Tech's late fireworks topple N.C. State Hamilton, defense make big plays in fourth quarter to secure 27-17 Homecoming victory
By Mark Hager Who needs insurance?
If there is one quote you are likely to hear these days in the Georgia Tech locker room, it is "One day at a time." Coach George O'Leary has been trying to get his players to focus on the games at hand and ignore the bowl games for now. Judging from Tech's four wins in a row, they're listening.
Coming off of an impressive win over Boston College, Georgia Tech met North Carolina State for homecoming last weekend, and 44,915 fans were treated to a dogfight that ended with Tech's third win in a row against the 'Pack. N.C. State has not won at Bobby Dodd Stadium since 1988.
Despite several penalties for 71 yards, Tech came out on top. However, Coach O'Leary wasn't impressed with the Jackets' first half performance.
"We sort of shot ourselves in the foot in the first half," said O'Leary, but the Jackets got it together in the third and fourth quarters to beat N.C. State 27-17.
Quarterback Joe Hamilton had a career high game with 364 total yards, including a mad 18-yard dash for the end zone, in which N.C. State's Bobbie Cotten took out Technique photographer David "Baggy pants" Dacus. The run broke a 17-17 tie and put Tech ahead for good with a little over five minutes to go in the game. Hamilton's 364 yards was the fourth-highest mark for a single game in Tech history.
Senior split end Harvey Middleton had several good catches on the day, and now has 34 games in a row with a catch. He also moved into the 18th spot on the ACC's all-time pass receiving list with 136 catches.
Tech fans were given a scare early on N.C. State's opening possession. The Jackets' Jesse Tarplin forced a fumble by quarterback Jamie Barnette, but N.C. State recovered and settled down, converting on third and long.
They kept driving and rolled 80 yards downfield in only eight plays. That drive left the Jackets behind 7-0.
After a missed field goal attempt by David Frakes, N.C. State took over again and the punt trading began.
The high point in the second quarter was Tech's 72-yard, 14-play scoring drive. The drive began with the only low points of the game from Hamilton, and even that didn't faze him. After fumbling the ball and playing leapfrog with an N.C. State pass rusher, Hamilton eventually fell on the ball for a 26 yard loss, and coupled with a holding penalty a play earlier, put the Jackets in a second and 48 hole from their own 42 yard line. After completing a 13-yard pass which set up 3rd and 35, Hamilton lofted a pass to a wide open Derrick Steagall near the goal line. The badly beaten N.C. State defender tripped up Steagall resulting in a pass interference call, and Tech automatically had another of their 27 first downs of the day. Junior Charles Wiley concluded the crazy drive with a one-yard run to tie the game at 7-7.
After another two possession changes, N.C. State's Terry Holt returned Tech's punt 56 yards back to the Tech 16-yard line. The Jackets' defense got fired up however, and stopped the Pack to force a field goal, giving the Pack a 10-7 lead.
Freshman Dez White returned the following kickoff 21 yards to the 23 yard line, and Tech began a drive from there that would take them to the N.C. State 46 yard line, in the closing minutes of the half. With three seconds remaining, Hamilton threw a Hail Mary pass to Harvey Middleton. Tech fans roared as Middleton brought down the pass and fell into the end zone, but the din quickly turned into boos and cup-throwing as the ball was spotted inside the one-yard line with no time left on the clock. This became possibly Tech's most useless first down ever, and the Jackets went into the locker room at the half trailing by three.
In the third quarter, things looked up for the Jackets. Sophomore Phillip Rodgers capped a drive for Tech with a four yard touchdown run to take the lead. The Jackets never faced a second down on the drive and never threw a pass, getting into the end zone on five rushing plays. N.C. State, however, came back on the next possession, taking advantage of a 61-yard running play, to take the lead back for the last time, 17-14.
It was all Georgia Tech in the fourth quarter. Frakes nailed a field goal to tie the game at 17-17 on the first play of the quarter. The field goal was set up by a long completion to Steagall, who had his best game since coming back from his knee injury.
The Wolfpack had one more drive down the field but got nothing out of it as they missed a field goal, and Tech took over for the rest of the game.
Following the Pack's missed field goal, the Jackets put together their most impressive drive of the game, marching 76 yards down the field with a solid balance of running and passing plays. Hamilton mixed his passes up among his various receivers and ran himself a couple times including the game winning score. Contributing to Hamilton's success was freshman Ed Wilder, who had several good blocks for the quarterback, including an outstanding hit that allowed Hamilton to scramble into the end zone untouched.
N.C. State's ensuing drive ended when Jesse Tarplin recovered a fumble which resulted in a nail-in-the-coffin 25 yard field goal by Frakes, for a 27-17 victory. The Jackets ran their record on the year to 4-1, 3-0 in the conference and still tied for first with upcoming foes Florida State and North Carolina.
