By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

We’re going into the last week of the regular season for college football. It seems like the season flies by.

We get all of the major rivalry games this weekend. Let’s focus on the Georgia/Georgia Tech game.

#16 Georgia Tech (9-2) is having a great season. Heading into last week’s home game against Pitt (8-3), they would have guaranteed a spot to play in the ACC Championship game with a win.

They have not played in the ACC Championship game since 2014. Instead, they lost 42-28 and the final score makes the game seem more competitive.

The Panthers were up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. They added to that and had a 28-point lead. Tech got the score to 28-14 and had the ball inside the Pitt 10-yard line.

Haynes King threw an interception that was returned 100 yards for a touchdown. That was his second pick of the game.

“End of the day, there is no justification for it,” head coach Brent Key said. “You lose the game. A loss is a loss.”

I was not surprised by this loss because the Yellow Jackets were trending in the wrong direction the previous two games.

They narrowly beat a bad Boston College team on the road the week before, 36-34. The Eagles only have one win this season and they are winless in the ACC. It took a last second field goal for Tech to beat them.

The game prior to that was the first loss of the season at NC State, 48-36. Tech was ranked inside the top 10 before that loss.

It looked like they had a chance to make the College Football Playoff, now that probably won’t happen. The only chance they have to make it is to beat Georgia.

#4 Georgia (10-1) is a legit contender to win the national championship. Last week the played Charlotte (1-10) and beat them, 35-3. That was a game they just wanted to finish without any major injuries.

Freshman running back Bo Walker rushed for three touchdowns and Nate Frazier added two more. Quarterback Gunner Stockton has an outside chance of being invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony.

“We’re rolling, but every game is independent of itself,” said Georgia tight end Lawson Luckie, who said Georgia Tech will be “a great opponent. One of the best teams in the country right now, super physical, and they play the game kind of like us. So, we’re ready to bring it next week.”

The Bulldogs are strong on both sides of the ball. They are also balanced offensively. Georgia Tech’s defense has been playing poorly the last few games.

Last year’s Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate game was an instant classic. The Bulldogs won in eight overtimes, 44-42. Tech was leading for most of that game.

UGA currently holds a seven-game win streak in the series that dates back to 2017. Georgia leads the overall series 72-41-5.

This year’s game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 3:30 p.m. the day after Thanksgiving.

Oddsmakers have made Georgia a 14-point favorite and I think that’s accurate. I believe they’ll win this game by double-digits but rivalry games can be tricky.