Georgia Tech moved to 3-0 with a home win over No. 12 Clemson. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Georgia Tech handed No. 12 Clemson its second loss of the season with a 24-21 win in Atlanta.
Aidan Birr kicked a 55-yard field goal as time expired to snap Clemson’s nine-game win streak in the series between the two schools. Until Saturday, the Yellow Jackets’ last win over the Tigers came in 2014.
It was a career-long kick for Birr and it came after he had to rush onto the field with the rest of the field goal team. Georgia Tech used its last timeout ahead of its third-down play and after Haynes King ran to the middle of the field, the field goal unit ran on for Birr to drill the kick.
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The Yellow Jackets (3-0) needed the field goal for the win after Clemson (1-2) tied the game with 3:26 to go on a short TD run by RB Adam Randall. But Georgia Tech did a phenomenal job of running out the clock with a 10-play drive that went 38 yards to set up Birr’s field goal.
The win was no surprise either. The Yellow Jackets controlled most of the game. Clemson’s only lead came in the third quarter when Cade Klubnik hit Bryant Wesco Jr. for a 73-yard catch-and-run TD to give the Tigers a 14-13 advantage.
Georgia Tech went up 21-14 early in the fourth on a 1-yard run by QB Haynes King and got the ensuing two-point conversion on a Philly Special to go up seven.
King finished the game 19-of-27 passing for 216 yards and was again a battering ram on the ground. King had 25 of Georgia Tech’s 43 rushing attempts for 103 yards. Jamal Haynes was the team’s second-leading rusher with 12 carries for 26 yards. Whenever Georgia Tech needed a short-yardage conversion, the odds strongly favored King keeping the ball and doing it himself.
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Georgia Tech failed on both of its fourth-down attempts but was 8-of-15 on third downs. And most importantly, the Yellow Jackets didn’t turn the ball over. After three turnovers on its first three possessions of the season in Week 1 against Colorado, Georgia Tech turned it over twice in Week 2.
Saturday, it was Clemson who turned the ball over. Klubnik fumbled once and threw an interception.
The win also sets Georgia Tech up for a potentially special season. None of Georgia Tech’s next eight opponents are currently ranked in the AP Top 25 and the Yellow Jackets could be favored in every single one of those games before their season-ending rivalry game against No. 6 Georgia.
Is the ACC wide open?
Not only are the defending ACC champions 1-2 through three weeks, they already have a conference loss.
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Yes, Georgia Tech should be ranked after Sunday’s win, but this is a Clemson team that doesn’t look like a playoff contender. Klubnik hasn’t looked comfortable after a breakout season in 2024 and the offensive line has looked overmatched at times.
Clemson actually ran the ball more effectively than Georgia Tech did as Randall had 16 carries for 86 yards. But the Tigers’ best offense was far too often needing Klubnik to make a play himself. Outside of that 73-yard pass to Wesco, Clemson had just 144 passing yards.
The path to the College Football Playoff isn’t entirely shut for Clemson; the Tigers lost three games a season ago before beating SMU on a last-second field goal to make the postseason. But Clemson got to the ACC title game by going 7-1 in conference play a year ago.
Now they already have one loss in ACC play with games vs. SMU and Florida State included in their remaining seven conference games. Unless the ACC devolves into pure chaos in 2025, Clemson may need to win its next seven games to have any hope of making the playoff again.
