In a game that Hall of Fame coach Paul Johnson certainly must have enjoyed for its offensive explosions, Georgia Tech gave the crowd at Bobby Dodd Stadium a heart-stopping, emotional win Saturday in front of its former leader, who was honored during the game’s first quarter.
Tech came back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 17 North Carolina 46-42. It scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, none more dramatic than Haynes King’s 5-yard prayer of a pass to tight end Brett Seither with 4:28 to play that put the Yellow Jackets (4-4, 3-2 ACC) up for good.
The victory was the fourth over a nationally ranked opponent for Tech under coach Brent Key and the second this season. Also, the victory was Tech’s third consecutive against a ranked UNC team, in as many years, and one that sent the students spilling out onto the field when the final buzzer sounded.
“I can sit here and act very serious – what a helluva win guys. Holy cow,” Key said. “That was awesome. That really was. It was awesome to see our team play the way I know they’re capable of playing.”
King was nearly flawless in throwing for 287 yards on 23 completions. He connected on four touchdown passes and also ran for 87 yards.
The Jackets racked up 635 yards of offense as it upset UNC (6-2, 3-2 ACC) for the second year in a row. Dontae Smith rushed for 178 yards on 22 carries, and Eric Singleton grabbed eight passes for 117 yards.
Smith had 13 carries for 61 yards all season before Saturday’s performance.
“It wasn’t just me, it’s a team-effort kind of thing,” Smith said. “Just to get back out there with my brothers after being a way for a little bit, it’s a good feeling. We worked this all week in practice, and it just wasn’t me. It was the whole team. So shout-out to those guys.
“To be back is good, and now we just got to keep this thing going.”
Drake Maye threw for 310 yards and rushed for 58 for the Tar Heels. Running back Omarion Hampton finished with 153 yards on 29 carries.
Tech next heads to Virginia (2-6, 1-4 ACC) at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Against UNC, Tech trailed 35-24 going into the final period. That followed a dismal third quarter in which Tech was dominated 137 yards to 10, gave up five third-down conversions and had its defense on the field for 13:16. But the Jackets allowed only seven points.
King and the offense got the ball back to start the fourth quarter and put together a masterful drive that went 88 yards over nine plays and was polished off by Jamal Haynes’ 4-yard run with 12:02 to play. Malik Rutherford caught a two-point conversion pass that made the score 35-32.
Tychaun Chapman, however, returned the ensuing kickoff 52 yards and then, one play later, caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Maye, putting the Heels back up 42-32.
Smith and Tech answered with a 70-yard run touchdown run up the gut from Smith on the second play of the next offensive series. The Jackets were back within 42-39 with 10:40 on the clock.
Tech’s defense finally made a big play and stopped North Carolina on the 21. Noah Burnette lined up for a 39-yard field goal there, but pushed it wide left. King and company went to work.
King got the Jackets to the 5, where they were faced with a third-and-goal. Pressured after the snap, King rolled right and searched and searched and searched for a receiver. He set his scope on Seither, then let it rip with just enough velocity to allow Seither to make the catch and get his left toe into the end zone.
“I lost it in the lights for a little second,” Seither said. “Found it and was just happy to help the team out there. I knew my left foot was in. I was more worried if they were going to call me for going out of bounds (earlier in the play). I knew I was pushed (out), but didn’t know how that would go down.”
Then Tech’s defense, much maligned all night, made a play when it most needed to when Ahmari Harvey hit UNC receiver Tez Walker so hard that he dropped the ball. K.J. Wallace picked up the fumble for what would be a game-clinching play.
Carolina had no problems slicing through that Tech defense in the opening minutes of the game. Maye capped off a nine-play, 75-yard drive with a 14-yard scoring strike to Bryson Nesbit through the middle of the Jackets’ defense. The Tar Heels called six runs plays in the series and averaged 8.3 yards per play marching down the field.
Tech tried to keep pace on its next possession, but Haynes was stuffed on fourth down trying to run over right guard. North Carolina skated down the field in five plays to the 17, where Hampton took the ball on a run to the right, spun out of a Zeek Biggers neck tackle, and ran in for a touchdown from there that made the score 14-0 less than 11 minutes into the affair.
Momentum shifted some early in the second quarter when the Tech defense finally got a defensive stop. King and the offense took over and struck quickly, going five plays in 85 seconds and lighting up the scoreboard with a 42-yard strike from King to Rutherford. Rutherford did most of the work on a quick wide screen to the left that he broke open after the catch.
That momentum was short-lived when British Brooks scored on a 7-yard touchdown run two minutes later, giving the Tar Heels a 21-7 lead with 9-1/2 minutes to go in the half.
But King and the Jackets were back at it, and faced with a fourth down from the UNC 35, called timeout before setting up a play-action deep pass down the left sideline to a wide-open Seither. The tight end caught the ball in stride and sailed into the end zone cutting the Tech deficit to 21-14.
King’s third touchdown pass of the evening, a screen to the right for Rutherford, went for 14 yards and tied the score at 21-21 with 2:46 left in the half. Rutherford punctuated the score with a swan dive into the end zone as he soared over the goal line.
North Carolina had plenty of time to respond, and respond they did with a 2:01 drive that was capped by Hampton’s 3-yard run through the right side.
Tech was left with only 45 seconds to work, but that was plenty of time in a half where defensive stops were optional. The Jackets got to the 22 and set up Aidan Birr for a 40-yard field goal, one that he knocked down the middle to make the score 28-24 at the break.
The two teams combined for 647 yards of offense in the first half, averaging 7.8 yards per play, went 9-of-15 on third downs, 6-for-6 in the red zone and totaled seven touchdowns. Tech only ran for 92 yards through two quarters but wound up with 348 yards on the ground.
“I thought they established an identity offensively,” Key said. “I thought it was a great job by (offensive line coach) Geep Wade, by (offensive coordinator) Buster (Faulkner), collectively by the entire offensive staff putting together a run plan for tonight. When you have consistency in the running game, now it takes pressure off the quarterback, it opens up the passing game, it allows, really, the offense to flow.
“When you’ve got the upper hand there, you’re able to control the line of scrimmage. The guys up front, those guys did a nice job of opening holes consistently throughout the game. But as the momentum went, they continued to take the momentum in, and they built on it.”
When the third quarter started, Tech was poised to make noise after a third-down sack from Kyle Kennard that was followed by Abdul Janneh blocking a punt. But King was picked off on the next play from scrimmage.
North Carolina slowed the pace a bit and covered 85 yards in 13 plays while chewing up nearly seven minutes of clock. Maye’s 17-yard touchdown run made the score 35-24 with six minutes left in the period.
After 52 points were scored in the first 30 minutes, those were the only seven scored in the next 15 and set the stage for the final quarter.
“We challenged them to play four quarters. Fifteen minutes at a time. Not for 60 minutes, 60 minutes is the total at the end. We wanted to play four quarters,” Key said. “At the end of that third quarter they looked at each other and said, ‘One more quarter to go. We got 15 minutes. Let’s win this quarter.’ That’s what they were able to do.”
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