Open search form
calendar shop tickets
Open mobile menu

Birr's Walk-Off FG Sinks No. 12/11 Clemson, 24-21

Share

Final Stats Postgame Notes Multimedia Photo Gallery TICKETS: Saturday, Sept. 20 vs. Temple (Family Weekend)

THE FLATS – Aidan Birr’s school-record-tying 55-yard field goal as time expired lifted Georgia Tech to yet another heart-stopping win, a 24-21 triumph over longtime rival and No. 12/11-ranked Clemson on Saturday afternoon at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field.

Birr’s game-winning field goal – the longest by a Yellow Jacket in 39 years – capped a 10-play game-winning drive engineered by quarterback Haynes King. After Clemson tied the game at 21-21 with 3:26 to go in the ball game, King accounted for 36 of the Yellow Jackets’ 38 yards on the ensuing series (18 passing, 18 rushing), moving the Jackets into field goal position with less than 20 seconds remaining.

With no timeouts remaining and the final seconds ticking away, the Jackets’ field goal team took the field with precision, lined up, executed the snap and saw Birr blasted the 55-yarder through the uprights with several yards to spare. For the second time in the last four home games, Tech’s students stormed the field to celebrate a win over a top-12 team, as the Yellow Jackets moved to a hardly fathomable 7-1 against nationally ranked Atlantic Coast Conference opponents in Brent Key’s 37 games as head coach.

Georgia Tech (3-0, 1-0 ACC) jumped out to an early 13-0 lead, thanks to a pair of Birr field goals (40 and 42 yards) and a 5-yard touchdown run by running back Jamal Haynes.

However, Clemson (1-2, 0-1 ACC) rallied to take a 14-13 lead, thanks to touchdown drives on its final possession of the first half and its second series of the season half. A 30-yard gain on third-and-22 sparked the Tigers’ first touchdown drive, while a 73-yard pass from Cade Klubnik to Bryant Wesco Jr. gave them the one-point lead after the break.

Clemson’s lead wouldn’t stand for long, as Georgia Tech regained the advantage with a 13-play, 90-yard drive the culminated with King barreling into the end zone from a yard out to give the Jackets a 19-14 lead. On the ensuing two-point conversion try, Tech executed its version of the “Philly Special,” as wide receiver Malik Rutherford took a pitch from King on a reverse and found a wide-open Dean Patterson in the end zone, extending the Jackets’ lead to 21-14 with 10:02 to go in the ballgame.

Clemson wouldn’t go away, as it ran 6:36 off the clock on a 13-play, 75-yard drive, with Adam Randall’s 2-yard touchdown run knotting the score at 21-21 with 3:26 left on the clock and setting up Georgia Tech’s late-game heroics.

Besides Birr’s right leg, the story of the game was King, who missed last week’s win over Gardner-Webb with a nagging lower body injury, but returned this week to torch Clemson’s vaunted defense for 211 yards on 20-of-28 passing and 103 yards on a career-high 25 carries. King topped 300 yards of total offense for the ninth time in 26 games as a Yellow Jacket.

Defensively, Georgia Tech was led by defensive back Omar Daniels, who forced a fumble and had an interception, the former leading to a Tech field goal and the latter snuffing out a Clemson scoring opportunity in the red zone. Linebacker E.J. Lightsey also had a career day with 10 tackles.

The Yellow Jackets, who will almost assuredly be nationally ranked when next week’s polls come out on Sunday, will return to action next Saturday when they host Temple for a non-conference matchup at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on The CW.

Jamal Haynes is lifted in celebration by Brett Seither after Haynes scored from 5 yards out to give Georgia Tech a 10-0 lead in the second quarter (Danny Karnik photo)

 

Postgame Notes

Team Notes

  • Georgia Tech moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2016.
  • Georgia Tech moved to 7-1 under head coach Brent Key against nationally ranked ACC opponents.
  • The win was Georgia Tech’s first over Clemson since 2014, snapping a nine-game losing streak against the Tigers.
  • Georgia Tech moved to 51-36-2 all-time against Clemson, in a rivalry that dates back to 1898.
  • Georgia Tech moved to 45-17-2 all-time at home against Clemson, although it snapped a four-game home losing streak against the Tigers.
  • The win was Georgia Tech’s seventh-straight at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, extending its longest winning streak at the stadium since it won eight in a row from 2016-17.
  • Georgia Tech moved to 21-22 all-time and 14-8 since 2004 in ACC openers.
  • Georgia Tech’s two takeaways were a season high. The Yellow Jackets had forced only one turnover over their first two games of the season (a fumble recovery last Saturday vs. Gardner-Webb).
  • Georgia Tech’s two takeaways were timely ones. The first, a fumble that was forced by r-Sr. DB Omar Daniels and recovered by Jr. DB Zachary Tobe on Clemson’s first possession, led to the Yellow Jackets taking a 3-0 lead on r-Jr. Aidan Birr’s 40-yard field goal. The second, an interception by Daniels on the GT 7-yard line on Clemson’s opening possession of the second half, thwarted a Tigers’ scoring opportunity.
  • Georgia Tech’s two-point conversion (a pass from r-Sr. WR Malik Rutherford to r-Sr. WR Dean Patterson) was the Yellow Jackets’ first successful two-point conversion try in a non-overtime setting since Oct. 28, 2023 vs. North Carolina (a pass from QB Haynes King to Rutherford).
  • Birr’s 55-yard game-winning field goal is just the sixth “walk-off” field goal in Georgia Tech program history and the first since his own 44-yard “walk-off” in the Yellow Jackets’ 24-21 win over No. 10 Florida State on Aug. 24, 2024 in Dublin, Ireland.

Individual Notes

  • r-Jr. PK Aidan Birr’s 55-yard game-winning field goal matched the longest field goal made in program history, accomplished three times previously (David Bell vs. Georgia, 1986; Ron Rice vs. The Citadel, 1982; E.O. Whealler vs. VMI, 1973).
  • With a 3-for-3 day on field goal attempts, became first player in Georgia Tech history with a .800 career field-goal percentage (min. 20 att.). Birr is 38-for-47 (.809) for his career. The second-highest percentage in program history is .732 (Travis Bell – 41-for-56, 2004-07).
  • r-Sr. QB Haynes King had 314 yards of total offense (211 passing, 103 rushing), marking the ninth time in his 26 games at Georgia Tech that he topped 300 yards of total offense.
  • With his 103 rushing yards, King recorded his fifth 100-yard rushing game as a Yellow Jacket and second in two games this season (he had a career-high 156 rushing yards in Tech’s season opening win at Colorado on Aug. 29).
  • King’s 25 carries were a career high (prev.: 24 at Georgia – Nov. 29, 2024).
  • r-Sr. RB Jamal Haynes’ 5-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the 19th rushing TD of his career. He is just one away from becoming only the 17th player in Georgia Tech history with 20 career rushing TDs.
  • r-Sr. DB Omar Daniels’ became only the 13th Georgia Tech player since 2005 with a forced fumble and an interception in the same game. He is the first Yellow Jacket to accomplish the feat since current Los Angeles Chargers DL Kyle Kennard had a FF and INT against South Carolina State on Sept. 9, 2023. Daniels is the first Yellow Jacket to have a FF and INT in the same game against an NCAA Division I FBS opponent since LB Bruce Jordan-Swilling at Virginia on Nov. 4, 2017.
  • The forced fumble and interception were both Daniels’ firsts as a Yellow Jacket.
  • Jr. DB Zachary Tobe’s recovery of Daniels’ forced fumble was his first fumble recovery as a Yellow Jacket.
Haynes King totaled 314 yards of offense (211 passing, 103 rushing) in Georgia Tech’s 24-21 win over No. 12/11 Clemson. (Danny Karnik photo)

 

Multimedia

Head Coach Brent Key Postgame Press Conference (Video)

Head Coach Brent Key Postgame Press Conference (Audio)

Student-Athletes Postgame Press Conference (Video)

Aidan Birr on ESPN Radio

Haynes King on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports

ACC Digital Network Highlights

ACC Digital Network Condensed Game

ACC Digital Network Full Game Replay

Around Social Media

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2025 GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL TICKETS

Fans can still catch all of the exciting action of Georgia Tech football at Bobby Dodd Stadium in 2025, with prorated season tickets, ACC Packs and single-game tickets all still on sale.

Prorated season tickets include the best seats for the Yellow Jackets’ five remaining games at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, which features Atlantic Coast Conference showdowns versus Clemson (Sept. 6), Virginia Tech (Oct. 11), Syracuse (Oct. 25) and Pitt (Nov. 22).

ACC Packs include tickets to the Jackets’ conference matchups against Clemson, VT and Syracuse. The ACC Pack offers a better value than purchasing seats at single-game prices, without the commitment of a full season ticket.

For more information and to purchase 2025 Georgia Tech football tickets today, visit ramblinwreck.com/footballtickets.

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.

For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram and at www.ramblinwreck.com.

RELATED HEADLINES
Football Photos: Football vs. Clemson
Photos: Football vs. Clemson
Football VIDEO: Brent Key, Ryan Alpert on ACC PM

Georgia Tech football head coach and AD appear on ACC Network on eve of showdown with Clemson

VIDEO: Brent Key, Ryan Alpert on ACC PM
Football Traffic Alert for Georgia Tech Football Saturday

Beware of delays near Tech campus on Saturday due to game traffic and GDOT resurfacing project

Traffic Alert for Georgia Tech Football Saturday
Partner of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Legends Partner of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Partner of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Partner of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets