Aidan Birr’s kick at the buzzer gives Georgia Tech win over No. 12 Clemson

The Yellow Jackets, 3-0 for the first time since 2016, won their seventh game in a row at home after blowing a 13-0 lead and giving up a 21-14 lead in the fourth quarter. But on the shoulders of their incomparable quarterback, Haynes King, they mustered one final drive to get in position to beat the Tigers (1-2, 0-1 ACC) after nine consecutive losses to their ACC rival.

“What a day. Excited for a win. Happy for the kids. Boys played hard,” Tech coach Brent Key said. “Played out the way the wanted it to play out. We wanted it to be a one-score game at the end at worst. It was tied up. Earlier in that drive, maybe after that first play, (King) came over to the sideline and (King) said, ‘Put the ball in my hands, we’re gonna win this thing.’ And we did.

“Our kids believe. I believe in them. They believe in each other. Three years of work to get to a very emotional … I’m so happy right now. The beauty of this game that means next week’s even bigger.”

King finished with 211 yards passing and 101 yards rushing, scoring once. Over the final nine plays and 38 yards to get Tech in position for the win, the senior ran it five times and went 2-for-2 passing.

Tech (1-0 ACC) will look to go 4-0 against Temple (2-1) in a week.

“That’s a dang good football team,” Key said. “(Clemson coach) Dabo’s (Swinney) been there 17 years now and nine conference championships and two national championships. That’s the premier team in the league for the last 12 years. It wasn’t gonna be an easy feat. They never are. They got really good players. Really good players. We got pretty good players, too.”

Down 14-13 with 1:17 left in the third quarter Saturday, King orchestrated a masterful drive that covered 90 yards and lasted 6 minutes, 15 seconds. His 1-yard touchdown run, in which he had to lower his left shoulder and deliver a blow at the goal line, gave the Jackets the lead back.

Tech went into its bag of tricks for the two-point conversion, sending wide receiver Malik Rutherford from left to right on a reverse and then having Rutherford throw a pass to wide receiver Dean Patterson, making the score 21-14 with 10 minutes left.

The Tigers answered, scoring on the 13th play of a 75-yard drive that last 6½ minutes and ended with Adam Randall’s 2-yard run. That left 3:26 on the clock — and Tech used each and every last bit of it.

“I think I ran out there and I looked up at the clock and there was 13 seconds left and I knew — I really don’t like to take my full steps because I want to have time to look up at where I’m aiming for my target," Birr said of the game-winning moments. “We’ve been working that situation, so I’m ready for that, and the team’s been ready for that. I was very comfortable with the amount of time we had.

“You just rely on your training and process. You go out there and do what you do. That’s what you dream about doing, and that’s what you live for.”

Tech opened the game with a masterful drive, using 11 plays and covering 71 yards to get to Clemson’s 4. But on fourth down, and needing 2 yards, Tech lined up with four wide receivers bunched on the right sideline, and King threw to Jamal Haynes, who was cut down by safety Ricardo Jones for a 4-yard loss.

But Tech’s defense got the ball right back when safety Omar Daniels drilled Klubnik and knocked the ball loose for cornerback Zachary Tobe to recover at Clemson’s 30.

That turnover led to a 40-yard field goal by Birr, putting the Jackets up 3-0 with 5:50 left in the opening period.

Tech, after a 42-yard completion from King to Eric Rivers, began the second quarter at the Clemson 5, and Haynes easily scored from there on the period’s first play. That made the score 10-0 after Haynes’ 19th career rushing touchdown.

The Jackets were seemingly in complete control at that point, but on the ensuing drive, Clemson running back Adam Randall broke free for a 30-yard run on third-and-22 from his own 24 to wake up the Clemson sideline from the dead. Ten plays later, on fourth down at the Tech 1, Klubnik dove over the pile for the Tigers’ first touchdown to cut the score to 13-7.

Clemson’s scoring drive covered 75 yards in 16 plays and swallowed 6:57 of clock, and Randall’s run was a major reason why.

“I was supposed to score. I was trying to score, I really was,” Daniels said. “But I cramped up as soon as I jumped up. I was just trying to make a play. At that point it was just run, run, run.”

Tech failed to take advantage, punting after three offensive plays and losing 15 yards. On the ensuing possession, Klubnik found Bryant Wesco Jr. on a simple crossing route — but Tech’s defense completely forgot about the star Tigers receiver, and he went 76 yards to pay dirt and putting the Tigers up 14-13 at the 9:36 mark.

The Jackets regained their composure and drove into Clemson territory at the end of the period. Faced with a fourth-and-1, however, on the Clemson 40, Tech motioned tight end J.T. Byrne under center, who took the snap and promptly fumbled the ball away, leading to a turnover on downs.

Thus, Tech trailed by a point going into the final 15 minutes, but hung tough to give itself a chance in the end.

“When you have a feeling going into a game how your defense has prepared all week and practiced all week versus the opponent, it gives you confidence now when you’ve driven the ball on the first drive (of the game) on the fourth-and-2 to go for it on the fourth-and-2. That was part of the game plan,” Key said. “We wanted these guys to have to go the length of the field consistently. The entire day was a big field-position game. Huge field-position game. By doing that and forcing them to have to drive the length of the field, put the odds in our favor defensively, we felt like today.”

NOTES