It was a tighter finish than desired, but Georgia Tech defeated Duke 23-20 in overtime Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Ahead 20-6 with about six minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets gave up an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown and then surrendered the game-tying touchdown in the final seconds of regulation at the end of a penalty-aided 80-yard drive to send the game to overtime.
The Jackets won it there on a Gavin Stewart field goal, ending Tech’s homecoming game on a delirious note. Tech won its second consecutive game for the first time since 2018.
Key play
Stewart’s 37-yard field goal on the opening possession of overtime gave the Jackets a 23-20 lead that held up when Duke was unable to match in its possession. Duke kicker Charlie Ham’s wide-left attempt from 52 yards ended the game. Stewart was 3-for-3 for the day, adding to his 4-for-4 performance against Pittsburgh last week. In the 38 games of former coach Geoff Collins’ tenure, Tech kickers (including Stewart, who was 2-for-4) were 19-for-39.
Key stat
In a game between the No. 1 (Duke) and No. 2 (Tech) teams in the ACC in turnover margin, the Jackets came out ahead 1-0, thanks to a turnover-free game and nickel back K.J. Wallace’s third-quarter interception inside Tech’s 10-yard line. With no giveaways in the win over Pitt last week, Tech has played back-to-back games without a turnover for the first time since the 2018 season.
Game ball
Quarterback Jeff Sims delivered an impactful effort, passing with poise and accuracy and running the ball with an edge. Where he sometimes has been tentative on the run, Sims took on contact Saturday as he ran the ball on keepers and even delivered shots to the Duke defense. As a passer, he threw with touch and delivered on-target passes downfield, completing 23 of 34 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns.
What we learned
There are some areas to tend to, but Tech’s defense has made significant steps since interim coach Brent Key assumed command of the ship. The pass rush has been effective even without blitz help, long gains are down and play on third down has been efficient. Over the past two games, defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker’s unit has surrendered 34 points over 25 possessions (not counting the punt returned for a touchdown), a 1.4 points-per-drive rate that almost any FBS defensive coordinator would take.
They said it
“It’s a positive when you can see you can make some of those mistakes and still come out with a win. But can’t continue to (expect to) have success on Saturday and Thursdays in a week and a half (with those mistakes). We’ve got to eliminate some of the mistakes we had and clean some things up across the board, all three phases.” – Key
“Of course, you wouldn’t want it to be that close, but we obviously stayed in it, did our job and came out with the win. Really, that was the mantra, that was the feeling in the game – just, OK, this happened, how do you respond?” – Wallace on the team’s approach after Duke tied the score in the final minute of the fourth quarter
What’s next:
Tech: The Jackets (3-3, 2-1 ACC) go into their only open date of the season. They will play Virginia on Oct. 20 in a Thursday night game at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Cavaliers (2-4, 0-3) lost 34-17 at home to Louisville on Saturday.
Duke: The Blue Devils (4-2, 1-1) lost to the Jackets for the third year in a row. Duke will play archrival North Carolina (5-1, 2-0) on Saturday at home.
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