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Rivalry week in college football did not disappoint on Thanksgiving weekend as we saw numerous terrific rivalries and the hatred between all of these schools was on full display. One of the best games of the weekend took place on Friday night as the Georgia football team hosted Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs are typically one of the best teams in college football while the Yellow Jackets are typically far behind, and that is once again the case this season. However, Georgia Tech nearly pulled off the massive upset.
This game didn't mean anything for Georgia in terms of their SEC title hopes as they had already punched a ticket into the SEC title game. However, it was obviously still important. It was a rivalry game, and if the Bulldogs had lost, they would've needed a win in the SEC title game to make the College Football Playoff. Now, they will probably be in no matter what as they were able to squeak out a win.
Not many people expected this to be a very good game as Georgia was at home and they were massive favorites. However, Georgia Tech came to play, and they ended up finding themselves in a great position to win the game. Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, they failed to execute in the final minutes, and that led to a 44-42 loss in eight overtimes.
Georgia Tech got out to a great start in this one as they put 17 points on the scoreboard before Georgia put up any points. An early field goal made the score 3-0, and then two rushing touchdowns in the second quarter gave the Yellow Jackets a 17-0 lead at halftime. Georgia was in big trouble.
The Bulldogs finally got on the board in the third quarter with a touchdown to make it 17-7, but Georgia Tech did a good job of having a response every time Georgia put the pressure on.
A touchdown to make it 20-13 with eight minutes left really made things interesting as it was a one-score game, but Georgia Tech marched right down the field and scored another touchdown to make it 27-13 with just 5:37 to play. It looked like the Yellow Jackets were going to win this one.
Georgia went down and scored again to make 27-20 with 3:39 remaining, but Georgia Tech was still in control. All the Yellow Jackets needed to do was to take care of the football and get a first down or two, and then they could bleed out the clock. They got into a good position to convert on a third and short, but quarterback Haynes King fumbled the ball.
The fumble was disastrous and Georgia Tech wins the football game if it doesn't happen. Simple as that. Georgia immediately turned it into seven points, and the game went to OT where the Bulldogs eventually got the win.
Georgia found a way to get the win, and that's the most important thing, but this team has some issues. If they want to win a national championship, they need to clean stuff up. Here are a couple big concerns for the Bulldogs:
Georgia football's run defense
The biggest concern from this game for the Georgia football team is that they couldn't stop the run. The Bulldogs allowed 260 rushing yards in this game. That is bad! It is also not a good sign that it came against a team like Georgia Tech. National championships are usually won at the line of scrimmage, and that is usually why Georgia is so good. They typically dominate the line of scrimmage, but that was not the case on Friday night. The Yellow Jackets rushed for 260 yards, and Georgia ran for just 108.
Georgia football's pass defense
The defense as a whole needs to be better if the Georgia football team wants to win it all. The Bulldogs got torched on the ground, and then they also allowed over 300 yards through the air. Remember: We're talking about Georgia Tech at home. These kinds of things should not be happening, and if the Bulldogs play like this against Texas this weekend or against anyone in the playoff, they will be bounced early.
This Georgia team has talent, but they are lacking a lot of things that we saw from their two recent national title teams. It would be a shock to see the Bulldogs win it all this year. They just don't look built for it.
Week 14 college football recap
This game between the Georgia football team and Georgia Tech was definitely one of the biggest stories of the weekend. It's rare to see a game go to eight OTs, but there was a lot of other good action across college football as well. Let's go back and recap what happened in the final week of the regular season.
We didn't know any of the power four conference title matchups before this weekend, and now the questions have been answered. In the ACC, Clemson will be taking on SMU. SMU took care of business against Cal, and Miami was upset by Syracuse after leading 21-0. Clemson lost to South Carolina, but it wasn't an ACC game, so it didn't matter.
In the Big 12, we will see Iowa State take on Arizona State for the conference title game. One of those teams will be going on to the College Football Playoff. The Cyclones got past Kansas State, and the Sun Devils demolished rival Arizona.
Penn State will meet Oregon in the Big Ten title game after a chaotic weekend. Ohio State shockingly lost at home to rival Michigan as massive favorites, and the Nittany Lions cruised past Maryland.
Texas-Texas A&M was the big one in the SEC as the winner got the right to go play Georgia in the SEC title game. The Longhorns got it done on the road. Georgia had already punched their ticket to the SEC title game, so their matchup with Georgia Tech didn't mean anything in terms of the conference championship.
The regular season is now over, and we will know the College Football Playoff field in less than a week.
