A 58-yard field-goal try hooked wide, a stadium thundered and a win was preserved.
And so ended Georgia Tech’s final home game of the season, a 30-29 win over N.C. State at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Thursday night.
It took three forced turnovers, smoke and mirrors on offense and a coming-of-age final-minute touchdown drive by Yellow Jackets freshman quarterback Aaron Philo.
And now, the only question that matters for Tech and its followers — can the Jackets beat No. 10 Georgia on Nov. 29 in Athens?
It was not a masterpiece for the Jackets, but they didn’t have all of their brushes, and they were painting on a pizza box. Again, quarterback Haynes King was limited severely with a shoulder injury. Splitting time with Philo, he tried but three passes, each of them a short-range pass. He totaled seven passing yards. Further, Tech lost No. 1 receiver Malik Rutherford early in the game.
Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner again flip-flopped King with Philo, trying to make that glaring tendency giveaway work as it had so effectively in the upset of then-No. 4 Miami on Nov. 9.
“Going into the game, we knew that wasn’t going to last a long time,” coach Brent Key said.
But Faulkner made it work enough. With King and Philo subbing in and out like hockey players taking their shifts, the Jackets put together three field-goal drives of 43 yards or longer.
A third-quarter field-goal drive may have been Tech at its makeshift best. With the score 13-7, the Jackets started a drive at their 12 with 7:29 left in the quarter. With King at quarterback, the Jackets ran a jet sweep for four yards. On second-and-6, King faked a jet-sweep handoff and gained three yards. In came Philo for third-and-3, who uncorked a deep ball to wideout Eric Singleton Jr. for a 49-yard gain. His designated-passer work done, Philo trotted off the field.
On first-and-10 from the N.C. State 32 with King back in and the Wolfpack strongly suspecting a run, a toss play was snuffed for no gain. Philo came back on second-and-10, dropping back and scrambling for a 4-yard gain. His third-down pass to tight end Jackson Hawes was dropped. Kicker Aidan Birr knocked in a try from 45 yards for a 16-7 lead, part of a 3-for-3 night for Birr in which each make proved crucial.
That Tech did what it could is homage to Faulkner’s offense, rife with motions, shifts and misdirection plays, and his creativity in running it. Faulkner has tried and succeeded with perhaps every ball fake known to man with King in an attempt to get him space to run the ball.
“We figured what they would play, and they had all hats on the ball, especially when Haynes was in there,” Key said. “Even with Aaron, they were still playing a little bit more of an umbrella coverage around it. So we had to get creative. We were trying to get guys through, trying to get some running backs through or the quarterback through on a couple of the runs just to stay efficient and move the chains. But we didn’t have a lot of success with it, we really didn’t.”
Georgia will provide a different type of challenge. To have a chance against coach Kirby Smart’s juggernaut, the Jackets will need King to be healthier and able to present a passing threat.
On Thursday night, Tech ran 36 times and passed 36 times. Philo threw 33 of the passes. With the Jackets leaning so obviously to the run with King in the game, they averaged 3.3 yards per attempt and gained 119 yards against a defense that had allowed an average of 140.3 rushing yards.
Said King of the Wolfpack, “They were definitely keying in on the run.”
That sort of tendency will not play versus Georgia, ranked 15th in FBS in total defense and 26th in rushing defense.
King’s health update after the game Thursday:
“My shoulder’s been getting better and better, which allowed me to come out here and throw a couple passes, stuff like that. But, just take it day by day and keep doing rehab treatment, getting it better. It’s a high percentage for me to come in next week and ball out, be more of a passer and passing threat.”
Philo, at least, will give Georgia more homework. With the game on the line after N.C. State had taken a 29-23 lead with 1:30 remaining, Key turned the ball over to him.
He responded with a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, finishing it with an 18-yard scramble into the end zone with 22 seconds left in the game. It was a masterful performance. With only one timeout at his disposal, he was 4-for-4 passing for 33 yards and he ran three times for 42 yards.
“We’ve got a guy that can absolutely play,” running back Jamal Haynes said of Philo.
It was enough to subdue the Wolfpack, a five-win team.
Key and Faulkner now have a week to figure out to make it work against the mighty Bulldogs.
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