Turnovers and Fourth Quarter Collapse Doom Georgia Tech In Loss to Boston College.

Georgia Tech drops to 3-4 after the loss today to Boston College

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Oct 21, 2023 3:24 PM EDT

In this story:

For the first time in two weeks, it was gameday for Georiga Tech. The Yellow Jackets had a crucial game today against Boston College and the winner of the game would get a huge boost to its bowl game hopes, while the loser would have a big uphill battle on their hands.

Earlier this morning before the game, ESPN's Pete Thamel dropped some big injury news for Boston College. The Eagles were going to be without their top running back today, but they were expected to get one of their starting offensive lineman back for this game.

However, turnovers and a terrible 4th quarter would doom Georgia Tech today against a Boston College team that needed the win just as much as Georgia Tech.

Let's recap today's action from Atlanta.

1st Quarter

Boston College won the toss and deferred to the second half. Georgia Tech and quarterback Haynes King would be up first against a poor Eagles defense.

It was a tough start for the Georgia Tech offense. On the first drive, King hit Rutherford for a 17-yard gain to open the drive, but the offense moved backward after that and the Yellow Jackets were forced to punt.

The defense was going to be tasked with stopping one of the ACC's best running games and on the first drive, they were able to contain Eagles quarterback Thomas Castellanos and force a three-and-out.

After a three-and-out from the Yellow Jackets' offense, the Eagles were able to move down the field on the Georgia Tech defense. A 19-yard completion got the drive going and then Castellanos danced around and found an open receiver for a 45-yard gain to set Boston College up inside the red zone.

One of the big reasons Georgia Tech beat Miami was its ability to get stops in the red zone and they did just that once the Eagles got down there. The Yellow Jackets forced a field goal attempt and BC nailed it to go up 3-0 with 8:51 left in the quarter.

The offense finally got going on the next drive. The running game was finding open holes, with Jamal Haynes and Trey Cooley moving the chains. The Yellow Jackets ran the ball all the way into the end zone with Haynes scoring the first touchdown of the game for Georgia Tech on a 16-yard run to put the Yellow Jackets ahead 7-3 with 3:49 left to go in the quarter.

The defense took over and forced a three-and-out to give the ball back to the offense, which just drove down the field with ease on the Eagles' defense.

Unfortunately for Georgia Tech. disaster struck on their fourth drive. Facing a third and six, King forced a pass to Blaylock and Boston College made a great play on the ball, intercepted it, and returned it for a touchdown to give the Eagles the lead.

Georgia Tech got the ball back and started to move down the field, but that would be the end of the quarter. Boston College led Georgia Tech 10-7. Georgia Tech outgained Boston College 117-94, with 90 of those yards coming on the ground.

2nd Quarter

The Yellow Jackets had an incomplete pass to start the drive on third down, which meant another punt from David Shanahan.

The Eagles took over at their own 20-yard line to start their next drive. A penalty wiped a big gain out and moved the Eagle's offense back, but a pass interference call on Rodney Shelly gave the Eagles their yards back. Facing a third and long on the Georgia Tech 43, Boston College looked to have a big gain set up on a reverse, but a great tackle from Jaylon King forced a fourth down decision from Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley and after trying to draw Georgia Tech offsides, BC elected to punt and Georgia Tech took over at its own nine-yard line for its next drive.

Georgia Tech started to put together a nice drive and was moving down the field. The running game stayed strong and both Haynes and Cooley kept the offense moving without needing much from the passing game. After getting into Boston College territory, there were a couple of questionable no calls on Boston College on what looked to be pass interference penalties on their defense, Aidan Birr nailed a 46-yard field goal to tie the game with 6:02 left in the first half.

Boston College took the ball and marched down the field on Georgia Tech and it was probably the worst drive of the half for the defense. Castellanos made plays through the air and on the ground and finished the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles the lead going into the half.

It was a tough first half for the passing game with King passing for 70 yards on 6-15. The running game was going well with 127 yards on the ground, averaging over 5 yards per carry. After starting off well, the defense had a hard time containing Castellanos and he had 139 yards through the air and 41 on the ground.

3rd Quarter

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Boston College got the ball to start the second half and the Yellow Jackets defense needed a stop and did not need to go down multiple scores given how the passing game was struggling.

That is exactly what happened. After Boston College crossed midfield and looked to be moving towards another score, Ahmari Harvey came up with a huge interception on a deep throw from Castellanos and the Yellow Jackets stole back the momentum.

The biggest play of the game up to that point happened just a few plays later. On a designed run call, Georgia Tech blocked it beautifully for King and he broke tackles on his way to a 71-yard touchdown run to tie the game with 12:06 left in the third quarter.

The defense went back on the field and while Boston College was able to find some success with running Castellanos, but the defense found a way to stop the Eagles on third down in Georgia Tech territory and force a 47-yard field goal that was nowhere near good and Georgia Tech took over.

The Yellow Jackets could not do anything with the good field position though. A dropped touchdown from Christian Leary on first down and then a tipped pass on third down resulted in a three and out and Boston College got the ball back with 7:07 left in the quarter on their own 27-yard line.

Castellanos started the drive with a big run, but the defense tightened up after that and forced a punt. Georgia Tech took over on its own 11-yard line with 5:34 to go in the quarter.

It looked like another three-and-out was coming on offense, but King found Leonard for a big first down, and then on 3rd and 9, King hit Cooley for a 37-yard gain to get Georgia Tech into Boston College territory. Rutherford would gain 15 yards on the next play and the Yellow Jackets were marching towards the end zone. A couple of plays later, that is exactly what happened and King found Avery Boyd for a 19-yard touchdown. However, Birr missed the extra point and the lead was 23-17 with 2:02 left in the quarter. It seemed like that extra point might loom large later in the game.

At the end of the quarter, Georgia Tech led 23-17 and Boston College was driving. It felt like it could be a wild finish in Atlanta between two teams that really needed this win.

4th Quarter

Boston College wasted no time getting in the end zone and the biggest play on that drive was on third and short, when the BC tight end got behind the defense and set up the Eagles inside the five and they would score shortly after. The extra point was good and Boston College led Georgia Tech 24-23 with 14:24 left in the game. It was a six-play 72-yard drive for the Eagles.

Georgia Tech took over and King would continue to do damage to the Eagles defense with his legs, gaining 26 yards on two plays to get the Yellow Jackets downfield. After some missed throws and a penalty, King tried to scramble for the first down and was tripped up. It appeared that Georgia Tech might go for it, but Brent Key burned his second timeout of the half with 12 minutes to go in the game and Georgia Tech punted the ball away. It was poor clock management from Key to burn a timeout to punt the ball and he should have just let the clock run out if that was going to be his decision.

Boston College took over at their own 28-yard line with 11:53 to go in the game and it was up to the Yellow Jackets defense to come up with another stop.

After getting the Eagles into a third and long, Castellanos had all day in the pocket and found his receiver for a big first down to keep the drive alive.

Georgia Tech seemingly gained the momentum and forced Jeff Hafley to make a decision to go for it on the Georgia Tech 43-yard line. Hafley went for it and Castellanos ran it straight up the middle for a 43-yard touchdown to put the Eagles up 31-23 with 8:44 left. At that point, Castellanos had 128 yards on the ground and 255 through the air.

Disaster would then strike for Georgia Tech. King tried to force a throw down the field and it was intercepted and then two plays later, Boston College scored a touchdown to make it 38-23 with seven minutes to go. It was a terrible sequence of events for the Yellow Jackets.

Georgia Tech seemed to have something going on the next drive, but King stared his receiver down and Boston College came up with another interception. It was a disastrous day throwing the football and Georgia Tech collapsed in the fourth quarter.

That would seal the game for Georgia Tech. It is a loss that will likely end their hopes for a bowl game as well. The Yellow Jackets need three wins against a schedule that includes North Carolina, Virginia, Syracuse, Clemson, and Georgia. The loss drops Georgia Tech to 1-2 at home this year and drops Brent Key to 1-4 when his team is favored.

Boston College nearly racked up 600 yards of offense and averaged over eight yards per play against the Yellow Jackets defense. Haynes King finished 14-32 for 204 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Georgia Tech did have nearly 250 yards rushing.

Georgia Tech is back in action next week against No. 10 North Carolina at home. The ACC has yet to announce a time for the game.

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