CLEMSON, S.C. — Georgia Tech football pushed No. 6 Clemson to the brink on Saturday afternoon, enduring a 1-hour, 52-minute lightning delay and amassing 309 yards of offense before dropping a tough-luck 14-8 loss at Memorial Stadium.
Trailing 14-3 midway through the fourth quarter, Georgia Tech (1-2, 0-1 ACC) came up just inches short of potentially pulling even in the waning seconds of the thriller and sending shockwaves through the Atlantic Coast Conference and the college football world.
The wild game-ending sequence began in earnest when Tech drove 70 yards in 16 plays to the Clemson 5 yard line and pulled within eight points on Brent Cimaglia’s second 22-yard field goal of the game with 1:19 to go.
Jude Kelley then executed a picture-perfect onside kick that the Yellow Jackets recovered to take over at midfield with 1:19 to go. Tech moved the ball 51 yards to set up fourth-and-goal at the 1 yard line. Unfortunately, a shovel pass to tight end Dylan Deveney came up just inches short of the goal line, leaving the Yellow Jackets down 14-6 with 15 seconds left on the clock.
However, the Jackets stayed alive one play later when Juanyeh Thomas forced Clemson to fumble into its own end zone. The Tigers fell on the loose ball, but the result was a safety, which cut Georgia Tech’s’ deficit to 14-8 with seven seconds left on the clock.
Tech got the ball back at its own 25 after the ensuing free kick, but its desperation final play wasn’t successful and Clemson escaped with the victory despite the Yellow Jackets’ valiant effort.
The wild final quarter began with the Yellow Jackets trailing just 7-3 and Clemson driving to take a two-score lead. However, Georgia Tech linebacker Quez Jackson forced a huge fumble on the Georgia Tech 20, which was recovered by Myles Sims, giving the Jackets to score to take the lead. Unfortunately, Tech went three-and-out following the takeaway and, on their ensuing possession, the Tigers drove 66 yards in 12 plays to take the seemingly commanding 14-3 lead that Tech nearly erased in the final eight minutes of the game.
The Yellow Jackets hung tough throughout the first half and were driving to potentially knot the score at 7-7 when lightning in the area halted the game with 32 seconds left before halftime and the Jackets at the Clemson 25 yard line. Following the one-hour-and-52-minute delay, Cimaglia split the uprights with his first field goal of the night to cut the Tech deficit to 7-3 as time expired in the first half.
Georgia Tech’s 309-yard offensive effort was led by 203 yards through the air from quarterback Jordan Yates, who completed 20-of-33 passes on the night.
Tech’s defense was also stout, limiting the sixth-ranked Tigers to 284 total yards. Clemson (2-1, 1-0 ACC) scored less than 20 points and amassed less than 300 yards for the first time in an Atlantic Coast Conference game since a 28-6 loss to the Yellow Jackets in 2014.
The D was led by career nights from Tariq Carpenter (13 tackles, 9 solo) and Charlie Thomas (12 tackles, 4 solo, 1 tackle for loss).
Clemson’s quarterback DJ Uiagaleiei went 18-for-25 on the night with tailback Will Shipley taking 21 carries for 88 yards. Defensively linebacker LaVonta Bentley was the lone Tiger with double-digit tackles with 13 .
Georgia Tech returns home to face nationally ranked North Carolina in the Jackets’ first highly anticipated “Mayhem at Mercedes-Benz Stadium” game on Saturday, Sept. 25. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The ACC Coastal Division battle will be broadcast live on ACC Network.