Tech upends #12 Clemson on 55-yard game winning kick
ATLANTA – It came down to quarterback Haynes King’s legs and Aidan Birr’s right leg as Georgia Tech pulled off a 24-21 win over #12 Clemson on a 55-yard field goal on the final play of the game. The Jackets had lost eight straight to the Tigers before Saturday’s win.
“We work on that a lot throughout camp and practice,” Birr said of the fire drill at the end of the game. “These last few weeks, we have practiced this a lot, and I couldn’t have done it without my holder, the snapper, and the line. It was a smooth operation. We all went out there, everyone got set up, and we had enough time that I could sit back for a second, and I was ready to go. It was a good feeling when it went in.”
Birr’s 55-yard kick tied the school record for the longest kick in Tech history with their other former players and was the second walk-off kick for a win by Birr and just the sixth in Yellow Jackets history.
Georgia Tech football coach Brent Key said the end-of-game drill is something they practice every day, and the team executed it perfectly in the final seconds of the game.
“Toro (the field goal drill) is something we practice every single day. We practice it all the time, and there was plenty of time on the clock, so I had no issue with that. By gaining an extra two or three yards on the last play, we got the ball in the right spot with plenty of time for him being able to execute,” Key said.
Tech the Giant Slayers of ranked ACC teams
Under Key, the Jackets improved to 7-1 against ranked ACC teams with the win.
“The boys played hard. It played out the way we wanted it to play out. We wanted (at least) a one-score game at the end, and at worst, we would be able to tie it up,” Key said. “Haynes King came over and said, ‘Put the ball in my hand, we are going to win this thing,’ and we did. Our kids are great and our kids believe in him, and they believe in each other.”
King ended the day with 25 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He ran the ball five times on the game-winning drive for 18 yards.
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes for the team (to win the game),” King said. “If me running the ball helps the team and gets us a win, I’m gonna do it. I don’t care what it is or if I have to hand it off or throw it or run it. I’m down for whatever.”
That final drive started with 3:26 left on the clock at their own 25. Tech ran nine plays for 38 yards and killed the clock in the process. The final kick came with no timeouts left and just 24 seconds left on the clock, and under 20 seconds left.
In the passing game, King completed 20 of his 28 attempts for 211 yards, but the biggest thing was the Jackets had zero turnovers.
Receiver Isiah Canion had five catches for 56 yards, and receiver Eric Rivers had three catches for 72 yards and eight yards rushing on one run to lead the receivers. Rivers said he came to Tech to play in big games, and he thinks this win could be a turning point for this team.
“It was a good way to get ourselves going. We’ve got a long season ahead and it is just beginning,” Rivers said. “I feel like we’ve got to get ready and prepare each and every week like it is championship week because that is where we want to be at the end of the year. I think we definitely have something special here. We just have to continue to work every day so we can reach our goals and everyone can be happy at the end of the year.”
Rivers said that King’s tough play really ignited the whole team down the stretch of the game.
“It fuels us,” he said of seeing King’s toughness. “If he is going to go out there and bust his ass and give his all for us, we’ve got to do the same for him. That definitely feels like that is part of what gets us going.”
Slot receiver Malik Rutherford had four catches for 22 yards, including a clutch catch on the final drive to help extend play.
Tech was plus two on the day in turnovers, winning the turnover battle for the first time this season. King said this was more like the Georgia Tech he knows.
“The first two games were more uncharacteristic for us. We don’t really turn it over a lot and most of those (early turnovers in the first two games) were freakish things that happened. A lot of them we really can’t explain, but they happened and the way our mature team responded to those was good and we came out today and played almost clean football,” King said.
Tech’s defense held Clemson in check
Safety Omar Daniels forced a fumble early in the game that led to Birr’s first field goal, and then he had an interception to flip the field in the red zone against Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik. He added seven tackles as well. Daniels said forcing turnovers was a point of emphasis all week from defensive coordinator Blake Gideon.
“We talked all week about getting the ball out, and that was a big emphasis in this game. Get the ball and we win the game,” Daniels said.
Tech held to 207 yards passing on 15-26 passing with one touchdown and one interception. He also had the fumble in the game recovered by cornerback Zachary Tobe that led to Tech’s first goal in the first quarter. Klubnik ended up with 62 yards rushing on 17 carries and a touchdown.
Clemson running back Adam Randall had 15 carries for 80 yards for the Tigers.
Defensively, senior safety Clayton Powell-Lee ended the game with 11 tackles, and linebacker E.J. Lightsey had 10 tackles. Lightsey said slowing down the Tigers’ running game was one of the biggest factors in the win and a big part of the game plan.
“We knew they were going to try to run the ball, so that was the focus,” Lightsey said. “We just had to play the next play and play for real. You knew Cade Klubnik could run with the (ball), and they had the converted receiver at running back, so they were going to try to run him and get him in space. Our main focus was stopping the run.”
Corner Ahmari Harvey had three pass breakups to lead the secondary, along with Daniels’ 45-yard interception return.
Tech hosts Temple next week, and Daniels said it well, the Jackets have not arrived yet.
“Now is for real, but it is the next game mentality. We will have fun and celebrate this week, but it is the next game,” Daniels said.” We’ve got to keep rolling. We don’t stop here.”
Key said he was pleased with how his defense prepared.
“I thought they played hard. (Gideon) put together a really good plan. The defensive staff had a couple of wrinkles in there to make the quarterback think a little bit more, double-clutch it and pull the ball down,” Key said.
DRIVE CHART and KEY PLAYS
Tech had the first possession and started at the 25 after a touchback. King connected with Eric Rivers on a deep 21-yard pass to convert and extend the drive to the CLEM31. On third and nine, King hit Canion for 18 yards ot the CLEM12. After a failed play-action pass after two King runs, a screen pass on fourth down lost four yards for a turnover on downs.
Omar Daniels forced a fumble on a scramble by Cade Klubnik, and Zachary Tobe recovered it at the CLEM29 to end the first Clemson drive.
Tech stalled after a run and a screen to Jamal Haynes, and Aidan Birr kicked a 40-yard field goal to put the Jackets up 3-0.
After a short kick return by Adam Randall, Clemson started at their own 20. The Tigers drove 44 yards on 10 plays but were held on third down and tried a 53-yard field goal that was wide right.
Canion caught a first down pass for 16 yards to midfield. King connected with Eric Rivers on a deep shot for 42 yards to set up first and goal to end the first quarter. Jamal Haynes ran in the touchdown on the next play to start the second quarter.
Following a touchback, Clemson started at their own 25. The Jackets held Clemson to a three-and-out thanks to big hits from Cayman Spaulding and Kelvin Hill on Bryant Wesco Jr. Stockton fair caught a 39-yard punt at the GT29.
King hit Zion Taylor on an 18-yard pass to the CLEM24, but the Jackets stalled out after two bad running plays yielded minus five yards, and Birr kicked his second field goal of the game from 42 yards out to make it 13-0 Tech with 7:46 left in the half.
After going backwards on the drive on 3rd and 22, Randall broke off a 30-yard run to the GT38. The Tigers drove down to the GT17 at the two-minute timeout, facing 3rd and 4. Klubnik hit Wesco to set up first and goal at the 4. Tech stopped Clemson on the first three plays to the one, using all three timeouts to preserve the clock. Klubnik on fourth down dove over the top of the O-line to score to cut it to 13-7 Georgia Tech.
Tech started the final drive of the half after a Clemson touchback at their own 25. Tech ran the ball two times for a few yards to end the first half.
Clemson started at their own 25 in the third quarter after a Birr touchback. Klubnik hit Josh Sapp for 31 yards to the GT11, but on second down, Omar Daniels picked him off and returned the ball 45 yards to the CLEM48.
King fumbled the first play of the drive, and Rivers recovered the ball for a 12-yard loss. King was sacked on third down by Sammy Brown to force the Jackets’ first punt of the day. Marshall Nichols’ 48-yard punt was returned nine yards to the CLEM24.
Klubnik hit Wesco on a medium-range pass for a 73-yard touchdown on second down to put the Tigers up 14-13 with 9:36 left in the half.
Tech went three and out after King missed an open Bailey Stockton on third and long to force another Nichols punt. Wesco returned the punt 13 yards to the CLEM46, but an unnecessary roughness penalty on Clemson moved the ball back to their own 30.
Tech’s defense forced a three-and-out and a punt. Jack Smith’s punt was returned by Stockton for a two-yard loss and Will Kiker was called for a block in the back, moving the ball to the GT9.
After some inconsistent plays, King on 3rd and 16 picked up 15 yards to the CLEM40 to set up a key fourth and short. Following a Tech timeout, JT Byrne tried to sneak the ball as a trick play and fumbled the ball at the CLEM41.
Klubnik had his first down pass deflected by Jason Moore. He ran for six yards on second down. Wesco dropped the third down pass to force another punt. Stockton fair caught the punt at the GT10.
King connected with Haynes on an 11-yard pass to open up some space, and ran for 13 yards to open up more space. Passes to Rutherford and Canion got Tech to midfield. A screen pass to Hanyes picked up 27 yards to the CLEM22. Back-to-back runs by King and Haynes set up first and goal at the CLEM8. King ran down to the 2 on first down. After Haynes got stuff on second down, King muscled the ball in to put Tech up 19-14. Tech used a reverse pass from Malik Rutherford to convert the two-point conversion to go up 21-14 with 10:02 left in the game.
Clemson started at their own 25 after a touchback from Birr. Clemson methodically drove 75 yards on 12 plays and thought they tied the game on a two-yard pass to Sapp with 3:29 left. The touchdown was overturned on replay to an incomplete pass. Randall scored on the next play with 3:26 left to tie the game at 21.
Tech started at their own 25 after the touchback on the kickoff. King hit Rutherford for nine yards after no gain on a first down run. King ran for another nine yards after that to hit the two-minute timeout at the GT43. Rivers caught a nine-yard pass on second down, and King converted on a QB keeper to the CLEM45. Hosley and King combined for six yards to set up 3rd and four with 26 seconds left in the game. King ran for two yards on the final regular offensive play, and Tech rushed the kicker out, and Aidan Birr connected from 55 yards to win the game as the clock expired.
