South Carolina: 7
Georgia Tech: 13

After a poor second half showing at Alabama, Georgia Tech returned home to face South Carolina at Grant Field in the next to the last game of the season. With starting quarterback Jim Southard still sidelined with a back injury, backup quarterback Darrell Crawford would lead the Jackets in an attempt to compile their sixth win of the season. The Gamecocks did not necessarily pose a large threat to the Jackets, as they entered the contest at 2-5 with victories over Clemson and Marquette.

The teams exchanged punts in the early going before South Carolina mounted a drive to the Yellow Jacket 16 yard line. When the drive stalled, Gamecock coach Rex Enright felt that he needed a stronger kicking leg for such a long field goal. Enright elected to take a delay of game penalty so that he could sub Bill Killoy into the game. Killoy entered and nailed the 38 kick for the game’s first score and a 3-0 lead.

Little notable action was seen for the remainder of the first half, as a first quarter march to the South Carolina 30 was the most promising drive for Tech. The teams would head to intermission with the Jackets trailing by three.

Much of the third quarter passed in the same fashion as the second, with neither team seriously threatening to score. But late in the period, Tech’s Morris Harrison intercepted Harold Hagan’s pass and the Jackets took over at the Gamecock 49 yard line. The turnover sparked a 12 play drive that gave the Ramblin’ Wreck the lead early in the fourth quarter. The Jackets converted on two fourth downs on the drive, as Crawford hooked up with Colin Anderson on both occasions. The first conversion came on an 8 yard strike to the 19 on 4th and 5, while the second came three plays later on a 13 yard bullet to the 4 on 4th and 8. Harrison plunged to the 1 yard line and Crawford snuck in one play later for the touchdown and a 7-3 lead.

While the scoreboard did not necessarily reflect it, the Jackets dominated the remainder of the fourth quarter. On its next possession, Tech advanced all the way to the Gamecock 14 yard line, but turned the ball over on downs to end the drive. The Jackets made up for the mistake later in the period when they took the ball 57 yards in 8 plays to extend the lead to 13-3. Robert North ran for 30 yards on the drive before George Humphreys scored on a four yard touchdown run. But James Patton’s missed extra point left the Yellow Jacket lead at 13-3.

South Carolina held the game’s final possession, but Tech intercepted as time expired to close out the victory. The Gamecocks bounced back from the loss to win their finals two contests over Wake Forest and the Citadel to finish the year at 4-6 overall.

Statistics:

First Downs:
SC – 9
GT – 16

Rushing Yards:
SC – 128
GT – 201

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
SC – 2-9-3
GT – 10-22-111

Fumbles lost:
SC – 0
GT – 1

Interceptions thrown:
SC – 1
GT – 2

Penalty yards:
SC – 45
GT – 52

References:
Williams, F.M. “Jackets Win In 4th Period.” The Atlanta Constitution. 1949 Nov. 20