ATLANTA - Georgia put together perhaps its most complete game of the college football season Saturday with a 13-7 win over rival Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
But was it enough to secure another season for embattled head coach Mark Richt?
The Bulldogs (9-3) won their fourth consecutive game after losing three of four and falling out of contention in the SEC East. The heat on Richt, already increasing in local and national circles, got hotter after last week's overtime win over Georgia Southern.
Following Saturday's win, Richt's 13th against Tech in 15 games, Bulldog players let their feelings be known about their veteran coach.
"I'm not worried about it," said senior linebacker Jordan Jenkins. "I know Coach Richt is safe and the rest of the coaches are safe."
The Georgia offense, which still sputtered in the red zone, nevertheless outgained the reeling Yellow Jackets (3-9) 402 yards to 276, including 149 rushing yards by sophomore tailback Sony Michel, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
Often-criticized quarterback Greyson Lambert was an efficient 18-of-25 passing for 224 yards and was part of an offense that did not turn the ball over and allowed only one sack.
Richt, after informing a large postgame media gathering he had not talked with athletic director Greg McGarity about his future, praised his team for finishing the regular season strong.
"I'm very proud of the way the guys fought, not just today but over the last month," he said. "It's been pretty neat.
"When you look at a team in the position we were in and watch everybody come together, it's been satisfying. We certainly could have gone one way or the other. I mean, what were we going to do? We could have laid down and died or we could lock arms and get after it, and they did - coaches, players, everybody."
The Bulldogs took the opening possession and marched 75 yards in eight plays, with Michel scoring untouched on a 34-yard run. That would be all the scoring in the first half as each team had drives end on fourth-down gambles in plus territory.
"We would have loved to have scored more, but that's a broken record with us," Lambert said. "Our goal was to move the football and get points when we can and win the game. We moved the ball all game."
While the offense had its moments, it was Jeremy Pruitt's defense that stole the show, holding Tech's vaunted option offense 80 yards below its average of 261 yards rushing. Quarterback Justin Thomas, still hampered by an injury suffered a week ago, was just 6-for-18 passing with two interceptions and only 82 yards.
Geogia Tech's second drive reached the UGA 41, but Thomas was stuffed on fourth-and-1. After Marshall Morgan's 19-yard field goal gave the Bulldogs a 10-0 lead, the Jackets drove to the 31, but a Natrez Patrick sack resulted in a missed 55-yard field-goal try.
The Bulldogs' defense, willing to bend at times, dominated for the most part.
"Our motto coming in was 'Make them snap it again,'" linebacker Jake Ganus said. "That's what we did, and we ended up forcing three turnovers. We kept grinding and they couldn't put long drives together."
The Georgia lead grew to 13-0 early in the final quarter on a Morgan 37-yard field goal, though Morgan would miss later in the period to keep the Jackets within reach.
They responded with 3:24 remaining when, following a Georgia personal foul that aided the drive, Thomas hit Ricky Jeune with a 15-yard touchdown pass. On the ensuing kickoff Reggie Davis took a knee at the 7-yard line, putting the Bulldogs in bad position and giving the Tech crowd reason to come alive.
Lambert, though, quickly quieted the throng with a 25-yard play-action pass to tight end Jeb Blazevich. The drive ate up all but 40 seconds of the clock, and, following a punt, the game ended on Malkolm Parrish's interception.
"We had all that controversy and we just kind of came together," Ganus said of the team's late-season success. "This is our team and what happens here is on us. These past few weeks have been awesome."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22