Georgia Tech: 35
Georgia: 0

In their final contest of the 1956 season, the 9-1, 4th ranked Yellow Jackets would head to Athens to face the archrival Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs entered the contest at 3-5-1, having lost their past two games to Auburn and Florida. Tech owned the series of late, winning seven straight over Georgia dating back to the 1949 season.

The first quarter was marked by sloppy play as each team turned the ball over on its opening possession after marching deep into its opponents’ territory. The remainder of the period saw very little offense, with Georgia punting once and Tech punting twice. The quarter came to a close after Tech’s second punt with the Bulldogs starting from their own 36 yard line.

Georgia quickly punted at the start of quarter two and the Ramblin’ Wreck followed with an 86 yard scoring drive for the game’s first points. Dicky Mattison got the drive started with two runs out to the 30 yard line. Wade Mitchell followed with 15 yards off tackle before Mattison came back for 20 more on three consecutive runs to the Georgia 35. Paul Rottenberry added 5 yards to the 30 and Mitchell gained 10 more to the Bulldog 20. Mattison then gained 12 on three tries to setup an 8 yard touchdown run by Rottenberry to put Tech ahead 7-0.

Little notable action was seen for the remainder of the second quarter and the Jackets carried a one score lead into the locker room at the break.

Tech wasted no time after half time as it quickly added to its lead on the opening drive of the third quarter. Rottenberry took a pitch 53 yards to Georgia’s 19 to get the drive started and Jimmy Thompson followed with a 14 yard dash to the Bulldog 5 yard line. An offsides penalty advanced the Jackets to the 1 and Mitchell broke the plane on a sneak for a 14-0 lead less than one minute into the second half.

The momentum looked to have shifted heavily in favor of Tech when James Johnson picked off Charles Byars on the ensuing possession, but the Yellow Jacket offense failed to capitalize and eventually punted back near midfield.

The remainder of the third quarter was dominated by solid defense and punting until the Jackets took over near the 50 at the start of the final period of play. Thompson, Kenneth Owen, and Toppy Vann alternated carries for a combined 49 yards to Georgia’s goal line before Mattison burst into the end zone on fourth down for a 21-0 Yellow Jacket lead.

After forcing another Georgia punt, the Ramblin’ Wreck was at it again from its opponent’s 48. Mattion gained 19 yards on two runs to the 29, Mitchell followed up with a gain of 6, and 15 yard penalty helped the Jackets to the Bulldog 6 yard line shortly thereafter. Stan Flowers then found the end zone from 6 yards out to make it 28-0 after the PAT.

On the drive that followed, Vann picked off a Georgia pass at the Tech 37 to regain possession. Switching to the offensive side of the ball, he found Flowers for 33 yards to Georgia’s 29 and followed with a 12 yard strike to Vickers on the play that followed. Two plays later he hit Flowers in the end zone for the game’s final score to make it 35-0.

With the victory, Tech finished the regular season at 9-1 and earned an instant invitation to face the Pittsburgh Panthers in the Gator Bowl on New Year’s Day. The win was the eighth in a row over the Bulldogs, who finished at 3-6-1 on the season and did not attend a bowl game.

Statistics:

First downs:
GT – 19
UGA – 9

Rushing Yards:
GT – 326
UGA – 133

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
GT – 3-6-57
UGA – 4-9-32

Interceptions thrown:
GT – 0
UGA – 2

Fumbles lost:
GT – 1
UGA – 1

Penalty yards:
GT – 45
UGA – 84

References:
Danforth, Ed. “Late Tech Surge Rips Georgia, 35-0.” The Atlanta Journal Constitution. 1956 Dec. 2