The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
» Tech’s good effort still no match for Irish,
After mistake-filled collapses in the previous twoweeks, Georgia Tech gave a better account of itself Saturday. But, against the No. 4 team in the country and its unyielding defense, the Yellow Jackets were no match for Notre Dame.
Unable to generate a consistent offensive attack, Tech lost its third game in a row, a 31-13 defeat to the Fighting Irish on a clear afternoon at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Wearing black jerseys and gold pants in honor of Tech’s “Black Watch” defense, the Jackets (2-5, 2-4ACC) were not un done by penalties and turnovers, as has often been the case in coach Geoff Collins’ second season, but this time mostly by the might of Notre Dame’s defense.
Tech did not score on offense until its ninth possession of the
game, by which time Notre Dame (6-0, 5-0) had safely put away the game by pounding the Tech defense with steady drives that enabled the Irish to generate 426 yards of offense and hold the ball for 36:54.
Saturday’s loss was different than the train wrecks experienced against No. 1 Clemson and Boston College. Tech turned the ball over only once, after a combined six in the past two games and 18 for the season. Penalties weren’t as crippling. The defense did not sabotage itself by allowing hordes of big plays.
In the end, it was a much better team asserting itself, limiting the Jackets to 238 yards, 97 of them gained in the inconsequential fourth quarter.
Down17-7, Tech opened the second half with the ball and quarterback Jeff Sims led the Jackets to the Notre Dame 22 on a 39-yard pass play to wide receiver Jalen
Campon a well-placed throwdown the seam. It was Tech’s closest approach to Notre Dame’s goal line in the game to that point. But a false start pushed the Jacket back five yards, and then on firstand-15, Sims was stripped in the pocket and lost the ball.
Notre Dame took over and went 65 yards for a touchdown in six plays, benefiting from a 31-yard completion from quarterback Ian Book to wide receiver Javon McKinley. The Irish went up 24-7 and had little reason to worry for the rest of the afternoon.
Tech’s obstacles were many, starting with the team in white jerseys. Harbored in the ACC in this pandemic season, Notre Dame entered Saturday’s game ranked first in the conference in total defense (273.0 yards per game), scoring defense (9.8points per game) and third in rushing offense (231.7 yards per game), among other indications of its
might. Three opponents hadbeen held to a touchdown or fewer.
The Jackets, meanwhile, ranked last in the ACC in scoring defense (fifth from the bottom nationally, among teams that had played more than two games) at an ungainly 41.2 points, having given up 121 points in the most recent two games. Tech’s 18 turn overs were the second most in the country.
With reason was Tech a 201/2point underdog at kickoff.
Notre Dame opened the game with a 15-play, 81-yard drive that took 8:38offthe clock, the longest scoring drive permitted by the Jackets this season both in plays and time. After Tech punted at the end of a six-play drive, Notre Dame was poised to go up 14-0 and take decisive control of the game, reaching the Jackets’ 13-yard line. However, safety Juanyeh Thomas stripped running back Kyren Williams and cornerback Zamari
Walton scooped up the fumble at the 7-yard line and raced 93 yards down the east sideline for a touchdown, the longest fumble return in school history. Jude Kelley’s point-after try tied the score at 7-7, even though Notre Dame at the time had gained 131 yards to Tech’s six.
But the Irish were unfazed, assembling a 75-yard touchdown drive to move ahead 14-7. They added a field goal with 1:49, capping adrive that began at the Tech 49-yard line when the Jackets went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Notre Dame 45, but running back Jahmyr Gibbs was tackled in the backfield on a pitch to the short side of the field.