Dogs Scrape By Tech In The Dome

( photo RamblinSports)

Tech vs Georgia, 2025 edition.

Different circumstances. Different day. Different venue. Same result.

Georgia Tech fell to the Georgia Bulldogs by a 16-9 score at Mercedes- Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Black Friday, November 28.

It was an odd game in many ways, including the low offensive output by both teams. That facet was particularly surprising for the Dogs' offense as they faced a Tech defense that had been struggling - mightily--against each of the Jackets' three preceding opponents, none of whom had Georgia's offensive chops. Tech's defense played their best game of the year– by far--leaving their fans to wonder where this type of performance might have brought them during the last month of this season. Yes, the Jackets did allow Georgia RB Nate Frazier to do his thing (16 carries for 108 yards), but they effectively throttled QB Gunner Stockton. Georgia's redshirt junior threw 21 times, completing only 11 for a paltry 70 yards. But one of those completions was to WR Zion Branch who made a quick turn to evade a Tech tackler and find the endzone for the game's only touchdown.

Tech's offense sputtered too. Haynes King had perhaps his worst statistical game of the year, and his normal– and now expected– contribution to Tech's running attack was largely held in check by the Dog's D. That said, King did have his moments, including salvaging a few first downs out of the Jackets first possession thst started in a terrible spot– their own two yard line– wwhen returner Shane Marshall fumbled the opening kickoff.

The Jackets opened the scoring with a 30 yard Aiden Birr field goal in the first period. The quarter ended with Tech holding that 3-0 lead.

The Dogs didn't score until 20 minutes into the game, when PK Peyton Woodring tied it up with a 22 yard field goal.

Georgia went on to add 10 more points in the second stanza, with the scoring catch by Branch and then another Woodring field goal as the final second of the first half ticked off of the clock.

As of halftime, each team had owned only three possessions, and it seemed as though this plodding type of pace might play to Tech's favor, given that their early season ability to win a shootout had faded a good bit through the month of November.

Georgia received the second half kickoff and went nowhere. In fact, each team in turn demonstrated some curious play- calling. The Dogs threw deep and incomplete on a 3rd -and- one from their own 26, forcing a punt.

Then , from their own 25, Tech rattled off three first downs before throwing deep on a first down from Georgia's 44 yard line. King's pass was intercepted in acrobatic fashion by DB Ellis Robinson at Georgia's four yard line.

That was a play that would loom larger later on, as it came at a moment where Tech had developed a bit of offensive rhythm that had been lacking in the first half. Nonetheless, the interception acted as a punt, because once more, the Dogs failed to move.

After Georgia went three and out, Tech again moved the ball before stalling on four consecutive King runs up the middle. PK Aidan Birr finished that possession with a 44 yard field goal to bring Tech back within seven points.

On Georgia's next possession, A face mask penalty on the Jackets gave a big 15 yard boost to a sputtering drive that ended with another Woodring field goal, this time from 50 yards out. The three points were important unto themselves, but the larger significance was the simple frustration that Tech fans felt with several self- induced hurdles throughout the game. A pre- snap penalty here, a face mask there, and throw in a strange " roughing" call on OL Key Rutledge for good measure.

Those are the types of miscues that will work prevent an underdog from pulling off an upset win.

And in this game, that was the difference. Tech did claim three more points from yet another Birr field goal, this time from 41 yards.

Tech' s prior possession was when the call against Rutledge moved them back from the UGA 31 to the 46, turning a scoring chance into a punt.

All along the way, the math said Tech still had a chance. Even to the point of one last possession, when the Jackets used a short pass to Jamal Haynes and a longer one to Isiah Canon to set up a Hail Mary for the final play in regulation. But King's pass into the endzone was batted away and the deal was done.

For the Dogs, this game brought relief, and maybe a sense of heightened awareness. They did beat Tech for the eighth consecutive time, tying the longest such streak in the series history . And Georgia will definitely be included in the College Football Playoff, what with their gaudy 11-1 record, and possibly with another SEC title in tow. However , their opponents can take much from Tech's ability to hold down the Bulldogs firepower.

For Georgia Tech, though, this game brought more of the misery that the Jackets stumbled upon over the final month of what had been a magical season. Recall that entering the month of November, Tech held an 8- 0 record and a #8 national ranking. Then came a loss at NC State, a narrow win vs a bad BC team, and then an inexplicably bad loss to a good- not- great Pittsburgh team only a week ago.

And it's odd to ponder how a 9- 3 record can feel so deflating to a program that hasn't won that many since 2014. But the notion that things could be– and really should be– better than they are is inescapable .

The Jackets will be in line for a top- tier bowl game, and things look promising down the road, especially when compared to the gloom and doom that pervaded Tech football country only four years ago.

In the interim, Tech fans can decide for themselves whether the 2025 foitball glass is half- full or half- empty.....or, as the late George Carlin once said, maybe that glass is just too damn big.