ATLANTA — For the past year, few groups of people in the state of Georgia have been more maligned than Georgia’s defense and defensive coordinator Willie Martinez. Georgia’s defense was gutted a year ago by Georgia Tech, giving up 409 rushing yards in Georgia Tech’s 45-42 win in Athens.
On Saturday, it was redemption time for Georgia ’s defense, which held Tech to 205 yards rushing. When facing an offense like the Yellow Jackets’ triple-option, sound tackling and playing assignment football are vital. Doing so can help force an option offense into long-yardage situations. That’s exactly what the Bulldogs were able to do against Georgia Tech, which converted 7-of-13 third down conversions.
“We just wanted to win. We wanted to force them into long yardage, and take away the fullback first and the quarterback second and so forth,” Martinez said. “The bottom line is that if you tackle well, you can play good defense, especially against this offense.”
Even more pleasing for Georgia’s defense was the fact that when a victory over the Yellow Jackets was on the line, Georgia head coach Mark Richt wasn’t afraid to put the game in his defense’s hands, and the unit delivered. When Georgia lined up for a 55-yard Blair Walsh field goal with less than five minutes to play, the risk of giving Tech the ball in good field position existed if Walsh were to miss the attempt.
“I knew that if we didn’t make it, our defense would have to do it one more time,” Richt said.
And when he missed the kick, the game was on the defense’s shoulders.
But Georgia’s defense did its job. After forcing Tech to use four plays to get a first down, running time off the clock, the Bulldogs then turned away three deep pass attempts before a fourth down pass from Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt to Demaryius Thomas bounced off Thomas’ hands.
On Saturday, no Yellow Jackets player gained more than 50 yards on the ground, and just one, Nesbitt, amassed more than 40 yards.
Jonathan Dwyer, who has tormented many a defense for most of the season, was held to 33 yards by a Georgia defense that did what it was unable to do a year ago — prevent the big play. Georgia Tech’s longest gain against the Bulldogs was 26 yards, on a reverse to wide receiver Stephen Hill.
That’s a far cry from what Georgia Tech was able to do a year ago, when Dwyer rushed for 144 yards and Roddy Jones lit up the Bulldogs for 214 yards.
“Our coaches did a fantastic job of having the plan ready as quickly as possible. Our players bought in 100 percent of what we were trying to get done on both sides of the ball,” Richt said.
In the time since the loss to Georgia Tech a year ago, perhaps no defensive player has faced more criticism than safety Reshad Jones, whose missed tackle allowed Roddy Jones to race 54 yards and all but seal last year’s win over the Bulldogs.
Like his teammates, Jones enjoyed the feeling of redemption against the Yellow Jackets. His interception of Georgia Tech back-up quarterback Jaybo Shaw in the second quarter led to a Georgia field goal.
“He had a great game. That interception was phenomenal. He did a great job, like all of our guys on defense,” Martinez said.
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Georgia defense enjoys feeling of redemption
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VSU teams hosting summer camps
The national champion Valdosta State softball team will host two separate summer camps this summer, as well as weekly clinics throughout the summer.
The two summer camps will be held on June 11-13 and July 9-11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The camps will cost $100 each. -
David Dean Youth Camp begins next week
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The fourth annual camp will be held May 29-June 1 at the Athletic Fieldhouse off Mary Street. -
National champion head coach rewarded with new truck
National champion head coach rewarded with new truck Valdosta State head softball coach Thomas Macera was rewarded with a new Toyota Tacoma from Valdosta Toyota on Wednesday for his team’s 4-1 victory over the University of California-San Diego in the Division II Softball National Championship Game.
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Valwood’s Savino, Elliott named All-State soccer
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All-American again
Go ahead and add another award to resume of this year’s Valdosta State softball team.
Between conference player of the week awards, a national player of the week award, All-Conference and All-Region honors and four All-American awards, the national champion Blazers had plenty of individuals honored for performances throughout the season, which ultimately led to VSU’s first ever softball national title. -
Local area events coming soon
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Monday, May 28, there will be a Memorial Day 5K, which will begin at 8 a.m. from the VECA School located on the corner of Azalea Drive and College Street. -
Tech bound
Donjahae Jones gets it done in the classroom and on the track.
One of the top students in her class, and one of the top track and field competitors in the state, Jones will be taking her talents to the Division I level after she signed a track and field scholarship with Georgia Tech on Tuesday. -
Blazers garner All-Region honors
Two Valdosta State baseball players have been named All-South Region while a third has garnered Academic All-Region, according to announcements made by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and the Collegiate Sports Information Director's of America (CoSIDA) this week.
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Lowndes' Phelps named tennis Coach of the Year
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Wildcats close spring practice
VALDOSTA — The Valdosta Wildcats put their finishing touches on spring practice Saturday night with the playing of their annual spring game at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
No score was kept in the game, but the Wildcats did play best-on-best, pitting the starting offense against the starting defense. - More Local Sports Headlines
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VSU teams hosting summer camps
