead of a two-possession lead. The five futile cracks at the endzone after Morgan’s brilliant fake field goal set the stage for the dramatic finish.

Ugh. Is it a cop-out to say that Mason’s legacy is still incomplete? Or would ambiguous be the better choice of words? It would have been much more tidy of course had Georgia’s final touchdown held up, but the interception that ended the game is burned in our memories now – never mind that it was his first interception since Vanderbilt. Even before those moments, the game was a mixed bag for Mason. He missed a couple of third down throws that should have extended drives. But given the ball with two minutes and incredible pressure, he orchestrated what should have been the winning drive.

A year after Mason passed for nearly 300 yards in Atlanta, Georgia’s approach to the passing game on Saturday was much different. Pass plays were short and intermediate and heavy on screens. That was fine so long as the running game was working – the space was there for a short pass to turn into more as it did for Chubb on the opening drive. But as Tech tightened up against the run (and Georgia’s line became less effective), there wasn’t much of a response from the Georgia offense. We didn’t see a real test downfield until an incomplete pass just beyond Conley well into the third quarter. We didn’t even see Conley targeted until the third quarter. Georgia’s senior receivers – Bennett and Conley – combined for 12 catches, 182 yards, and a touchdown in Atlanta a year ago. On Saturday Conley didn’t record a catch until Georgia’s final drive of regulation, and Bennett was shut out. Not to take anything away from Malcolm Mitchell’s outstanding game (holding on to that go-ahead touchdown was no small thing), but I just can’t process that two accomplished senior receivers weren’t a bigger part of the plan. I don’t put that on Mason or Bennett or Conley, and it’s not as if the final passing stats were that far from a typical 2014 Georgia game. And, again, the offense generated enough scoring chances to win. The approach just had a very strange feel to it.

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