Georgia football: MVP’s from the blowout win over Georgia Tech
Georgia football swatted the Yellow Jackets out of Athens Saturday with a 45-21 victory. The Dawgs end the regular season 11-1 for the second-straight year.
Georgia football had no issues with playing the Yellow Jackets this year. The Bulldog defeated Georgia Tech 45-21 with seven-straight scoring drives to open the game, and one of the most dominant defensive performances against the triple option. Seriously, Georgia put on a clinic on how to stop the triple option. Kirby Smart takes that very seriously. Here are the top performers from the Dawgs’ victory:
Jake Fromm and his receivers
In my piece about the players to watch against Tech, I mentioned Jake Fromm and his receivers because I didn’t think Tech could cover Georgia’s wideouts, tight ends or running backs. They proved me right yesterday with 175 yards and four touchdowns on just 13-of-16 passes.
It could have been much more than that. The coaches decided to keep most of the offense on the ground. Tech’s defense just couldn’t hang with Georgia’s receivers. They couldn’t press, play zone, play man, it didn’t matter.
Mecole Hardman led the team with yardage with his one 44-yard touchdown catch where he beat by a receiver by seven yards. Riley Ridley scored two touchdowns going over the middle in the end zone. Jeremiah Holloman looked like a man among boys with his two grabs. One saw him break two tackles for a 17-yard run. The other, he jumped above a defender in the end zone for a touchdown. Isaac Nauta led the team with four catches, he totaled 36 yards and couldn’t be covered in Georgia’s no-huddle offense again. Senior Terry Godwin ended his career the right way with two catches for 30 yards.
D’Andre Swift
After never rushing for 100 yards through the first 22 games of his career, D’Andre Swift has now eclipsed 100 yards in four of the last five games. The only exception being the UMass game where he left early because the game was out of hand by the second quarter.
Swift gashed the Tech defense for 105 yards on just 14 carries, and he emphatically laid to rest Georgia’s goal line woes with a powerful one-yard-run in the first quarter. He continues to show how injured he was at the beginning of the season. He is becoming one of the nations best running backs.
Malik Herring and Jonathan Ledbetter
It really comes as no surprise that Malik Herring received his first career start against Georgia Tech. He’s an excellent run stopper. His playing time increased in the Florida game where he helped turn the defense around in the second half. He was instrumental in stopping Kentucky’s Benny Snell and Auburn’s duo of backs. He excelled against the triple option with five tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss and .5 sacks.
On the opposite side of the defensive line, Jonathan Ledbetter had a fantastic senior day with a team leading nine tackles, with one tackle for a loss. The two ends on the defensive line caused havoc all day long. The fullback never got going, and Tech’s quarterbacks didn’t have much time to decide to keep or pitch. They were getting hit, or directed away from the pitch man by Herring and Ledbetter quickly on every down.
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D’Andre Walker
Another defensive player with an excellent senior day, D’Andre Walker was a headhunter against the triple option with seven tackles and one sack. He punished every player he got his hands on, including one play where he slammed a Tech running back who made the mistake of trying to hurdle a player.