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Late fumble call
highly debated
ANALYSIS
By DARREN EPPS
The Red a Black
ATLANTA — By now, anyone
associated with the Georgia-
Georgia Tech football game is
used to the controversy that
always seems to heat up this
in-s»ate rivalry just a little bit
more.
But no one could have pre
pared the Bulldogs for Jasper
Sanks' infamous "fumble'' at the
Tech goal line with the score tied
at 48 and the final seconds tick
ing off the clock.
“I’m In disbelief,” middle
linebacker Will Witherspoon said.
"It really breaks you down.”
With the game seemingly
wrapped up as the ball sat on the
Tech 2-yard line with nine sec
onds left, head coach Jim
Donnan elected to go for the
touchdown instead of kicking a
short held goal Sanks, who had
gained 25 yards on his last two
carries, took the handoff and
plowed into the middle of the
line.
Replays show that Sanks'
knees — then elbows — hit the
grass before the ball was
knocked loose by the ground.
One referee pointed down
ward, signaling the play dead.
But two referees, including back
judge Toby Silberman — a gradu
ate of the University of Florida —
told head referee A! Ford that
Sanks was still moving when he
lost the ball.
"After the ball was put into
play, I had two guys who saw the
ball come loose,” Ford said.
"Neither of them saw the runner
down and both said forward
progress. had not stopped. A
Georgia Tech player recovered
the ball and so possession went
to Georgia Tech.”
That wasn't the only contro
versy. Georgia had to settle for a
field goal after Thad Parker was
ruled out-of-bounds on an appar
ent touchdown catch. And in
overtime, Tech appeared to have
12 men on the field on defense on
two different occasions.
All of which left Bulldog play
ers in disbelief following the
game.
"I guess it takes some luck,"
Witherspoon said. “We deserve
better.”
The controversial play contin
ues a trend of questionable calls
at critical moments in the game.
In 1997, Tech fans called
' Georgia's comeback win a fluke
when pass interference was
■ called against the Yellow Jackets
on fourth down during the
Bulldogs' final drive. Seconds
later, Mike Bobo found Corey
Allen in the endzone to give the
1 Bulldogs a 27-24 win.
; Last year, it was Georgia fans
upaet about the officiating after
referees ruled Joe Hamilton
down before he fumbled on
Tech's game-winning drive,
though replays proved otherwise.
A Georgia 2-point conversion
, was also nullified when referees
said Carter never crossed the
goal line on a quarterback keep
er, though a second look on
replay showed the tip of the ball
barely crossing the goal line.
All of which calls for a change
in the officials, Donnan said.
“I’ve said it before, we need to
have neutral officials calling this
game,” he said, referring to the
SEC crew that works the
Georgia-Georgia Tech game at
Grant Field and the ACC crew
that calls games played in
Athens. “There is just too much
pressure. Right or wrong,
though, it’s tough."
“I still
can’t believe
it. I was
stretched
out, on the
ground, and
all of a sud
den some
one picks up
the ball. The
side judge
marked me down. I just
can’t believe it.”
JASPER SANKS, RUNNING BACK
“We
should have
won, no
question. It
always
seems like
we get the
bad breaks.”
Marcus Stroud,
Defensive Tackle
“I thought
a heard a
whistle. I
thought
Jasper was
down.”
Jermaine Phillips,
Wide Receiver
“I’m going
to think
about this
for a really
long time.”
Bruce Adrine,
Defensive End
MCltOM
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SPORTS NOTEBOOK
JASON MCDANIEL | T» In a Bum.
A Defensive tackle Marcus Stroud and Georgia Tech
receiver Kerry Watkins fight during Saturday’s game.
corps and combined to lead the
team with 15 catches for 236
yards and two touchdowns in
the showdown with the Yellow
Jackets.
Down 17-3 early in the sec
ond quarter, McMichael got
Georgia started off on its first
comeback bid when he was on
the receiving end of a 71 -yard
touchdown pass from quarter
back Quincy Carter And
Johnson allowed his team to
take a 48-41 lead when he bull
dozed and dove his way to a 30-
yard score with 5:12 remaining
in the game.
By JOSH KATZOWITZ
The Red a Buck
Tight ends take over
receiving in game
ATLANTA — With injuries to
receivers Michael Greer (knee)
and Terrence Edwards (toe), the
Bulldogs were able to make use
of receivers that are not nor
mally in the spotlight in their
51-48 defeat at the hands of
Georgia Tech.
And although tight ends
Randy McMichael and Jevaris
Johnson played a big role in the
20-17 win two Saturdays ago
against Ole Miss, the two virtu
ally took over the receiving
Lack of ‘D’ makes
for scoring explosion
With Georgia going against
Tech's much-maligned defense
and the Jackets lining up
against the Bulldogs' inexperi
enced secondary, the two
teams’ offenses were expected
to roll up huge numbers.
LOSS: Bulldogs lose
by overtime field goal
► From Page 1
And after place-kicker Luke
Manget’s field goal attempt on
third down was blocked by
Boss Bailey, his next 38-yard
attempt found its way through
the goal post to deliver the
knockout punch,
“That's a good win, and I’m
glad we sent him out there on
third down to try that field
goal instead of on fourth
down,” said Tech head coach
George O’Leary, who accepted
a Gator Bowl bid after the
game. “That's a good win for
Tech, and again, a tough loss if
you're on the other end of
that."
It's a statement confirmed
by place-kicker Hap Hines.
“I'd want to go for a
rematch right now,” said
Hines, who connected on field
goals of 30 and 23 yards. “And
when little Hap Jr. is on my
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But through the first 14 min-
' "utSs dfthe first quafter, the Scbre~
stood at 3-3 and the teams had
combined for 143 yards, an
unspectacular figure. With a 53-
yard bomb from Tech senior
quarterback Jo* Hamilton, the
Heisman Trophy candidate who
completed 22 of 32 passes for 341
yards, four touchdowns and an
interception, to Kelly Campbell,
the fuse for an offensive explosion
was lit.
Together, Georgia and Tech
gained 1,102 yards and scored 99
points, which demolished the
series' record of 68 (set in
Georgia's 42-26 victory in 1975).
“It was two high-powered
offenses out there,” said defen
sive tackle Richard Seymour, who
had eight tackles. “Hamilton’s a
good quarterback, and he hit
some good targets.”
Grant suffers possibly
tom ligament Saturday
On the fifth play of the game,
defensive end Charles Grant
made his return to the offensive
side of the bail. And on a third-
and-one at Tech's 21-yard line,
the freshman from Colquitt
gained 2 yards to continue
Georgia’s opening drive.
But when Georgia coach Jim
Donnan trotted his starting
defensive end out to the field on a
fourth-and-one from the Jackets’
9 just four plays later, he was hit
knee and asks if we beat Tech my
senior year. I’m going to send him
to his room.”
1
for a loss of 1 on a toss sweep left,
and In the process, he suffered a
tom anterior cruciate ligament.
“They told me during the
game that it was tom, but the
MRI results haven’t been
released,” said Grant Sunday
from his McWhorter Hall dorm
room.
"They’ll probably know
(Monday). I went to rehab, and
they Iced It down and moved It
and played with it for a little
while. But It doesn't hurt, and it
didn’t hurt when it happened."
Among the rest of the injured
included Greer, Edwards and
Jonas Jennings, who continued to
struggle with ankle problems but
was able to finish the game.
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