Which VaTech and which GaTech team is going to show up on any given Saturday? These are two good teams that can't seem to find the consistency switch. Good game though.
ATLANTA --- The Georgia Tech players bounced up and down in the middle of the field, right in unison with the raucous crowd. Josh Nesbitt took the snap and kneeled down one more time.
Then, it was party time.
Nesbitt rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns -- the last of them a 39-yarder tiptoeing down the sideline with 3 minutes left -- as No. 19 Georgia Tech ran to a 28-23 win over the fourth-ranked Hokies on Saturday night for its biggest triumph in years.
The gold-clad fans stormed the field, engulfing a team that didn't mind a bit, and wound up tearing down the goal post in the north end of Bobby Dodd Stadium. No wonder -- this was Georgia Tech's first win at home over a top-five team since the Dodd-coached Yellow Jackets beat Bear Bryant's top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in 1962.
"This is the biggest thing that's happened since I've been here," said Nesbitt, a junior quarterback who plays more like a running back out of Georgia Tech's spread-option offense.
Virginia Tech (5-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) endured another doomed trip to Atlanta. A season-opening 34-24 loss to Alabama at the nearby Georgia Dome was followed by a second defeat on the return trip south, this one hurting the Hokies' ACC hopes and probably ruining their shot at a national title.
"What happened out there wasn't because of lack of effort," coach Frank Beamer said. "Now is the time to come back and let's go get the next one. There's a lot of football to be played."
Georgia Tech (6-1, 4-1) completed just one pass but ran for 309 yards -- all but 37 of those yards coming in the second half.
"Their offense," Beamer said, "was just hard to stop. Their quarterback was doing a great job, and we got into a little bit of a guessing game."
Nesbitt made up for a fumble that gave Virginia Tech life by finishing off the clinching drive with his best run of the night.
On third-and-7 from the Hokies 39, the quarterback ran to his left, saw two defenders peel away to shadow potential pitch targets, turned up through a huge hole and managed to stay in bounds along the sideline, even when Dorian Porch gave him one last shove around the 5.
"He's the heart of our team," said running back Jonathan Dwyer, last year's ACC Offensive Player of the Year.
Nesbitt has run for six touchdowns over the last two weeks, also scoring three times in a 49-44 victory over Florida State. It was the fifth time this season the quarterback has rushed for more than 90 yards.
The Yellow Jackets ruined Virginia Tech's clear path to the ACC title game and made things real interesting in the Coastal Division, which also includes No. 9 Miami.
"We already have a loss and I don't think you can win our side with two," Johnson said. "One loss is going to win it. What we did tonight was stay alive and put everyone else back in it."
On the heels of two straight shootout wins over Mississippi State and Florida State, the Yellow Jackets slogged through much of the first half.
Georgia Tech managed only 37 yards on 21 carries before halftime, though Nesbitt's lone completion -- a 51-yarder to Demaryius Thomas -- set up a touchdown that gave the home team a 7-3 lead heading to the locker room. Nesbitt burrowed over from the 1 with 32 seconds left.
Things changed after the break. Virginia Tech stuck with the scheme that had been working, but Johnson's subtle adjustments started producing huge chunks of yardage on the ground, both inside and out. Nesbitt scampered for 31 yards before finishing off the drive with another 1-yard TD plunge.
Virginia Tech had a chance for a quick response, but Beamer passed on a field goal try on fourth-and-2 from the 18, and Ryan Williams was stuffed short.
Beamer's questionable decision turned out to be moot. Getting a little greedy, Nesbitt went deep again and was picked off by Porch.
On the very next play, Williams went 66 yards up the middle for a touchdown that pulled the Hokies to 14-10.
Georgia Tech kept right on running. Dywer carried five times for 48 yards on a 12-play, 86-yard drive that burned nearly 61/2 minutes off the clock. Marcus Wright finished it off by taking a pitch from Nesbitt and scooting 13 yards to make it 21-10.
Williams ran for 100 yards, while Taylor had 159 passing and 63 on the ground.
"Our big plays," Taylor said, "came a little too late."
Comments
Which VaTech and which GaTech team is going to show up on any given Saturday? These are two good teams that can't seem to find the consistency switch. Good game though.
Typical AC...Tech's win was the much greater accomplishment, yet UGA got the lead story. Is Georgia Tech a Democratic institution? That's the only explanation I can think of to account for the AC's bias.
Way to go JACKETS!!! GT is front page on AJC.com!!! Proud to be a Yellow Jacket!
Happy to hear it, Igposs. I'll check out the AJC...!
Here's the link, which at least includes an analysis of Tech's ACC hopes: http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-tech/georgia-tech-beats-hokies-165520....
THEY tore down the goalposts??!! Haha.
why? is it that big of a deal to beat a 5-1 team. Oh yeah, they lost to a superior SEC team.
I guess Bama should have tore them down when they beat Va. Tech. But, I guess Bama has won before.
I would agree that Bama and UF are the nations top teams, but the rest of the SEC is a pile of ... And that includes LSU. Both Miami and GT will be ranked top ten by the end of the year. ACC Coastal is definitely the toughest division in college football.
justthefacts, I see that your envy of those with superior intellect continues unabated...
I agree on the unfavorable reporting. USC lost, and their story was listed above Techs, who beat a #4 ranked team. Explain that... I'm also a fan of Hephzibah, who is having a stellar season. They too cant catch a break on the reporting.
Hotfoot, I am not envious of tech, good grief! I mean, don't you think maybe they take themselves a little too seriously. I mean last year they gave everybody rings and put up a billboard when they beat UGA. What, East St. Louie, Illinoise doesn't have a team you can root for? Sellout, you're delusional.
Name a tougher division, justthefacts. Miami is #8, GT is #11, VT is #15. Try and name another division that even comes close.
jtf: 1) I'm not from E. St. Louis. 2) I suppose breaking a 42-yr-old record and moving up 8 spots in the rankings, more than any other team, is less of an accomplishment than UGA beating Vandy, which lost to Army last week. 3) You insinuated that Tech students didn't have the muscle to pull down the goal posts. I assure you, my daughter and her friends had no trouble. I don't dislike UGA...my other child will no doubt go there on a Hope Scholarship, since she's not interested in science, but this UGA obsession (and the Chronicle's complete indifference to the fact that Tech is ranked 7th out of all public universities) is obnoxious.
Tech beat UGA one time in seven years and now all of sudden UGA and the SEC is second to the ACC. I think you need to look at the polls, Florida, Alabama are 1 and 2, LSU is 9 then you find the ACC. SEC has four teams and ACC has three unless my eyes failed me which has happened before. Look, my point is they all have pretty good teams and on any given day someone can beat the other. Trust me I'm no Florida fan but give them credit they manage to win. I always pull for Georgia Tech unless they play UGA just because they are from the great state of Georgia.
sellout, you're probably gone now, hopefully watching the Falcons. Seriously now. Who do think would win a GT vs UF, a Va Tech vs Alabama (wait that one happened) or a LSU/UM vs Miami?
I'm not going to get into a ******* contest with arny one. The homecoming weekend was great for us. Dined Friday night with many of my husband's pledge class brothers and their wives. Partied at the House to the music of our era along with the current brothers and enjoyed GT's win over VT with a grandson, two sons and a daughter-in-law. Got to visit with my mother and one of my nieces. And made it back to the CSRA in time to work a little today.
Go back and read what I said, justthefacts. I did not say that Bama or UF were bad teams, in fact I said they were the nation's best. My contention is that the ACC COASTAL DIVISION is the toughest DIVISION. You need to go figure out what a division is vs. a conference. Last time I checked, UF and Bama were in different divisions. Also, Miami/LSU may be a good game, but I'd have to give that W to Miami...
And congrats to the Falcons!
Sellout, sorry I missed the division vs conference part. Still, I guess it depends on how you define "toughest". It may turn out to be the most "competitive" division. Face it, the ACC is not a very good football conference right now. Look at the out of conference record. If memory serves, the ACC has never even won BCS game. Tech is very good, should win out and go to BSC Bowl. But, Tech being Tech....who knows?
I cede the point. I wasn't trying to make a big deal out of the ACC or anything (in fact, ACC Atlantic DIVISION is probably the WORST college football has to offer right now), merely stating that I would like to see a little credit given where credit is due. This paper rarely gives us any.
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