STUNNER IN CHAPEL HILL: Georgia Tech Takes Down No. 13 North Carolina
Georgia Tech went on the road to face North Carolina today hoping to do what they did last season and that is pulling a big upset over the Tar Heels. The Yellow Jackets were going to have to do it without their top two quarterbacks and top wide receiver, Nate McCollum, who was a late scratch from the game.
The defense was going to be tasked with slowing down the top-scoring offense in the ACC and Heisman Trophy candidate Drake Maye. No team this season has been able to stop Maye and Georgia Tech has struggled with top offenses this year (Florida State and Ole Miss).
It was a great performance by the defense against Maye and the offense and a gutsy performance from Zach Gibson. Gibson has struggled this season, but he played well and won the game for the Yellow Jackets.
Here is the complete game summary from today's matchup in Chapel Hill.
1st Quarter
North Carolina won the toss and deferred to the second half which meant Georgia Tech was going to start with the ball.
After two rushing attempts from Dontae Smith, Zach Gibson found Malik Rutherford on a quick pass to pick up 21 yards and a first down. Then, the offense went backward. Three straight negative plays on offense forced a punt and Maye and the Tar Heels took over from there.
It was not Maye who scored the first touchdown for North Carolina but running back Elijah Green. Green took his first carry of the game 80 yards for a touchdown and was nearly untouched on the run. The Tar Heels took an early 7-0 lead in the game with 10:56 left in the first quarter.
Running back Hassan Hall got Georgia Tech set up after a nice kickoff return to the 40-yard line. At that point, Clemson transfer Taisun Phommachanh entered the game and took over for the offense. Phommachanh lead the offense into North Carolina territory, but the end result would be a missed field goal for Gavin Stewart that kept the lead at 7-0 in favor of North Carolina.
The Tar Heels took over and Maye hit a big pass over the middle to get the drive starter. The Yellow Jackets' defensive line disrupted the next few plays and Makius Scott got a sack on third down to force North Carolina to punt.
Makius Scott had a big sack for Georgia Tech in the first half against North Carolina
After Phommachanh led a decent drive previously, Gibson would be re-inserted and the offense would go three and out.
Maye and the Tar Heels offense got the ball back and started moving it, mostly on the ground with Maye, right before the first quarter ended.
2nd Quarter
The UNC offense got down to the red zone and looked as if they were going to score after picking up a fourth and short. Keion White made sure that the Yellow Jackets would get a stop and helped force a North Carolina field goal and the Tar Heels led 10-0.
Phommachanh came back into the game for Georgia Tech, but would be intercepted by North Carolina cornerback Storm Duck (awesome name by the way) and North Carolina would take back over.
The Tar Heel's offense was moving down the field with their running game, but once again faced a fourth and short near the end zone. This time, Georgia Tech's defense would stop Maye.
The Yellow Jackets continued to rotate quarterbacks and Gibson was back in, but the offense only went five plays for 23 yards before having to punt it back to the Tar Heels.
North Carolina appeared to have taken control of the game when they scored on the next drive and the running game got them into the end zone in four plays to take a 17-0 lead.
Gibson was put back into the game and Georgia Tech needed some points before halftime. Hall would play a huge role out of the backfield in catching passes and getting the Yellow Jackets all the way into the red zone. Smith would run it into the end zone and cut the lead to 17-7.
Georgia Tech's touchdown drive at the end of the first half swung the momentum in the game
The drive was much needed. This game was teetering on a blowout, but the offense came through and cut into the lead.
Maye and the Tar Heels would be trying to score before the half with under a minute left, but a sack by White stopped the North Carolina drive and Georgia Tech would go into the locker room trailing only 17-7.
First Half Notes: North Carolina outgained Georgia Tech in the first half 257-171. The Tar Heels had 149 yards rushing and averaged nearly eight yards per carry compared to Georgia Tech's 49. A big thing for Georgia Tech was being able to get three sacks (two by Keion White) and contain this passing attack from North Carolina better than most thought they would be able to.
3rd Quarter
North Carolina got the ball to start the second half and the Tar Heels would be trying to get the offense into a rhythm again and march down the field and score.
A fumble on the play pushed North Carolina's offense back and Georgia Tech would force a punt to get the ball back.
One thing that Georgia Tech found that worked in the first half against the North Carolina defense was throwing the ball to the running back out of the backfield. The Yellow Jackets continued to do that on their first drive of the second half, throwing it to Smith to get down to the red zone. Phommachanh came into the game and ran the ball effectively and got it into the end zone to cut the lead to 17-14.
Taisun Phommachanh played well in a running role for Georgia Tech against North Carolina
It was gutsy to pull Gibson from the game and let Phommachanh in the game, but it worked for Georgia Tech's offense.
The defense for Georgia Tech continued their great play on the next drive and a sack by Jason Moore put a dent in the Tar Heel's drive. The Yellow Jackets' defense forced yet another punt from North Carolina and Georgia Tech would get the ball back with a chance to take the lead.
Tech got some nice gains on the ground, but Gibson and the offense could not convert on a third and six and would be forced to punt the ball away.
The Georiga Tech defense was called upon to make another stop and they did just that. After a big throw from Maye to tight end Bryson Nesbit, Maye threw a poor pass that was picked off by LaMiles Brooks and Georgia Tech would take over.
Brooks has been the best player in the secondary this season and he made a huge play for the Yellow Jackets when they needed it the most.
Georgia Tech got a nice run by Hall to start the drive and that would end the quarter. Nobody thought Georgia Tech would have a chance in this game, but the Yellow Jackets trailed only 17-14 heading into the fourth quarter. The defense was playing lights out and Gibson had the offense in a rhythm.
4th Quarter
The offense ran nine plays and went 81 yards to get into the end zone and take the lead at the beginning of the quarter. Malachi Carter had a big carry to get the Yellow Jackets into the red zone and Hall took it the rest of the way to get the lead for Georgia Tech 21-17.
Brooks and the defense took the field and continued to fluster Maye and not let him make any plays in the pocket. Georgia Tech forced a three-and-out and got the ball back and had an opportunity to wind the clock down.
The next drive for Georgia Tech was a missed opportunity that had a questionable call on third down. The Yellow Jackets faced a third and eight and instead of letting Gibson try to pick up the third down through the air, but ran it instead and it went nowhere and Georgia Tech was forced to punt it back to Maye and the Tar Heels.
North Carolina's offense got going on the first play of the drive when Maye hit Gavin Blackwell for 21 yards. Downs would get going and UNC would find a way to get deep into Georgia Tech territory and the defense was up against the wall.
Facing a 4th and 11, UNC went for it and appeared to have a touchdown to a wide-open Downs, but he dropped it and Georgia Tech took over and had a chance to wind the clock down.
Georgia Tech did just that. Gibson and Hall came up with crucial plays to win the game and Georgia Tech walked into Chapel Hill as three-touchdown underdogs and beat North Carolina, ending their playoff hopes.
This was an unbelievable performance for the Yellow Jackets' defense and the offense did just enough to win the game.
Tech held Maye to 202 yards passing and Gibson finished the game 13-18 for 178 yards and Georgia Tech outgained North Carolina 373-365.
What a win for this team and head coach Brent Key.
Georgia Tech is heading to Athens next week to take on the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs.
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