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Georgia Tech 24, Florida State 21

Georgia Tech 24, Florida State 21

GEORGIA TECH ATHLETICS

Dublin, Ireland – Aidan Birr kicked a 44-yard field goal at the final horn, lifting Georgia Tech to a 24-21 victory over No. 10 Florida State Saturday evening in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium. It was the 2024 season opener for both teams.

Tech tasted victory for the second time in as many trips to Aviva Stadium, having defeated Boston College on a late rally in 2016, 17-14, and also knocked off a top-10 team for the first time since upending the Seminoles, 22-16, on Oct. 24, 2015 in Atlanta.

The field goal culminated a 49-yard drive that took 12 plays and melted the final 6:33 off the game clock. Birr, a sophomore from Kennedale, Texas, had missed a 51-yarder on the Yellow Jackets’ first possession of the second half after hitting 17-of-19 last season as a red-shirt freshman (with his longest having been a 48-yarder).

Tech got in position for the winning kick despite an errant snap two plays earlier that lost 10 yards and set the Jackets back to the FSU 38. Quarterback Haynes King hit receiver Eric Singleton, Jr., to get back 12 yards, setting up Birr at the Seminole 26. His placed the kick just inside the left upright for the win.

FSU had tied the game on the prior possession, marching 84 yards on 15 plays in 8:18. QB D.J. Uiagalelei converted two fourth-down passes in Tech territory to keep the drive alive, and Roydell Williams scored from a yard out. Ryan Fitzgerald’s PAT kick tied the game at 21 with 6:33 to go.

Tech ran for 190 yards in the game, led by 75 yards on 11 carries from Jamal Haynes, and 54 yards on 15 tried from King. King also completed 11 of 16 passes for 146 yards.

The Jackets held FSU under 100 yards rushing (98), while Uiagalelei connected on 19 of 27 passes for 193 yards.

Linebacker Kyle Efford led Tech defensively with 10 tackles.

Both teams scored on their opening possessions. Florida State received the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in seven plays, reaching the end zone on Lawrence Taofili’s 28-yard run. The Seminoles added a two-point conversion on a trick-play run by tight end Brian Courtney. But Tech answered right back with a 79-yard drive on six plays, capped by a 1-yard plunge by backup QB Zach Pyron and a Burr PAT to make it 8-7 Seminoles at the end of one quarter.

FSU extended its lead to 11-7 on Ryan Fitzgerald’s 52-yard field goal, but the Jackets drove 75 yards on 14 plays to grab a 14-11 lead with 3:13 remaining in the half on Haynes’ 1-yard rush. FSU tied the game at the end of the half with Fitzgerald’s 59-yard field goal.

The Yellow Jackets return to Atlanta to open their home season next Saturday, Aug. 31, against Georgia State at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Kickoff is at 8 p.m., with the game televised live on the ACC Network.

Defensive lineman Joshua Robinson celebrates a sack of FSU QB D.J. Uiagalelei.

August 24, 2024






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