Georgia Tech: 7
Georgia: 0

On Thanksgiving weekend 1950, the 4-6 Yellow Jackets would travel to Athens to face the archrival Georgia Bulldogs. While the Jackets had bounced back from four straight losses to defeat Davidson 46-14 one week prior, those in the media still tabbed them a 13 underdog to the Dawgs. Tech narrowly defeated Georgia 7-6 to close out the ’49 season and looked to end the 1950 campaign on another positive note.

After little action in the first quarter, Georgia drove the ball deep into Tech territory and was staring at the goal line early in the second period. But just as it looked as if they would score, quarterback Malcolm Cook fumbled the ball on a bad exchange from center and Lamar Wheat picked it up for the Jackets and returned it to the Tech 26 yard line.

The Yellow Jackets moved the ball successfully down the field, reaching Georgia’s 21 with the aid of a 15 yard penalty and an 11 yard pass from Joe Salome to John Weigle. Georgia was called for another roughing penalty two plays later that moved the Jackets to the 4, but Salome left the game injured and would not return. George Humphreys then ran to the one yard line and backup quarterback Darrell Crawford capped off the drive with a sneak for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Late in the second quarter George Morris intercepted a Georgia pass to spark another Yellow Jacket scoring opportunity. But the drive eventually came up short when Tech turned the ball over on downs at the 5 yard line and the Ramblin’ Wreck would hold a 7 point lead at the break.

The Bulldogs had two chances to score in the third quarter, but failed to capitalize on either opportunity. The first attempt fell just short of the end zone when Luke Brunson lost a fumble to George Morris at the three yard line, while the second ended in a turnover on downs at the 12.

Aided by two interceptions, the Jackets advanced to the Georgia 15 in the fourth quarter, but lost the ball on downs at the 13. Crawford was injured on the play and Tech was forced to survive the remainder of the contest with Bubber Sykes at the helm.

The Bulldogs saw their final opportunity fall short when Raymond Prosperi threw an interception to Robert Moorhead late in the fourth quarter. The Jackets would run out the clock to ice the victory for their second in a row over their archrival.

In all, the Bulldogs turned the ball over seven times in the contest to aid the Yellow Jackets in just their second victory at Sanford Stadium since its opening in 1929. While Tech’s season ended with the win, Georgia earned a berth in the Presidential Cup Bowl where they would fall 40-20 to the Texas A&M Aggies to finish at 6-3-3 for the year.

Statistics:

First Downs:
GT – 9
UGA – 15

Rushing Yards:
GT – 74
UGA – 161

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
GT – 4-9-20
UGA – 7-22-64

Fumbles lost:
GT – 0
UGA – 2

Interceptions thrown:
GT – 5
UGA – 1

Penalty yards:
GT – 28
UGA – 50

References:
Danforth, Ed. “Tech Upsets Georgia, 7-0.” The Atlanta Journal Constitution. 1950 Dec. 3