MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Paul Moala forced a fumble that was recovered by Kyle Kennard at Georgia Tech’s 26 yard line with 26 seconds remaining, which let quarterback Haynes King march the Yellow Jackets 74 yards in four plays, capped by a 44-yard touchdown pass to Christian Leary with one second to go that lifted the Jackets to a heart-stopping 23-20 win over No. 17-ranked Miami (Fla.) on Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
With the prospects of an upset seemingly dashed, Moala’s forced fumble and Kennard’s subsequent recovery gave Georgia Tech (3-3, 2-1 ACC) a glimmer of hope as they took over on their own 26 trailing 20-17 with 26 seconds left on the clock. After an incomplete pass on first down, King connected with Malik Rutherford for 30 yards to the Miami 44 with 14 seconds left on the clock. The Yellow Jackets raced to the line and spiked the ball to stop the clock with 10 seconds remaining. On the next play, King rolled out to his right and found a wide open Leary, who had gotten behind the Hurricanes’ secondary. Leary hauled in the pass from King and galloped into the end zone with one second left, giving the Jackets a 23-20 lead.
Rather than risk getting the extra point blocked and returned for two points, Tech took a knee on the PAT attempt. A squib attempt on the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving Miami one last play from its own 38 yard line. The Hurricanes completed a pass and made several laterals, but K.J. Wallace eventually forced a fumble that was recovered by Myles Sims to seal the triumph.
Georgia Tech, which trailed 3-0 at halftime and 10-0 late in the third quarter, scored 17 points during a 6:08 stretched that spanned the end of the third and beginning of the fourth period to take a 17-10 lead with 12:11 to go in the ballgame. Rushing touchdowns by King and Jamal Haynes and a field goal by Aidan Birr accounted for the Yellow Jackets’ lightning quick points.
However, Miami would come back to score 10 points of its own in a span of just 3:32 later in the period to retake a 20-17 lead and set up the wild finish.
Georgia Tech’s defense forced five turnovers, which led to a commanding 16-3 advantage in points off turnovers. The Yellow Jackets also held previously unbeaten Miami (4-1, 0-1 ACC) to a season low for points, 18 fewer than its previous low output of the campaign (38 vs. Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 1).
Standing in fifth place in the 14-team Atlantic Coast Conference standings, Georgia Tech enjoys a bye next week and returns to action on Oct. 21 when it hosts Boston College at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Kickoff time will be announced on Monday.