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Georgia Tech Battles, But Falls to No. 1 Georgia

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Final Stats Postgame Notes Multimedia Photo Gallery

ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia Tech more than held its own against the nation’s top-ranked team for much of the game, but No. 1 Georgia pulled away late to defeat the Yellow Jackets, 37-14, on Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium.

Georgia Tech (5-7) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead by scoring the first first-quarter touchdown allowed by Georgia (12-0) this season. The Yellow Jackets took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in 11 plays for the score, highlighted by a 34-yard pass from Zach Gibson to Nate McCollum on fourth-and-nine and capped by a 7-yard touchdown run by quarterback Taisun Phommachanh.

The Jackets – only the third team to lead UGA at any point of a game this season – went on to outgain the Bulldogs, 187-153, in the first half and trailed just 10-7 at the break.

Tech remained in the game until well into the third quarter but a pair of miscues deep in its own territory – an errant snap on a punt and a fumble – led to UGA scoring 13 points in a span of just 6:29 to turn the narrow 10-7 lead into a 23-7 advantage. The Bulldogs then tacked on a pair of touchdowns early in the fourth period to put the game away.

Georgia Tech running back Dontae Smith closed the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Carter with 2:55 to go in the game. The scoring strike came on the first pass attempt of Smith’s career.

Tech’s defense – which limited Georgia to 406 total yards, the Bulldogs’ third-lowest offensive output of the season – was led by linebackers Ayinde Eley and Charlie Thomas, who led all tacklers with 11 and eight stops, respectively. Eley and Thomas closed the season with 118 and 112 tackles, which were the most by any Yellow Jackets since P.J. Davis racked up 119 stops in 14 games in 2014.

Making only his third start, Gibson completed 19-of-35 passes for 191 yards – all career highs – and engineered touchdown drives of 75 and 65 yards to lead the Yellow Jackets’ offensively. McCollum led all players with six catches for 65 yards, giving him 60 receptions for the season, the seventh-most in Georgia Tech single-season history and the most by a Yellow Jacket since Calvin Johnson hauled in 76 receptions in 2006.

The Yellow Jackets defense held tough on Saturday, with Charlie Thomas (1 – above) and Zamari Walton (7 – above) finishing as two of the top three tacklers on the day with eight and six, respectively. Ayinde Eley (not pictured) led the way with a game-high 11 tackles on the day, which helped limit Georgia to its third-lowest offensive output of the season (406 yards). (photo: Danny Karnik)

 

Postgame Notes

Team Notes

  • With the loss, Georgia Tech closed the season at 5-7 overall, its best record since 2018, when it finished 7-6.
  • Georgia Tech finished the season at 4-4 under interim head coach Brent Key.
  • Georgia Tech held a 187-153 advantage in total yardage at halftime, when it trailed just 10-7, but was outgained 254-68 and outscored 27-7 in the second half.
  • Georgia Tech opened the game with an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Tech’s touchdown was the first first-quarter touchdown that Georgia has allowed this season.
  • Georgia Tech is one of only three teams to lead Georgia at any point during a game this season, joining Missouri (Oct. 1) and Tennessee (Nov. 5).
  • Georgia’s 406 yards of offense was its third-lowest output of the season (387 vs. Tennessee on Nov. 5 and 363 last Saturday at Kentucky).
  • Georgia Tech fell to 2-12-1 all-time versus the nation’s No. 1-ranked team. The Yellow Jackets have not defeated a top-ranked team since their legendary 41-38 win over No. 1 Virginia on Nov. 3, 1990.
  • Saturday’s game marked the fourth-straight season that Georgia Tech has faced a top-ranked opponent (2019 – Clemson, 2020 – Clemson, 2021 – Georgia, 2022 – Georgia). In the previous 83 seasons, since the advent of the Associated Press poll in 1936, Tech had only played the nation’s top-ranked team 11 times.
  • Georgia Tech fell to 41-70-5 all-time against archrival Georgia. Tech has lost five-straight and 18 of the last 21 games in the series.

Individual Notes

  • r-So. QB Zach Gibson completed 19-of-35 passes for 191 yards, all career highs.
  • So. WR Nate McCollum (six receptions for 65 yards – both game highs) finished the season with 60 receptions, which ranks seventh in Georgia Tech single-season history and are the most by a Yellow Jacket in a season since Calvin Johnson had 76 catches in 2006.
  • r-Sr. LB Ayinde Eley (game-high 11 tackles) finished the season with 118 tackles, which are the most by a Yellow Jacket since P.J. Davis in 2014 (119 in 14 games). Eley is one of only three Yellow Jackets since 2005 with as many as 118 tackles in a season (Julian Burnett – 120 in 2011 and Davis).
  • Sr. LB Charlie Thomas (eight tackles) finished the season with 112 tackles, which are the fourth-most by a Yellow Jacket since 2005, behind only Burnett, Davis and Eley.
  • r-Jr. RB Dontae Smith’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Sr. WR Malachi Carter in the fourth quarter came on the first pass attempt of Smith’s career.
  • With his 24 receiving yards, Carter became 14th player in Georgia Tech history with 1,400 receiving yards (1,417).
  • So. P David Shanahan’s 65-yard punt in the third quarter tied for the 26th-longest punt in Georgia Tech history. It was the second-longest punt of Shanahan’s career (prev.: 71 at Duke – Oct. 9, 2021).
Georgia Tech marched 75 yards in 11 plays on the opening series of the game, capped by a 7-yard touchdown run by Taisun Phommachanh (17), that was the first first-quarter touchdown allowed by top-ranked Georgia this season. (photo: Danny Karnik)

 

Multimedia

Coach Key Postgame Press Conference (Video)

Coach Key Postgame Press Conference (Audio)

Student-Athletes Postgame Press Conference

Game Highlights (ACC Digital Network)

Condensed Game (ACC Digital Network)

Around Social Media

Competitive Drive Initiative

In a unified endeavor, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Foundation, Georgia Tech athletics and the Alexander-Tharpe Fund have come together to accelerate funding for student-athlete scholarships with the launch of the Competitive Drive Initiative. The initiative kicks off with the Accelerate GT Match Program, where any new gift to the A-T Fund’s Athletic Scholarship Fund made through Dec. 31 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Georgia Tech Foundation, up to $2.5 million. Should Accelerate GT reach its $2.5 million fundraising goal, the matching gift would result in a $5 million impact for Georgia Tech athletics. To learn more and to contribute online, visit atfund.org/accelerate.

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