There was a nervous atmosphere going into the game given the ugly weather that was predicted all week. At kick time though the skies cleared and the sun was beating down in Winston-Salem. This seemed to be an omen
for good football. The fanbases’ definition of “good” may vary but it was certainly one of the most exciting games in recent memory for the Jackets.
Georgia Tech won today’s game by coming back from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter. It feels good to win. The Jackets fought a hard game for 60 minutes, even if the first 30 minutes didn’t look great. It’s clear there are still plenty of things the Jackets need to improve on if they intend to avoid potential upsets the rest of this season. Still the Jackets are 5-0 after achieving victory in one of the wildest games I have ever seen.
How it Happened
Wake Forest won the toss and elected to defer so the GT offense which was on and off last week would get the ball first.
The first quarter started off slow with Jamal Haynes and Malachi Hosley being the main focal points of the offense. King seemed to be struggling finding receivers and looked uncomfortable in the pocket. On the other side of the ball Wake QB Robby Ashford was struggling to connect with receivers as well but began to get into a groove as the quarter went on.
Other than a 35-yard FG by Aidan Birr, the 40th in his GT career, not much of note took place offensively for Wake or Georgia Tech. With King still struggling and the Wake Forest defense loading the box to stop the run it seemed like the game was gearing up to be a defensive struggle.
2nd Quarter
Following a fan marriage proposal during the break, which was quite touching, play resumed.
Despite a punt return by Bailey Stockton set Georgia Tech up to start the drive at the Wake 43, the Jackets were unable to move the ball any farther into Wake territory. On 4th down GT attempted a trick play with punter Marshall Nichols throwing to Will Kiker. While the pass was completed near the line of gain a review by the refs found that Kiker was just short of the first down. This gave Wake their best starting field position of the game at their own 34-yard line.
This was when Robby Ashford came alive. After a few short runs by Demond Claiborne, Ashford connected down field with receiver Chris Barnes for a 35-yard gain to the Tech 20. Two plays later Ashford ran the ball in for a touchdown to put the Deacs up 7-3.
The game was back in the offense’s hands with 10:46 left in the second quarter. Haynes King decided it was time to show his talents. Haynes completed a 14-yard pass over the middle to Luke Harpring and followed that up with a 22-yard run to put the ball at the Wake Forest 39-yard line. The drive stalled there. The Jackets were put in a 4th down and 1 situation and gave the ball to King for a run up the middle. The Deacs sniffed the play out immediately and King was unable to co convert a short yardage run. Even when the offense seemed to be working it found ways to come up short.
It was back to being the Robby Ashford highlight reel once Wake took the field. Ashford took advantage of some weaknesses in the secondary to push the ball into GT territory on a long pass to Sterling Berkhalter. From there Demond Claiborne immediately rushed the ball 27 yards for a touchdown. Jackets were down 14-3 with 5:53 in the second quarter.
King tried to get back into rhythm by completing some short passes and screens which saw limited success against the Deacon defense. The crowd came alive as the Deacons were clearly beginning to take over the game. After being unable to convert on 4th and long Marshall Nichols continued to look like the star player in the game for the Jackets and placed the Deacs back at their own 10.
Ashford immediately went to work getting Wake Forest out to their 33 with a long run before the 2-minute timeout.
following the timeout Wake Forest fumbled on the first play back from scrimmage but was able to recover it and Robby Ashford completed a long pass to Micah Mays Jr. where the safeties were caught of position to give up extra yards. The Tech defense did step up from there and hold the Deacs to a field goal with 22 seconds left in the second quarter.
King came back out with 16 seconds on the clock, but the Jackets seemed content to run the clock out with outside runs as the half came to a close. Things were not looking good for the Jackets.
Third Quarter
If you were watching this game, I hope you had your squirrels on a leash because things got nuts in the second half.
Wake got the ball to start the third. Ashford went to work immediately running the ball himself for a first down. Ashford completed a few more first down passes before taking the ball for another long run to the GT 23. During the play Kyle Efford tripped Ashford for the tackle and Ashford seemed to roll on his own leg which injured his ankle. Ashford had to come off for the drive leaving backup Deshawn Purdie to take over. having Ashford off the field made it more difficult for Wake to move the ball and the Deacons had to settle for a FG.
It was time for the GT offense to show what they had, and what they had was Eric Rivers hands. Haynes targeted Rivers on 6 of the 13 plays on the drive and completed 4 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown to put the score at 20-10 with 5:39 left in the quarter.
Wake took the field on offense and Ashford was still not playing. The impact of missing Ashford was immediately clear as the Deacons went 3 and out.
GT got the ball back on their own 35 and finally had life on offense. They drove downfield quickly and scored a touchdown with 17 seconds left in the 3rd quarter to make the score 20-17 in Wakes favor.
Ashford came back in the game on the next drive right before the end of the quarter. A holding penalty negated a big run by Wake to end the quarter and put Wake Forest at 1st and 15 on their own 20-yard line to start quarter number 4
4th Quarter
The Wake offense was stagnant. Other than an illegal forward pass Wake was unable to move the ball forward. The illegal pass setup 4th and 22 and Wake was forced to punt.
GT got the ball around the Wake 45-yard line and managed to drive down to the Wake 18-yard line thanks to a 37-yard pass to Isiah Canion. The Jackets got down to the Wake 2 yard through combined rushes from Haynes King and Malachi Hosley before being forced to kick a field goal after 3 runs up the middle netted minimal yardage. The ball game was all tied up at 20 with 9:45 left in the 4th quarter.
Wake took the field again at their own 25 with Ashford in the backfield. Ashford was clearly struggling to throw the ball as he couldn’t put his full weight on his ankle, but that didn’t stop him from moving the ball down the field against the Tech defense. Despite Ashford’s success in the short and medium passing game, the GT defense was able to hold Wake at their 15-yard line. Wake lined up to kick a 27-yard FG which bounced off the uprights leaving the score 20-20 with 6:54 left in the game.
The Tech fans at the stadium got loud as the Jacket’s offense took the field. Those same Tech fans were immediately quieted as Jamal Haynes got the ball on the first play on offense and immediately coughed it up to the Wake Forest defense. The Tech defense took to the field looking for another stop. The defense did give up a first down but nothing else. This time Wake kicker Connor Calvert succeeded in kicking a 29-yard FG and the score stood at 23-20 in Wakes favor with 5:08 left in the game.
Haynes King took to the air immediately on the next drive connecting with Rutherford and then Rivers for back-to-back first downs which got Tech to their own 46-yard line. The drive then fell apart after 3 incomplete passes to Isiah Canion. Tech decided to punt, seemingly not wanting to risk giving the Deacs good field position.
Deacs got the ball with 3:55 on the clock at their own 7. A hold pushed them to their 4. Wake took their time and burned as much clock as they could. With a 3rd and 6 Ashford completed a 15-yard pass to Racanelli Sawyer to get a first down as the 2-minute time out occurred. At this point the Wake announcer repeatedly reminded all fans in the stadium that rushing the field was not encouraged.
The Tech defense saw some success containing the rush and held Wake Forest to a 3rd and 5 on their own 32-yard line. Then something strange happened. It appeared that a Tech rusher jumped offsides before Wake snapped the ball on 3rd down and Ashford used the opportunity to just lob the ball downfield for an incomplete pass as he thought the penalty would give Wake a first down and allow them to kneel out the clock. However, despite seemingly being a textbook example of an offsides call no flag was thrown and Wake now faced 4th and 5 on their own 32-yard line. The Wake fans lost their minds, and even most of the Tech fans seemed perplexed at what just happened, but regardless Wake had to punt to avoid potentially giving Georgia Tech great field position.
The offense went to work with King mostly staying in the passing game and focusing his targets on Isiah Canion and Eric Rivers. Once Tech got in the redzone their play calling became more conservative as it seems they wanted to avoid a turnover by going for a big play to the endzone. The drive stalled at the Wake 26 and Aidan Burr completed another fire drill field goal to tie the game at 23 with 2 seconds left in the game. Wake Forest took a knee and took the game to overtime.
Overtime
Wake Forest won the coin toss and elected to defend. GT took the field. Haynes King completed a 17-yard pass to Josh Betham on the second play from scrimmage and then scored a touchdown on a run up the middle. Tech was now up 30 to 23 as Wake took the ball.
Wake took the field and the Tech defense seemed completely unprepared for a Demond Claiborne counter run which Claiborne took to the house. Claiborne was injured on the play but he had done what he needed to do. It was a shocking play, but potentially more shocking was Wake’s decision to go for 2 following the touchdown.
This play would decide the game. Wake fans seemed confident after just witnessing the rush for 25 yards on the previous play. The Wake announcer once again reminded fans that rushing the field was not encouraged as many fans lined up near the opposite endzone of the stadium. Ashford took the snap and immediately rolled to the right, but the Tech coverage downfield was all over his receivers. AJ Hoffler got to Ashford but was unable to bring him down, however this left Ashford staring down 2 other Tech D-linemen. Ashford had to make a quick decision. Ashford threw the ball to what he thought was an open receiver Sterling Berkhalter but had to throw off his injured ankle. Clayton Powell-Lee was in coverage on Berkhalter and managed to step in to intercept the ball. The game was officially over.
Aftermath
As the saying goes a win is a win. Alot of things had to go right in this game for Tech to win. If Ashford had not been injured and if the refs had not decided to ignore an offsides call (which everyone in the stadium was talking about as they were leaving) we would have lost this game.
After the game Brent Key emphasized that the important thing to take away was the team’s focus on winning the game in the second half. Georgia is a gritty team, and the important thing was to be accountable to mistakes and to rally and play a full 60 minutes of football which they did.
The players seemed upbeat and happy to walk away with the win. They clearly put the performance in the first half behind them and were happy their effort in the second half was rewarded.
Tech gets a Bye Week next week and will look to prepare for Virginia Tech. I think fans and players alike need a rest after that game, hopefully and extra week will give time to relax and prepare for the next slate of games. 5-0, lets keep the winning streak going. GO JACKETS!!!
