Last year’s installment of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate was one of the craziest in the rivalry’s storied history.
It doesn’t need a whole lot of rehashing, but here you go just in case. Georgia prevailed in a 44-42 eight-overtime epic. The Bulldogs had to climb back from a 17-0 halftime deficit and, if not for a late forced fumble by safety Dan Jackson, likely wouldn’t have had a chance to get to overtime at all.
It was one of the wildest college football games of this decade, and certainly generated plenty of anticipation for this week’s matchup, even as Georgia Tech’s recent loss to Pittsburgh essentially ended its ACC title and College Football Playoff hopes.
But don’t expect anyone from either team to harp on last year. These are different teams, after all.
“The teams are trying to win the game, regardless of what happened last year,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said via 247sports.com. “I don’t know what eight overtimes would make people want to win more or less this year. I assure you, they want to win the game just as much as we do, regardless of the outcome last year.”
Key difference this year is their ground game
This season, Georgia is only allowing 87.6 rushing yards per game. This is the fifth-fewest in the nation and second-best in the SEC behind Oklahoma.
The Bulldogs have had success shutting down the run in some of their biggest wins of the season, most notably against Ole Miss and Texas. Compare that to last season where the Bulldogs surrendered 129.7 yards per game on the ground, which was middle of the pack in the SEC and nowhere near the best in the nation.
By comparison, Georgia Tech has really struggled to stop the run. The Yellow Jackets are allowing 167.8 yards per game, the third-most in the ACC.
Georgia Tech was recently gashed on the ground by Pitt, surrendering 201 yards to running back Ja’Kyrian Turner in their 42-28 loss. In their two games before that, they gave up 175 rushing yards in a last-second win over 1-10 Boston College and 243 rushing yards in a 48-36 loss to NC State.
That could be bad news facing a Georgia team currently averaging 190.5 yards per game, the fourth-best total in the SEC.
It’s a far cry from last year’s Bulldogs, who had the conference’s second-worst rushing attack statistically at just 124.4 yards per game. This year, Georgia has had a balanced backfield led by Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens, and with contributions from the likes of Josh McCray, Dwight Phillips Jr., quarterback Gunner Stockton and others.
Last year, the Bulldogs couldn’t run it at all against the Jackets. They rushed for just 108 yards, 30 of which came on an end around to wideout Arian Smith. Take that play out, and the Bulldogs had just 78 rush yards on 25 carries for an average of 3.12 yards a pop.
And while Georgia Tech’s running game has statistically been even better than last year (215.2 rushing yards per game this season to 187 last year), they’re going up against a significantly improved Georgia run defense.
Georgia's run defense is improving fast
The week before the Georgia Tech game last year, Georgia surrendered 226 rushing yards to a lowly 2-9 UMass team in a 59-21 win. It was a concerning showing against an opponent they should’ve had no problem with.
This year, Georgia gave up 39 rushing yards to Charlotte last week. The most they’ve given up in a game was 149 against Mississippi State, and even that came at a rate of just 3.5 yards per carry.
So, even with its star duo of Haynes King and Jamal Haynes, Georgia Tech might have a harder time finding success on the ground this time around. The Yellow Jackets burned Georgia for 260 rushing yards last year, but that will be hard to do again.
The injury to Georgia linebacker CJ Allen is a significant blow to Georgia’s defense, however. He played what may have been the game of his life last year against Georgia Tech with 10 tackles, one for a loss and two passes defended. His presence will be missed, even if Georgia has Raylen Wilson and Justin Williams ready to step up.
But still, it remains a fact that Georgia’s run defense and offense is significantly improved, and that could be the biggest difference going up against a Georgia Tech team that makes its living on the ground. The Bulldogs also have a much better chance to establish the run offensively and knock the Jackets off their script defensively.