Tech Sneaks Past Those Demon Deacs
A win is a win is a win. Right?
Well, not precisely . Each win, each game has its own persona. All wins bring some level of enjoyment to the victors , of course, but some also yield a significant measure of relief– for example, Georgia Tech, Saturday's razor- thin overtime 30-29 win over Wake Forest. For Tech, this win brought relief– about a truckload of it, like you might expect from a narrow escape. Highly imperfect, yes– but a win. And 5-0 through September feels mighty good.
All week long , the Jackets' coaches, players and fans had been kept aware and alert about the possibility of a trap game– a noon start, on the road, in a low- intensity setting, against a seemingly mediocre foe – one that Vegas had deemed as 14 points less worthy as a potential victor.
Too, Tech folks held that last week's win over Temple had served as an effective warning about the perils of failing to bring sufficient fire to the field. In that win, Tech slept through the second quarter before revving up for the second half.
But apparently that warning was not quite strong enough. Because in the first half against Wake Forest, Georgia Tech looked like they had left their team enthusiasm in the locker room back in Atlanta. The Jackets scored a measly three points, and generally looked flat and out of synch.
They had drops, they had bad throws, they had pre- snap penalties. Meanwhile the hometown Deacons played with moderate success, plus and a growing confidence that had them believing that they could hang with the nation's 16th -ranked team.
Wake spotted Tech a 35- yard Aidan Birr field goal in the first quarter. But through the remainder of the first half, it was all Deacons. They tallied 17 points in the second quarter alone and went into the half time break knowing they would receive the second half kickoff. They gained 255 yards in the first half, 116 on the ground, and they converted 5 of 9 third down chances.
Meanwhile, Georgia Tech accrued only 134 total yards --good for only one of seven third down conversions. Haynes King completed 14 of 20 passes but the total gained was only 55 yards. That's hard to do. Under three yards per pass?
Tech Coach Brent Key would say later that halftime was about realizing that there were improvements to be made and that such improvement was possible.
"There was no yelling and screaming ", he said. " I simply said to them,' You have to blow the first half out'....".
They heard the message, but it did not yield immediate benefit. Wake actually extended their lead to 20- 3 with a short field goal with 10:33 left in the third quarter.
It was then that Tech's offense finally woke up and joined the fray. They scored twice in that same period, once on a King to Eric Rivers pass and again on a short keeper by King.
(photo Georgia Tech Athletics)
Tech's next possession stalled deep in Wake territory, leading to a 19 yard field goal by Aidan Birr to tie it up at 20.
The two teams traded field goal again to leave it at 23- all heading to overtime. The tying 33 yard field goal by Aidan Birr came with just a couple seconds on the clock to complete a 54- yard drive by King and company with time winding down.
In overtime, the Jackets scored on another short run by QB King. Birr hit the PAT to put Tech up by seven.
Wake countered with a quick 25 yard td run by Claiborne and Wake head coach Jake Dickert then made the bold decision to go for two , to win it or lose it on the next play.
Wake QB Robbie Ashford rolled right, looked back to his left and then felt heat from the Tech rush. He launched a pass that was more hope than plan and it was picked off by Tech safety Clayton Powell- Lee to seal the game for Georgia Tech by a 30-29 margin.
Ashford had a productive game, running for 82 yards in addition to throwing for 219 more. And that's despite missing a chunk of time after noting knee soreness following a tackle by Tech LB Kyle Efford.
Certainly his game caused trouble for the Yellow Jackets, who struggled to mount an effective pass rush, claiming no sacks and allowing 443 yards to the Deacons.
Even so, Tech's defense stiffened when the game grew late, making the big second half surge by the Jackets possible.
Tech looks forward to a bye week before hosting Virginia Tech on October 11.
For now, they are 5-0 for the first time since 2014- and that's as good as a record gets through five games.
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports