APATLANTA - Georgia came out running and never slowed down.
When it was done, the Bulldogs had a huge upset that took some of the sting out of their disappointing season, while the Atlantic Coast Conference was left with a huge letdown for a championship game.
Taking a page out of Georgia Tech’s playbook, Georgia rushed for 339 yards to beat the seventh-ranked Yellow Jackets 30-24 Saturday night. Freshman Washaun Ealey rambled for 183 yards and Caleb King broke loose for 166 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bulldogs (7-5) reclaimed state bragging rights in a tumultuous year and handed the Yellow Jackets (10-2) a huge setback in what has been their best season in nearly two decades. The nation’s second-best rushing team was held to 205 yards — 109 below its average.
“It hurts. I know I’m hurting,” Georgia Tech safety Morgan Burnett said. “We were a higher-ranked team, but I think we got complacent.
The loss completed a dismal day for the two teams that will meet next week in Tampa, Fla., for the ACC title. Earlier, Clemson was blown out by South Carolina 34-17.
Ealey and King left little doubt what they had in mind. The freshman had written “I Run” in black under his left eye and “This State” under his right eye. King has the same words written on his arms.
“We had a lot of success (running),” said Ealey, who had already set a new career high by early in the second quarter. “I hope we do it a lot in the future.”
Georgia set the tone right from the opening kickoff. The first 10 plays? All runs, including a 35-yarder by Ealey and a 6-yard touchdown for King.
The offensive line was dominating, pushing around the Yellow Jackets to open one big hole after another.
High-scoring Georgia Tech, averaging 36 points a game, looked totally out of sync throughout the first half and put themselves in another deep hole, just as they did against Georgia a year ago. In that one, Georgia Tech fell behind 28-12 at the midway point but rallied for a 45-42 victory than snapped a seven-year losing streak against their state rival.
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This time, the Yellow Jackets went to the locker room down 17-3. They couldn’t make it all the way back.
After Georgia’s Blair Walsh was wide left on a potentially clinching field goal from 55 yards out, only his second miss of the season, Georgia Tech converted a fourth down at the Georgia 46 with plenty of time to run it the rest of the way.
But coach Paul Johnson abandoned the triple option, taking three straight deep shots through the air — all incomplete — to leave the Yellow Jackets facing fourth-and-10. Quarterback Josh Nesbitt, who returned to the game on a gimpy ankle after being injured in the first half, found Demaryius Thomas wide open along the sideline for what would have been enough for the first down.
But Georgia Tech’s top receiver let the ball slip through his hands with no one around.
Game over.
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