Three Matthew Stafford touchdown passes to Mohamed Massaquoi helped Georgia take a 28-12 halftime lead over Georgia Tech before a soaked but enthusiastic Sanford Stadium crowd.
The game started out about as perfectly as Georgia could have hoped. The Bulldogs took the opening kickoff and marched 66 yards for a touchdown. Georgia used a mixture of Knowshon Moreno’s running and Stafford’s passing to get to Tech’s end zone in eight plays and 3:20, as Stafford’s 1-yard touchdown toss to Tripp Chandler capped off the drive. Stafford started the game off sharp, completing four of his first five passes for 73 yards, but was two of his next five, including an interception return for a touchdown by Yellow Jacket safety Morgan Burnett, which put Tech on the board. Tech missed the extra point and trailed 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Stafford rebounded, however, finding Massaquoi for touchdown passes of 13, 49 and 3 yards in the second quarter. Georgia’s passing game featured Massaquoi, A.J. Green and even a little dose of Michael Moore and Shaun Chapas, as they had the Tech secondary on their heels the whole half. Chapas caught a 26-yard pass to put the Bulldogs at the Yellow Jacket 3-yard line, setting up Stafford’s last pass to Massaquoi right before halftime. Massaquoi is already over 100 yards receiving and his three touchdown receptions ties the Georgia record for most receiving touchdowns in a game.
The Yellow Jackets had their most success in the second quarter, as Roddy Jones continued to be effective on pitches to the outside. The Bulldogs held Jonathan Dwyer’s fullback dives in check for the most part, but Tech exploited Georgia on the edges. A Lucas Cox 2-yard touchdown run was on a pitch to the outside. The Bulldogs will have to protect the edges of their defense better; if not, the Yellow Jacket offense will gain confidence and possibly open the door for Dwyer’s runs up the middle. Tech even tried to utilize Dwyer on the outside late in the first half. Despite being down 16, expect the Yellow Jackets to continue to hope for big plays in the running game.
Between the first and second quarters, retired University of Georgia radio announcer Larry Munson was honored in front of the Sanford Stadium crowd. Munson was driven out onto the field right in front of the east end zone, where he received a standing ovation and a portrait of himself calling a Bulldog football game. He was the voice of Georgia football for 43 years.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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