Ladies and gentleman, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have shocked the college football world yet again this season, this time with a win against the No. 4 ranked Miami Hurricanes. The atmosphere was electric, Bobby Dodd Stadium was the loudest that it has been in recent memory, and the Yellow Jackets yet again have a reason to celebrate. The 2024 season.
The key for the Yellow Jackets heading into the game was to keep the ball on the ground and control the clock, and boy did they ever. The rushing attack was stinging the Hurricanes all game, as the team finished with 48 rushing attempts for 271 yards and two touchdowns, while having possession of the ball for a full nine minutes more than the Hurricanes. Quarterback Haynes King led the team with 93 yards and a touchdown, while Jamal Haynes carried for 83 yards and a touchdown, despite only having three rushing attempts throughout the game.
The Yellow Jackets only threw the ball 16 times in the game, but freshman quarterback Aaron Philo and King combined to complete 11 of 16 passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns.
Another big contributing factor in the upset was Georgia Tech’s rush defense. Miami entered the game leading the nation in scoring and total yards. The Yellow Jacket defense would hold Miami to season-lows in both categories, as they held the Hurricanes to 436 yards and 23 points. The Hurricanes were held to just 88 yards rushing on the day.
Heisman-favorite Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward put on a show through the air, completing 25 of 39 passes for 348 yards, but the Yellow Jacket defense held him in check on the ground for most of the game, as he finished with –5 rushing yards, mainly thanks to sacks from linebacker Kyle Efford, defensive end Romello Height, and both Trenilyas Tatum and Thomas Gore finished with .5 sacks each.
While Georgia Tech only trailed for 10 minutes and 45 seconds in the game, it felt as if the Yellow Jacket offense would find a way to stay on the field, even without their starting quarterback at times.
The Yellow Jackets never trailed in the second half, in fact, they went up 28-16 in the early part of the fourth quarter, when King kept the ball on a read option and ran it in himself to start to put the game away. The Hurricanes would respond right back with a touchdown of their own when Ward found wide receiver Xavier Restrepo for a 38-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline with 6:07 remaining in the quarter.
Georgia Tech was only able to run six plays on their next drive, only being able to take off four minutes of game clock before punting the ball back over to the Hurricanes for one last drive to see if Ward would be able to pull off yet another miracle win this season. However, on the second play of the drive, Height would get a strip sack on Ward and Yellow Jackets defensive lineman Steven van der Berg would jump on the loose ball to give possession back to the Yellow Jackets. With the Hurricanes only having two timeouts, all the Yellow Jackets needed was a first down, which they got on 3rd and 8, by way of King finding wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. For a gain of 11 yards.
The final kneel happened, chaos ensued as fans rushed the field, and the Yellow Jackets became bowl eligible for the second consecutive season.