Tech Does It Again! Georgia Tech pulls big upset over North Carolina in Atlanta

Georgia Tech has now won three in a row over North Carolina

Georgia Tech has had a history of pulling upsets over North Carolina in Atlanta and the Yellow Jackets are a dangerous underdog with Brent Key as the head coach. 

When talking with the media on Monday, North Carolina head coach Mack Brown talked about the matchup on Saturday with Brent Key and the Yellow Jackets and how tough of a game it has been for his program:

"Georgia Tech is a game that has been tough for us. Atlanta has not been good to the Tar Heels, we have lost 10 of 12. Hear me now. We have lost 10 of the last 12 games in Atlanta to Georgia Tech. Everyone thinks that we have Miami's number because we have beaten them five in a row, well Georgia Tech has had North Carolina's number, and before I got here, in Atlanta so that makes this a game where people project that we lose. Period. Because we have. 10 out of 12 is pretty good percentages. They will be excited and they will feel like they are going to win because they have and we will have our hands full.

Brent Key has done a great job, he is a Georgia Tech alum and has pulled them all together and they are playing really hard and he will have them ready to go with a whole lot of energy and we have to do the same thing"

In what was an insane game that featured plenty of offense, Georgia Tech was able to stun the Tar Heels again and hand them their second straight loss, including their third straight loss to Georgia Tech. 

Let's recap a wild night at Bobby Dodd Stadium. 

1st quarter

North Carolina won the toss and deferred to the second half. Georgia Tech would get the ball to start things off. 

Haynes King hit Dylan Leonard for a nice gain on the first play and then Jamal Haynes picked up a first down to get the Yellow Jackets their first first down of the game. However, the Yellow Jackets could not create any more momentum and they had to punt it away to Drake Maye and the Tar Heels with 12:33 left in the first quarter. 

North Carolina took over at their own 25-yard line and they marched right down the field on the Yellow Jackets defense. UNC running back Omarion Hampton carried the ball six times for 48 yards on the drive and after an illegal forward pass call on UNC quarterback Drake Maye, the Tar Heels faced a 3rd ad 13. Maye found his tight end Bryson Nesbit for a touchdown and just like that, North Carolina led 7-0 with 9:31 to go in the first quarter. It was a bad start for the defense, as they could not stop the run or get a stop in the redzone. 

Georgia Tech took over and needed to do something on offense after that drive by the Tar Heels. King made a good throw on third down to find Malik Rutherford for a first down. On the next play though, GT was called for holding and the offense had to fight an uphill battle. 

On 3rd and 8, King found Trey Cooley for a short gain and that made it 4th and 2 from the Georgia Tech 46-yard line. With his defense playing poorly on the first drive, Brent Key elected to go for it. Jamal Haynes took the handoff but he was stopped short and UNC took over in Georgia Tech territory. 

North Carolina marched the ball down the field in six plays to score. Hampton looked like he was stopped in the backfield on the scoring play, but he found a way around the Georgia Tech arm tackles and scored to put North Carolina up 14-0 with 4:30 to go. 

It was not overstating it to say how massive of a drive the offense had on their hands for the next possession. With the defense playing the way it was, the Yellow Jackets need to get something together on this drive to keep North Carolina's offense off the field. 

King ran for a first down to start the drive and then found Rutherford to pick up another first down and the Yellow Jackets were near midfield. A potential huge gain was missed when King overthrew Rutherford on a pass. That set up another third down, but Dontae Smith took his second carry of the game for the first down and for the first time all night, Georgia Tech was in North Carolina territory. 

Key was faced with another fourth and short decision and opted to go for it again. North Carolina got the stop again and would take over as the first quarter ended. The Tar Heels outgained the Yellow Jackets 130-88 in the first quarter and led 14-0. UNC was also averaging eight yards per play. 

2nd quarter

Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King vs North Carolina / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

It was mostly due to North Carolina committing penalties, Georgia Tech's defense was finally able to get off the field and force a punt. The Yellow Jackets took over at their own 31-yard line needing a score. 

Georgia Tech finally got the drive they needed. King drove the offense 69 yards on five plays and it was capped off by a 42-yard touchdown to Rutherford. It was a great response from the offense and made it a 14-7 game with 11:32 remaining in the first half. 

After Hampton gained four yards on first down, Maye found Nesbit again for a big gain of 46 yards to get deep into Georgia Tech territory. Maye overthrew his tight end a couple of plays later to set up a big third and five at the GT 20-yard line. UNC running back British Brooks had two big runs and ran it in for a touchdown to make it 21-7. 

Georgia Tech took over and started to move the ball nicely on the Tar Heels defense. King had a keeper for a big gain and then on a deep shot shot to Singleton, UNC committed pass interference and Georgia Tech had it in UNC territory. 

A few plays later, Georgia Tech faced another fourth-down decision. Key made the decision to go for it and this time, it was a major success. King found tight end Brett Seither off of the play action for a 35-yard touchdown and the Yellow Jackets kept fighting and cut the lead to 21-14 with 6:53 left in the first half. It was a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. 

Georgia Tech's defense took the field and suddenly faced a big 3rd and 9. Maye looked like he had Nesbit over the middle, but the tight end dropped the ball and Georgia Tech forced a three-and-out and had a chance to tie the game on the next possession. 

Georgia Tech took the ball and continued to march right down the field on the Tar Heels defense. King found Singleton for a 43-yard gain and then Dontae Smith had back-to-back big gains to get the Yellow Jackets in scoring position. For his third touchdown pass of the night, King connected with Rutherford again for a 14-yard touchdown to tie the game 21-21. It was a great rally to tie the game for the Yellow Jackets after falling into a 14-0 hole early. 

North Carolina took over with 2:46 left in the first half and Georgia Tech had all of the momentum. Maye found Tez Walker for his first catch of the day and then Maye ran for a first down to give UNC a new set of downs. 

Maye would find Walker again for a big gain to get into Georgia Tech territory. After a substitution penalty on the Georgia Tech defense, Hampton ran it into the end zone for UNC to retake the lead 28-21 with 45 seconds left. 

With North Carolina getting the ball out of the half, Georgia Tech needed to be aggressive with 45 seconds left and two timeouts. After picking up a first down, King continued to find his favorite target and that was Eric Singleton Jr. He found him three times on the drive, and that got Georgia Tech into field goal position with two seconds left in the half. Birr's 40-yard field goal attempt was good and Georgia Tech was only trailing 28-24 heading into the half against the No. 17 Tar Heels. 

At the half, Georgia Tech had an astounding 360 yards, including 268 from King and the passing attack. King was 20-24 for 268 yards and three touchdowns and most importantly, no interceptions. After his struggles in the last three games, it was good to see King playing how he is capable. 

Singleton had a monster first half, reeling in eight passes for 117 yards. Rutherford caught six passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns. 

The offense averaged 7.5 yards per play and won the time of possession battle. 

North Carolina had a great first half on offense as well though. The Tar Heels racked up 287 yards of offense, including 139 through the air and 148 on the ground. North Carolina was averaging nearly seven yards per rush. 

Georgia Tech was in the game at the half and it was going to be interesting to see if they could get the necessary stops to win the game. 

3rd Quarter

North Carolina started the second half with the ball and the first drive of the half began at their own 25-yard line. 

The drive could not have gone any better for Georgia Tech. The front four stopped the run and then Kyle Kennard got a sack on Maye and forced a punt. Georgia Tech got a piece of the punt and took over in great field position. 

The first bad decision of the game for King came on the first play of the next drive. King tried to force a throw into double coverage trying to hit Luke Benson and the pass was tipped and intercepted to give North Carolina the ball back. It was the first real mistake by King and it was unfortunate because Georgia Tech was in great position after the blocked punt. 

UNC took over and fairly quickly, Georgia Tech forced a third and long. The defense could not contain Maye though and he scampered for a first down. 

A holding penalty on the next second down sent the Tar Heels back and it was another great chance for Georgia Tech to get off the field. Facing a 3rd and 18, UNC ran a shovel pass and Hampton took it for the first down and into Georgia Tech territory. It was a back-breaking play. 

The drive continued and was finished off by a 16-yard touchdown run for Maye. It was a 13-play, 85-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock. 

It would be up to Haynes King and the offense once again to try and keep Georgia Tech in the game. 

The Yellow Jackets started their drive at their own 25-yard line and after Jamal Haynes got a first down after a pair of nice runs. Georgia Tech could not sustain the drive and was forced to punt three plays later. A great punt from David Shanahan pinned UNC inside their own five to start the next drive. 

The Tar Heels went back to running the ball and early in the drive, Georgia Tech could not stop them. On a third and three though, Georgia Tech got a stop and forced a punt to end the quarter. 

Down 11, Georgia Tech would enter the last quarter needing a drive from the offense, who could not get anything going in their two drives in the third quarter. 

4th quarter

Georgia Tech started the first drive of the 4th quarter at their own 12 and two plays later, picked up a first down courtesy of Dontae Smith, who began the drive running the ball well. 

King hit Christian Leary for a big gain to get across midfield and the Jamal Haynes ran the ball into the red zone on a tough run that went 29-yards. 

Haynes would continue to run the ball well and ran it right into the end zone and drug UNC defenders with him. GT converted the two-point attempt and it was a three-point ball game with 12:02 left and North Carolina about to get the ball back. It was a nine-play, 88-yard drive for the Yellow Jackets and it was led by Haynes and the running game. 

UNC struck back in just two plays though. After a big kick return, Maye found Tychaun Chapman for a 35-yard touchdown that put the Tar Heels back up by two scores with 11:13 left. 

Georgia Tech bounced right back though and that was a theme for tonight. In just two plays, Dontae Smith ran 75 yards into the end zone to cut into the lead. Georgia Tech trailed 42-39 with 10:40 left in the game. 

North Carolina did a great job of driving to get into Georgia Tech territory again. Maye found Nesbit for a big gain and a few runs later, the Tar Heels were in scoring positon. 

Needing a stop, the Yellow Jackets' defense stuffed two runs and contained Maye on a third-down scramble to force a 39-yard field goal attempt. The kick was no good and with seven minutes left in the game, Georgia Tech had a chance to drive down and take the lead. 

On the very next play, Haynes King kept it on the zone read and ran 51 yards into North Carolina territory. Dontae Smith had another big run to get a first down and the Yellow Jackets were rolling down three. 

Georgia Tech got down to the five yard line and faced a third down, King found Seither after scrambling around and he just barely got his feet in and Georgia Tech had the lead for the first time all game. It was a great catch by Seither and with 4:28 left in the game, Georgia Tech led by four. 

ANOTHER ONE FOR @_Brett18 👐

GT 46, UNC 42 with 4:28 left pic.twitter.com/gG82MqZoWg

— Georgia Tech Football (@GeorgiaTechFB) October 29, 2023

UNC took over and immediately faced a third and long. Maye found Tez Walker for a big first down, but Ahmari Harvey laid a big hit and forced a fumble and Georgia Tech took back over with 2:54 left and a chance to ice the game away. That is what they did and Georgia Tech once again beat North Carolina in Atlanta. 

Georgia Tech had over 600 yards of offense, including 300 on the ground. After the passing attack was electric in the first half, it was the ground game that won it for Georgia Tech. 

Haynes King threw for four touchdowns and 287 yards. Dontae Smith had 168 yards rushing and Georgia Tech averaged over eight yards per play. 

The Yellow Jackets bowl hopes remain alive heading into the game against Virginia next week (2:00 p.m. CW Network). They will just have to find a way to win two in a row

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