WATCH: Georgia Tech's Sirad Bryant ejected for targeting after hit on defenseless Georgia player
Georgia and Georgia Tech are underway on rivalry week and one player has already been ejected. Following a punt, officials spotted a Sirad Bryant targeting foul well away from the action.
Officials threw a flag for targeting on Bryant following a 14-yard Ladd McConkey punt return, but the TV broadcast didn’t initially show the foul.
When the game returned from commercial break, ESPN’s production crew had a chance to review all the footage and different camera angles and spotted the targeting foul on Bryant, which occurred a good 30-40 yards away from the action.
Bryant begins blocking a Georgia player near the 40-yard line. But after he knocks the Georgia player off his feet, Bryant lunges head first at the player laying defenseless on the ground.
You can watch the illegal hit below.
Bryant is a 6-foot-2 defensive back who is a redshirt freshman. He has recorded five tackles on the season.
Sirad Bryant targeting comes after good start for Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech’s offense got off to a good start against Georgia, in part because the Ramblin’ Wreck connected on a big play or two before the Sirad Bryant targeting ejection.
A 34-yard pass from Zach Gibson to Nate McCollum on a fourt-and-9 from just inside Georgia territory set up the first score for Georgia Tech, which led 7-3 after the first quarter.
Preventing explosive plays — or at least winning the explosive-play margin — was something coach Kirby Smart singled out as a key factor in his team’s strategy this week.
“We’ve delved and dug a lot into a different stat, which is explosive plays,” Smart explained on Tuesday. “And it’s explosive-play differential. We think that the greater indicator of wins and losses is the explosive-play differential. And when you add our runs and passes and you combine it against what our defense is given up, we haven’t had a game that we weren’t less than four positive (+4).
“So we dig hard at that. That does not lessen the value of a turnover, because turnovers are critical and the greatest equalizer there is in sport,” Smart said. “And really you think about how did Georgia Tech beat Pitt on the road, turnover margin was a critical factor in that game. So it’s something we’ve got to continue to improve.
“But we keep selling to our players that if we’re a lot more explosive than the opponent and we don’t give up explosives, and we get positive four over what they get — so if we get 10 of them and we get six of them — then we’re going to have a great chance of winning the game.”