Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart makes a shocking statement about the Bulldogs’ unprecedented win against Georgia Tech

On By Littum

The Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry is a storied one. There’s a reason they refer to the teams’ opinions of each other as “Pure, Old Fashioned Hate”, after all.

That said, Friday’s matchup may have been the most interesting matchup the teams have played in many, many years.

Georgia was down 17-0 at the half, marking their first first-half shutout since 2019 against Kentucky. That said, most Dawg fans had no reservations about their team’s mission; they nearly came back from a similar deficit against Alabama, an objectively better team.

The Bulldogs came back in the second half and, thanks to a key fumble by Georgia Tech QB Haynes King, pulled within just before the end of regulation. The Yellow Jackets tried to go on a quick drive with a minute left to set up a field goal, but were denied.

To overtime went the great rivals, and then to another, and another; after eight overtimes, Georgia came out of the fray with just two points. Final result: 44-42.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was asked a pretty simple question after the game: what happened? Yes, the Jackets are a decent team, boasting a 7-4 record in this matchup, but the No. The 7-ranked Dawgs should have had no trouble with this matchup.

His response? The Dawgs’ defensive game plan was more for the old Techunder Paul Johnson. Basically, they planned for Haynes King to be unable to throw the ball as he dealt with a shoulder injury.

However, Throw King did; Throwing in 303 yards and two touchdowns with a staggering 161.3 efficiency rating, King tore through the ill-prepared Georgia defense.

This assessment raises some concern among Dawg fans, as it certainly isn’t a good look for Georgia to completely disregard an aspect of their opponent just because of an injury that clearly didn’t stop King.

The Dawgs will need to prepare better ahead of their SEC Championship game, as Texas or Texas A&M (whichever wins the game on Saturday) certainly won’t be as forgiving.