Georgia Tech-Florida State: Yellow Jackets Finally Defeat Mighty Seminoles

It was 1992 all over again—or was it 2003? Georgia Tech was leading late in the fourth quarter, only to have Florida State rip their hearts out again.

In 1992 Georgia Tech lost 29-24 to the Charlie Ward-led Noles, and Yellow Jacket football for the next three years entered its darkest period of football of the last 20 years, which included a 1-10 season in 1994. In 2003 Georgia Tech gave up two touchdowns in the final 7:09 to again lose late to the Noles, 14-13.

Five years later, with Georgia Tech leading 31-20, quarterback Josh Nesbitt—who looked like the second coming of Nebraska option wizard Tommie Frazier—suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter, and the seeds of doubt started setting in.

Florida State pulled to within 31-28, and after backup quarterback Jaybo Shaw threw an ugly interception to Nole defender Patrick Robinson, memories of past Georgia Tech losses to FSU left every Georgia Tech fan hoping for the best, but fearing the worst.

With 45 seconds left, Marcus Sims was running in for the winning score—and then it happened. Years of frustration for Yellow Jackets fans were erased when Tech safety Cooper Taylor made a perfect helmet to football tackle on Sims, who fumbled into end zone. A wild scrum ensued with Tech defensive player Rashaad Reid coming up with the ball.

Georgia Tech has to go back to 1999, when Georgia Bulldog Jasper Sanks fumbled going in for the winning score in a game Tech won 51-48, to find a similar play in the Yellow Jackets' annals.

To fully grasp the significance of this game, Georgia Tech had not beaten Florida State since 1975 and had never beaten Florida State as an ACC rival. While ACC teams such as Maryland, NC State, and Clemson had scored victories over Florida State in recent years, the Jackets had been waiting for five long years for their shot.

There isn't an ACC rival that the Jackets and their fans wanted to beat more.

Today the Jackets got it done behind a defense that took over the game in the second half, an offense that looked unstoppable under Nesbitt, and a coach in Paul Johnson who is winning with his own special brand of option football.

Georgia Tech won the turnover battle 3-2, the stat that I said would decide the outcome in my preview article of the game, with the most significant being that final fumble.

I didn't expect Nesbitt, though, to run the offense so efficiently. For the two-and-a-half quarters he was in, he played without committing a turnover and utilized backs Roddy Jones and Jonathan Dwyer to perfection. Georgia Tech rolled up 288 yards rushing to a defense that was only giving up an average of 79 a game.

Here's hoping Nesbitt is sufficiently recovered to play against North Carolina in what should be a whale of a game.