Georgia Wins the Important Half
by Mike Mitchell
12/31/06
Virginia Tech took a 21-3 lead to the halftime locker room and then Georgia let the dogs out and won the important half 28-3 for a 31-24 Chick-fil-A Bowl victory.
Surely, no one thought the top defense in the country would give up an 18-point lead. But no one thought that the Hokies' quarterback would commit four turnovers on four consecutive possessions.
However, the biggest surprise - the one that opened the door for Georgia - came after the Bulldogs had made a harmless, but impressive, 51-yard field goal to cut the gap to 21-6. Georgia caught Virginia Tech off-guard and recovered an onside kick. 52 yards and seven plays later, the Bulldogs made the score 21-13.
When Virginia Tech finally got the ball back, Glennon threw an interception on the fifth play to Tony Taylor. Georgia needed just four plays to go 58 yards, and a two-point conversion tied the game at 21-apiece.
Virginia Tech's next possession was halted on the first play when a blindsided sack forced Glennon's fumble. The Hokies' defense kept Georgia from scoring a touchdown but a 28-yard field goal gave the Bulldogs a 24-21 lead.
Taylor got his second pick off Glennon on the third play of Virginia Tech's next series, and returned it to the 1-yard line. Brannan Southerland punched it in on 4th-and-goal for a 31-21 lead.
Glennon threw his third interception of the fourth quarter just four plays into the next series. Kelin Johnson came out of nowhere to stop what likely would have been a Virginia Tech touchdown on a long pass over the middle at the Bulldogs' 10-yard line.
Georgia went three-and-out and the Hokies got the ball back at their opponents' 27-yard line on a shanked punt. Still, the offense only produced a 28-yard field goal with 3:41 left in the game. Virginia Tech's last possession began at its own 20 with 1:08 left but lost five yards in four plays.
The loss broke the Hokies six-game winning streak as they finished 10-3. Georgia won its third straight game to end the year with a 9-4 record.
The game drew a sell-out crowd of 75,406 to set a Peach Bowl/Chick-fil-A Bowl record, and a Georgia Dome record. |
