Georgia Tech upsets No. 10. Florida State in Dublin on FG without a second left

Georgia Tech upset No. 10, Florida State in their Week opener on the field in Dublin, Ireland. Aidan Birr kicked a 44-yard field goal in the nick of time with no seconds remaining…

By Ian Casselberry

Aug 24, 2024 11:15 PM

In the event that 2024’s ACC season is anything similar to Saturday’s Week 0 opener between Florida State and Georgia Tech in Dublin and the ACC football fans are in for a fantastic excitement.

Aidan Birr scored a 44-yard field goal when time ran out to give Georgia Tech the Yellow Jackets a 24-21 win over the No. 10 Seminoles. Brent Key begins his third season as the Georgia Tech head coach with an incredible victory over a team that is ranked in the top 10 and the rumored favorite of the ACC.

Georgia Tech was in danger of being pulled beyond field-goal range after the quarterback Haynes King fumbled an attempt to snap a shotgun on the go-ahead play, which was hidden in the direction of Eric Singleton Jr. moving to the right when it was snapped. The mishap resulted in a 10-yard loss bringing players and Jackets towards the FSU 38-yard mark.

However, King and Singleton then connected on a 12-yard ball with just 41 seconds left to gain that yardage to put Birr in the position for the field goal that would win.

The Yellow Jackets took a 21-14 lead at the start of the fourth quarter. They finished with an 11-play, 89-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run from Jamal Haynes. The Seminoles responded with their own long scoring drive, ranging for 84 yards in just 15 plays to make it a tie.

The most memorable part in the play was a fourth-down throw by DJ Uiagalelei to Malik Benson for 19 yards of gain towards Georgia Tech’s Georgia Tech 1-yard line. Roydell Williams then followed by kicking the ball into the score.

Uiagalelei tallied 193 passing yards, on 19-for 27 passing without scoring a touchdown however, Williams was the leading player for in the Seminoles by rushing for 38 yards of rushing and scored on 12 runs. Ja’Khi Douglas took four interceptions to gain 55 yards.

To Georgia Tech, King compiled 200 yards off scrimmage while Haynes ran for 75 yards and scored two scores. Rutherford added 66 yards rushing on four receptions.

The game on Saturday began by FSU’s Lawrance Toafili making a quick turn to the right, cutting off a run of 28 yards to score the touchdown. The Seminoles added the two-point conversion from an enticing gate trick to lead 8-0.

Georgia Tech punched right into the back of its first drive which was highlighted by a catch-and-run of 42 yards from Malik Rutherford. Three runs later they scored their first touchdown on the board.

The Yellow Jackets kept Florida State in the game with a 14-11 advantage in the second quarter after concluding a 75-yard run with a touchdown of one yard from King. But a field goal of 59 yards of Ryan Fitzgerald – the second-longest of all time in the history of the school at the time that the clock ended made the score 14-14 heading into the halftime.

The Seminoles along with Coach Mike Norvell, the season-opening defeat to a team that was 7-6 in the previous season was a major setback. Florida State was looking to get revenge after being disqualified from last year’s College Football Playoff despite a 13-0 record.

This revenge tour evidently was a disappointment with this loss and leaves them at a disadvantage from the beginning in what could be a difficult ACC race against Clemson or Miami. Maybe Georgia Tech just put the conference on notice that they is a potential threat, too.

Next up to Florida State is a Labor Day game against Boston College at 7:15 p.m ET. Georgia Tech will play Georgia State next Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.