Stranger things have happened? Not many

Georgia Tech is an unlikely victor, 51-48

Officially, Luke Manget's second-chance, 38-yard field goal in overtime gave No. 17 Georgia Tech a 51-48 victory over No. 21 Georgia Saturday - the most thrilling, implausible, track-meet-of-a-game since these state rivals first played in 1893.

But the most decisive play was an ordinary run off left guard just a couple of steps from the Georgia Tech goal line as the final seconds were ticking away in regulation.

Georgia, having rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half, sent Jasper Sanks into a pile. The ball squirted loose. Chris Young picked it up for the Yellow Jackets with five seconds to go, preserving a 48-48 tie and forcing the extra period.

"Just a tragedy,'' Georgia coach Jim Donnan said. "Everything boils down to one play.''

Television replays clearly showed that Sanks had both knees down when the rest of his body crashed to the ground, forcing the ball to come loose. But, after a brief discussion, the Southeastern Conference officiating crew decided otherwise.

"I was already on the ground,'' said Sanks, who had rushed for 25 yards on the two previous plays, carrying the Bulldogs to the brink of victory. "They (the Jackets) just came and took the ball out of my hand.''

Young said he thought Sanks lost the ball before his knee hit the ground, despite video evidence to the contrary.

"I grabbed the ball off the ground, not out of his hands,'' Young said. "It was a fumble, no doubt.''

Donnan had to take some of the blame for giving the officials a chance to make the wrong call. With the ball at the 2-yard line, why didn't he send out Hap Hines for a chip-shot field goal that would have been the equivalent of an extra point?

"You can second-guess that," Donnan said. Georgia Tech willingly accepted the rival coach's offer.

"That was their choice to run the ball, and they took a chance,'' center Noah King said. "All they had to do was kick the field goal. I guess they wanted to be greedy.''

Georgia still had a chance to win in overtime, but Quincy Carter was intercepted in the end zone by Georgia Tech cornerback Marvious Hester, who had a critical fumble in the third quarter that let the Bulldogs back into the game.

The Yellow Jackets took over on offense, ran two plays to the Georgia 21 before Manget attempted a 38-yard field goal. It was only third down, which turned out to be a critical factor when Kendrell Bell blocked the kick for Georgia.

Holder George Godsey recovered the ball four yards behind the line of scrimmage and returned it to the 21, giving Manget another chance from the same distance on fourth down.

"When I saw the ball flopping around in the air, I knew I had to get it,'' Godsey said. "We're taught to do that. I didn't even have to think.''

Manget, who wanted to attend Georgia but wasn't offered a scholarship, launched his next kick out of Bell's reach and just inside the left upright for the victory.

11-29-99