Nov 17, 2001
Final Stats?|? Notes
By JENNA FRYER
AP Sports Writer
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – George Godsey threw for 267 yards and three touchdowns – two to Will Glover – to lead Georgia Tech to a 38-33 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday.
Glover finished with eight catches for 155 yards with touchdowns of 65 and 47 yards, and Joe Burns ran for 145 yards and a touchdown as Georgia Tech (7-3, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) prevented the Demon Deacons (5-5, 3-5) from qualifying for a postseason bowl.
Wake Forest, which failed to win a conference game at home this season, can still get its bowl-qualifying sixth win in next week’s season finale against Northern Illinois.
But the Deacons missed a prime opportunity on Saturday when they failed to stop the ACC’s most prolific offense, and couldn’t convert on two last-ditch efforts.
After Wake cut the score to 38-33 on Tarence Williams’ 1-yard touchdown run with 1:39, the Deacons failed to convert an onside kick attempt. They got the ball back with 41 seconds to play, but Cory Collins intercepted James MacPherson’s pass to preserve Tech’s win.
The Yellow Jackets ran up 413 yards of offense while their defense – also ranked first in the ACC – shut down Wake Forest’s potent running game. The Deacons came into the game averaging 229 yards on the ground, but were held to just 140 against Georgia Tech.
Unable to run, the Deacons had a hard time answering Godsey, who was sharp all day – he completed 20-of-27 passes, including 10 straight in the first half.
His first TD pass – a 6-yard floater to tight end Will Heller – capped two scores in 1:20 for the Yellow Jackets. They first got on the board with a 14-yard TD run by Burns, who set up the score with a 49-yard gain two plays before.
Wake Forest fumbled away the ball on its first play of the next possession and Georgia Tech recovered at the 8 yard line. Godsey needed two plays and 29 seconds to find Heller for the touchdown and a 14-3 first quarter lead.
His next TD pass was also quick – Godsey threw a 65-yard strike to Glover to cap a two-play drive that gave Tech a 24-10 lead in the second quarter.
But Wake answered just as fast when John Stone returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown that cut the score to 24-17 before the half.
Wake scored on Williams’ 2-yard run to start the third quarter to tie the game, but Godsey hit Glover with a 47-yard TD pass to put Georgia Tech up for good.
The Yellow Jackets added another score in the fourth when Jonathan Smith scored on a 22-yard run to make it 38-26, making Williams’ late TD meaningless.
