Aaron Philo Leads Game Winning Drive
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This game was a defensive struggle…until it wasn’t. With cold, windy weather one might have mistaken it for an old school Big 10 game early on then things opened up a lot. GT couldn’t run and NC State couldn’t pass which ended making a very even game with the difference being a handful of huge plays.
Georgia Tech started the game with the ball and Haynes King at quarterback. Unfortunately it looks like King’s shoulder is still not doing well and the Wolfpack watched the tape from last week. So they put their whole team within 8 yards of the line of scrimmage and crashed everything hard. It worked. GT was able to gut out a couple first downs on the first drive before a punt, but their second drive was a three-and-out. After that Aaron Philo took the reins and Haynes King only came in for a change of pace.
Then came the first huge play. On their first play of the next drive NC State tried to run a pop pass. The receiver dropped the pass which would normally be fine, that’s why you run a pop pass after all. Unfortunately he dropped it right at the QB who instinctively popped the ball back in the air where E.J. Lightsey caught it and ran it back for a touchdown. This was a huge play in so many ways. GT’s defense has not done a whole lot in the turnover department this year, so this gave the Jackets ton of momentum.
Then the Wolfpack came right back and put together a 75-yard TD drive capped by a long scramble by quarterback CJ Bailey (keep that in mind for later). For the rest of the half both teams had mild success moving the ball. It ended up with Aidan Birr hitting two nice field goals for GT to take the lead 13-7.
Despite the halftime lead this did feel great at all for GT. NC State had figured out the Haynes King offense and mostly had shot themselves in the foot on offense.
The second half also started slowly. On the third drive of the half, GT got another field goal after an Aaron Philo deep ball to Eric Singleton. That gave GT a two-score lead.
It looked like GT had the momentum, then NC State came right back with another 75-yard touchdown drive capped by a long scramble by CJ Bailey (Deja Vu?)
After a couple more quick drives followed by punts, GT was driving. Aaron Philo hit Eric Singleton on another deep ball into the red zone which was definitely a push off that went uncalled. A few plays later Philo hits Singleton in the hands with a rocket on a stick route that pops off his hands and is intercepted by an NC State defender. GT had trouble finishing drives all day and this was emblematic of the issues.
Then on the third play of NC State’s drive, CJ Bailey threw and the ball was tipped at the line by Romello Height who somehow was able to corral the interception and return it to the one yard line. Bailey struggled all day with tipped passes despite being 6’5”. Height nearly fumbled the ball out of the end zone, but it stayed just short of the end zone so GT got the ball at the 1. Haynes King ran in the touchdown on the first play to make it 23-14 with 6:40 left in the game.
Then NC State went on a quick 75-yard touchdown drive aided by a long scramble by CJ Bailey. I’m getting tired of typing that. It took only two and a half minutes off the clock so GT got the ball back with 4 minutes left and only up 23-21. They promptly went 3-and-out to give the Wolfpack the ball back with 2:10 left and three timeouts.
They don’t need that long. This time it wasn’t CJ Bailey, it was running back Hollywood Smothers who broke a 53-yard TD run with 1:30 left to take the 29-23 lead (after a CJ Bailey scramble for the two-point conversion, see? I still got it in there).
The Jackets had just one timeout and less than a minute and a half. Philo played it perfectly. The Wolfpack were guarding downfield so he hit the checkdowns then got up to the line to prevent the clock from running. GT caught a break when on a first down Philo hit Jamal Haynes on a crossing pattern and Haynes got taken down after 8 yards in bounds at the 36 with 40 seconds left. Brent Key had to take the final timeout, but they got it back because an NC State player was down injured so it was an injury timeout. Then Aaron Philo dropped back to pass, saw an open lane and took it himself for an 18-yard gain to the 18. After a Wolfpack timeout he dropped back to pass, he again saw an open lane and took it himself punching in the touchdown with 22 seconds left to take the 30-29 lead.
The Yellow Jackets expertly executed the pooch kick to take 5 seconds off the clock and NC State had the ball at their own 31. Then on the first play CJ Bailey hit a 28 yard pass to bring the ball to the GT 41 with 9 seconds left. Their next play was a drop on a tough pass about 12 yards down the field which dropped the clock to 6 seconds left. NC State had some confusion coming out the huddle and needed to take their final timeout. They didn’t want to risk the clock running out so they ran their kicker out for a 58-yard field goal. He ripped a total line drive and the ball started left, but faded back towards the goal post and just went wide.
Georgia Tech wins!!!!
This was an absolute heart attack of a fourth quarter. My heart is still beating like crazy. But a win is a win. Georgia Tech is now 7-4 and went 6-0 at Bobby Dodd this year for the first time since 1999.
Celebration time!