The stats for Georgia’s defense aren’t great.

The Bulldogs gave up 563 total yards to Georgia Tech on Friday night. As far as head coaches are concerned, 260 of those yards were on the ground Kirby Smart said, “There is nothing to ever be proud of.”

But late in the game, Georgia did just enough for the Bulldogs to escape with a 44-42 victory over the Yellow Jackets in eight overtimes.

Smart called this week a “very difficult gameplan week,” largely because of the Georgia Tech quarterback’s abilities Haynes King. Smart said the Bulldogs knew King had gotten healthier leading up to the game.

King definitely handled the Georgia defense 100 percent or close to 100 percent. He passed for 303 yards and ran for another 110 yards, scoring a total of five touchdowns.

King, who is dealing with arm and shoulder injuries, surprised the Bulldogs with his ability to push the ball down the field.

“What threw it off a little bit was Haynes King’s ability to throw the ball, because all we were told was his injury prevented him from throwing the ball,” Smart said. “Haynes came in and threw the ball well and really had some advantageous looks to get it off because we had everyone tied up in the box. I mean, we played stuff we hadn’t played since we played old Georgia.” Tech. You had to play them differently. And it was so different for our boys that we never played.

The Yellow Jackets built a 20-6 lead through three quarters, mostly moving the ball at will. Successes in the air and on the ground made a rally in Georgia seem like a distant possibility.

But the defense played when it was necessary. With just over two minutes left and a seven-minute deficit for Georgia, it’s safe Dan Jackson forced the outside linebacker into a fumble Chaz Chambliss recovered in the Georgia Tech area. This loss of the ball resulted in the decisive score and led to the game going into overtime.

“I didn’t know if it was fumbled or not. I just always say jump on the ball no matter what. This time it worked well,” said Chambliss. “We always want to play complementary football and give our offense the ball. If our offense isn’t doing well, we have to leave the field. But I mean, we see it in the end, that’s what we did.” “

The defense also stopped six of Georgia Tech’s seven 2-point conversion attempts in overtime, which helped keep hope alive and ultimately led to the win.

There is so much for Georgia’s defense to work on with the SEC Championship and a possible College Football Playoff berth. But the Bulldogs also appreciate the fact that they can make a few plays when needed to avoid an upset rivalry loss.

“We just needed three outs and takeaways, and we did,” linebacker Jalon Walker said. “We had trust, I had trust. We’ve had a lot of conversations about how they’re going to score if we give them the ball back.”