Pound for Pound: Welcome back, Tech

Published 10:55 am Tuesday, December 3, 2024

With two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, two sweaters, and two layers on my head (a hat and a hood), I witnessed eight overtimes in Athens Friday night.

‘Emotional rollercoaster’ doesn’t quite cover it. More like a maddening descent through Dante’s “Inferno” before finally coming out the other end to catch a final glimpse at the stars (fireworks) high over Sanford Stadium. If you’re a Georgia fan, that is.

Tech fans are stuck in yet another loop of saying “maybe next year,” knowing their team has now lost seven straight in the rivalry series known as “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate.”

Though it was cold, all those clothing layers probably weren’t needed in the first half. My body temperature was plenty high enough. I was fuming due to Georgia’s lackluster performance.

Lackluster is actually a little generous. The Yellow Jackets shut the Bulldogs out on their home field for those 30 minutes. Sanford Stadium’s collective frustration was palpable from my wife and I’s seats in section 331.

UGA finally scored early in the third quarter. That brought slight relief followed by more flaming rage when Kirby Smart bowed down to that buzzword ‘analytics’ and went for two, unsuccessfully, I might add. Hopefully Smart learned a lesson.

With Georgia down 27-13 at 5:37 in the fourth, thousands of red-and-black-clad fans started heading for the exits. Meanwhile, I started bargaining. ‘If UGA doesn’t score here, we’ll walk too,’ I said. Touchdown – Carson Beck to Dominic Lovett, 27-20.

‘If Tech even gets a field goal with three minutes to play, the long trek back to East Campus begins.’ Fumble – Dan Jackson puts his hat right on the football in Haynes King’s hands, just like you’re taught from a very young age. The Bulldogs get the tying score on another Beck-Lovett connection.

Tied 27-all with a minute to go, Tech very nearly got into range for what would have been a game-winning field goal attempt. Georgia instead shut the Jackets down and to overtime we went.

What came next was one of the most impressive displays of grit I’ve seen as a football watcher. There were dueling touchdowns through the first two conventional overtime periods with each team providing a counter to the opponent’s opening punch.

Then began the new style of deciding a winner in college football, single two-point conversion tries by each team. If the first team scores, the other gets a chance to match.

Both sides decided to get pass-happy from the 3-yard line. I’m not sure if that’s because they were more confident in their respective passing games, or if it was a self-indictment against their rushing attacks. It’s particularly head-scratching from Tech’s point of view. Yellow Jacket OC Buster Faulkner had Georgia’s number basically all night and tried on a few occasions to get cute late.

The victor was rightfully the team that decided to line up and simply hand the football off to one of its running backs. Freshman running back Nate Frazier broke through and ended the heavyweight contest right around midnight. Everyone remaining in Sanford Stadium was more out of breath than Mike Tyson after his fight against Jake Paul a couple of weeks ago.

Jubilation on one side, heartbreak on the other. It’s supposed to be that way when rivals meet. That level of emotion has been missing from Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate in recent history, and I thank Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key for bringing it back.

Next time, though, how about we settle this thing in regulation?