Georgia needed the second-most overtimes ever in an FBS game to survive an upset bid by Georgia Tech in its final game of the regular season.
The Yellow Jackets looked poised to upset the Bulldogs for most of the night, taking a 17-0 lead into halftime and never trailing in regulation. But Georgia outlasted Georgia Tech in a game that lasted four-and-a-half hours to avoid suffering its first home loss since 2019.
After scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter, Georgia Tech was in control of the game throughout the second half until Georgia safety Daniel Jackson stripped the ball from Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King and Bulldogs linebacker Chaz Chambliss recovered the loose ball at Georgia Tech’s 32-yard line. Georgia took advantage of the short field and tied the game on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Carson Beck to Dominic Lovett with 1:01 to play in regulation, and the Bulldogs forced a turnover on downs on Georgia Tech’s ensuing drive to send the game to overtime.
There was still plenty of drama left to unfold from there.
Georgia took the lead on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Beck to London Humphreys to start overtime, but Georgia Tech forced a second overtime with a 12-yard touchdown pass from King to Eric Singleton Jr. Both teams scored again in the second overtime, but neither team was successful on its two-point conversion attempt, sending the game to a two-point shootout.
Neither team scored on their attempt in the third and fourth overtimes. Georgia retook control of the game with a pass from Beck to Dillon Bell to start the fifth overtime, but Georgia Tech responded with a successful conversion of its own on a pass from King to Malik Rutherford.
Georgia had another chance to win the game in the sixth overtime after Jackson sacked King on a safety blitz, but Bulldogs receiver Arian Smith dropped a wide open pass in the back of the end zone to send the game to a seventh overtime.
Georgia Tech had two chances to win the game after stopping Beck on a run to the end zone on Georgia’s attempt to start the seventh overtime. Georgia committed pass interference on Georgia Tech’s first attempt of 7OT, moving the ball to the 1-yard line, but King was stuffed on an attempt to run the ball into the end zone from there.
After another unsuccessful two-point attempt from Georgia Tech to start the eighth overtime, Georgia finally won the game, 44-42, on a run by Nate Frazier.
The game finished just one overtime short of the most overtimes ever played in an FBS game. Penn State and Illinois played nine overtimes in a 20-18 win by the Nittany Lions in 2021, the first year of the new overtime rules in which the game becomes a two-point shootout starting with the third overtime.
With its narrow victory, Georgia improved to 10-2 and is now likely a lock to make the College Football Playoff regardless of what happens in next week’s SEC Championship Game, where it will play the winner of Saturday night’s Texas vs. Texas A&M game. Scrutiny about how good this year’s Bulldogs actually are will certainly continue, though, with how close they came to suffering their third loss of the season on Friday night.
