THE FLATS – Georgia Tech place kicker Aidan Birr (Kennedale, Texas/Kennedale H.S.) and quarterback Aaron Philo (Bogart, Ga./Prince Avenue Christian School) have been selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Specialist and Rookie of the Week, respectively, the ACC office announced on Monday. Birr and Philo were honored for their performances in Georgia Tech’s 30-29 win over NC State last Thursday.
Birr was perfect on 6-of-6 kicks, making 44-, 41- and 45-yard field goals and 3-of-3 PATs, which were all crucial in the Yellow Jackets’ one-point win. The three field goals made were a season high and matched a career high for the redshirt sophomore, while he also became the first Jacket to make three 40-yard field goals in a game since Scott Blair accomplished the feat against Duke in 2010.
Splitting time with starting QB Haynes King, Philo threw for a game-high 265 yards and ran for team-best 57 in the win over NC State. He turned in one of the Yellow Jackets’ signature moments of the season when he engineered a seven-play, 75-yard drive over a minute and eight seconds, capped by his game-winning, 18-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds to go in the game. Philo was responsible for all 75 yards on the drive, completing 4-of-4 passes for 33 yards and running three times for 42 yards and the go-ahead score.
Philo’s 265 passing yards were the most by a Georgia Tech true freshman since Jeff Sims threw for 277 on Sept. 12, 2020 at Florida State, while Philo’s 322 yards of total offense were the most by a true freshman at Tech since Sims had 326 against UCF on Sept. 19, 2020.
Birr, Philo and the Yellow Jackets (7-4, 5-3 ACC) close the regular season on Friday night when they face archrival and No. 6-ranked Georgia in the 118th edition of Clean, Old Fashioned Hate. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at UGA’s Sanford Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ABC.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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