Instant reactions to Georgia’s dramatic 8OT win over Georgia Tech

Does anyone even know what just happened? After trailing 17-0 and seeing fans leaving the stadium in the fourth quarter, Georgia football stormed back from that 17-point halftime deficit to beat Georgia Tech 44-42 in eight overtime.

While everyone knows that it should have never gotten to this point, it’s hard to not be extremely proud of Kirby Smart and this team for bouncing back and finding a way to win this game in the second half.

There are a million things flooding through my head right now, but here are three instant reactions to Georgia’s wild win over the Yellow Jackets.

Georgia showed a lot of heart

Let’s be clear that this statement was not true in the first half. Georgia looked like they were still in the locker room during the first half, and didn’t have a care in the world if they won or not. But that all changed in the second half.

Everyone knew Georgia was the far better team on paper, and that didn’t change even during that terrible first half. But what was missing was heart. What was missing was determination and the strong desire to win at all costs.

But that all came back in the second half and during the eight overtimes, which led Georgia to come back and win this game.

Georgia’s struggles with mobile QBs continues

This is now the third game recently where Georgia has struggled with a mobile QB. The UMass QB last week gave Georgia fits early in the game and DJ Lagway did as well during the Florida game.

Now it’s time to add Georgia Tech QB Haynes King to that list as well.

King dominated Georgia’s defense all night long, both in the air and on the ground. He threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns while running for over 100 yards and three more touchdowns. It’s almost impossible to do better than that.

At this point, this style of quarterback play just isn’t something Georgia knows how to handle. So hopefully they don’t have to face it again or they could be in serious trouble.

Less confident in a College Football Playoff run

The final score of the game is irrelevant. Sure Georgia ended up winning after an amazing comeback, but the fact that Georgia was so far behind to begin with does not instill any confidence going forward.

Georgia Tech, while they are clearly a very good team, will be the easiest opponent Georgia faces the rest of this season. Texas or Texas A&M will be more difficult in the SEC Championship game, and UGA’s opponent in the College Football Playoff will be much better as well.

So good on Georgia for finding a way to win, but the confidence in a meaningful postseason run has dropped significantly.