Dawgs Reclaim State Championship

FOOTBALL

The Dawg's concluded the regular season this past Saturday night with a thrilling 30-24 victory over seventh-ranked Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

On Sunday, a handful of Dawgs reflected on their latest win in the rivalry and said they were looking forward to playing one more time this year. Senior quarterback Joe Cox, junior offensive tackle Clint Boling, junior linebacker Rennie Curran and senior defensive tackle Jeff Owens took part in the regular Sunday conference call that Dawg head coach Mark Richt usually does with the media.

The Dawgs will know their bowl destination no later than Sunday, Dec. 6.

The main topic Sunday was the Dawg’s successful rushing attack against the Yellow Jackets as they tallied 339 yards on the ground. It was the most rushing yards by a Dawg squad since a 1988 win over William & Mary when the Dawgs registered 372 yards on 53 attempts.

“We wanted to help our defense out by keeping their offense off the field, and we knew we had to run it to have a chance to win, and we did that,” said Boling. “We felt like we could handle them up front, and we were going to run it until they stopped us, and they didn’t,” Cox added.

Freshman running back Washaun Ealey (183 yards) and sophomore Caleb King (166 yards) set career highs to lead the Bulldog offense. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech’s vaunted option attack was limited to 228 rushing yards on 51 attempts and star running back Jonathan Dwyer managed just 44 yards on 14 carries.

“Our main goal if we were going to beat Tech was that we had to stop the run, that’s their offense, and we focused on that the entire week,” said Curran. “Our offense was playing well, and we were able to rest a bit. It was good to see the offense doing well, and we fed off of that.”

“My job was to stop the dive, and that’s what we did last night,” Owens added. “We played fundamental football, you have to beat your man at all times and stop the dive."

With the victory, the Dawgs finished the regular season 7-5, and the media asked the Dawgs if they left the field last night wondering what the season would’ve been like had they played like that the entire year.

“You would drive yourself crazy thinking about that, you can always look back and wish you would’ve played better here and there, I’m just glad we showed up for this one,” said Cox. “This was the biggest game of year, it’s another year of bragging rights. It’s tough knowing we could’ve done better but it would be a waste of time to do that now.”

“We definitely have been working hard the entire season, and things haven’t gone the way we wanted, and it’s been frustrating,” Curran added. “I wish we had more games, but we’ve stayed competitive and we’re not pointing any fingers.”

The Dawgs did not indicate any specific bowl game they were hoping to play in and will wait to find out their destination later this week.

“It doesn’t matter, we get one more chance to play, and we’re looking forward to playing one more time,” said Boling.

“I’m for anywhere we’re going, I want to go out with a bang like last night. It will be a good opportunity to step out on the field and play again,” said Owens.