Georgia’s Dooley: 200 Wins : Coach Hits Milestone as Bulldogs Defeat Georgia Tech, 24-3

Vince Dooley achieved a milestone attained by only nine other coaches in Division I-A history Saturday when No. 20 Georgia handed him his 200th victory, a 24-3 win over Georgia Tech.

“I’m proud of it,” Dooley said. “It’s not just a victory for me. This also belongs to all the players and assistant coaches who have been with me over the years.”

The 56-year-old coach, completing his 25th season at Georgia, spoiled his players’ plans to celebrate at the end of the game, talking them out of dunking a container of water on his head and carrying him off the field on their shoulders.

“We wanted to dump some water on him, but we knew that was a no-no,” tight end Troy Sadowski said. “We weren’t going to let any juniors in on it because we knew they had to come back next year.”

The 200th victory came in an unusual manner for Dooley, known for his penchant for keeping the ball on the ground. This time, the Bulldogs did the damage in the air, with Wayne Johnson completing 14 of 24 passes for 168 yards and 1 touchdown.

The key play was Wycliffe Lovelace’s 33-yard interception return for a touchdown that gave the Bulldogs a 17-3 lead early in the third quarter.

“To win this game, I felt like we had to play a near-perfect football game,” Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Ross said. “We were a long way from that. The interception kind of took it out of us.”

Only two other active coaches--Bo Schembechler at Michigan and Joe Paterno at Penn State--have won 200 games. Dooley has a 200-77-10 in a career spent entirely at Georgia.

The Bulldogs (8-3) will play Michigan State in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1. Georgia Tech completed its season at 3-8.

Johnson’s touchdown pass, a 5-yarder to Keith Henderson, came on the first play of the final quarter and followed a 5-play, 65-yard drive. Johnson also completed passes for gains of 10 and 35 yards during the drive.

Johnson completed 3 passes for 47 yards in a 63-yard second quarter drive that ended on Tim Worley’s 3-yard run.

Lovelace’s interception, a one-handed grab of Todd Rampley’s pass, came with 10:36 left in the third and virtually ended Tech’s hopes.

Georgia’s other score came on John Kasay’s 46-yard field goal on the first possession of the game, set up by Worley’s 14-yard run.

Georgia Tech’s only score came on a 43-yard field goal by Thomas Palmer, capping a 60-yard drive 11 seconds before halftime.

Georgia was helped by a breakdown in Georgia Tech’s kicking game. Sean McDevitt had punts of 3, 16 and 18 yards.