This is bad.
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets visited Miami Gardens, Florida, to play the Miami Hurricanes.
The Yellow Jackets were 19-point underdogs.
In the first half, a 41-yard pass was Georgia Tech’s most extended touchdown play of the season. On a fake punt, it tied the game at 14.
The Yellow Jackets meant business. The Hurricanes did not know what stung them and finished inches short.
Antwan Owens blocked what appeared to be an easy Miami field goal in the final seconds of regulation, Jordan Mason ran for 141 yards. He scored on a 1-yard rush on the first possession of overtime, and Georgia Tech (2-5, 1/3 ACC) knocked off the Hurricanes 28-21 on Saturday to snap a four-game losing streak.
This is a Yellow Jackets team that lost to The Citadel. And The Citadel lost to Elon. And Elon lost to New Hampshire. And New Hampshire lost to FIU.
Georgia Tech was one of four of the 130 FBS teams in the country not to score more than 24 points in a game this season. Georgia Tech scored 21 points against Miami in the first half.
“We either surrender or press on,” Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz said. “The choice is to press on.”
The Yellow Jackets sealed the win by getting a fourth-down stop inside the five; the referees measured for validation, Hurricanes were short by inches, ball game.
Hurricanes fall to 1-3 in conference play. 3-4 overall. But it was worse. Hurricanes starting running back DeeJay Dallas exited the game in the first quarter to what appeared to be a right knee injury. Also, Michael Pinckney left in the second half.
Starting quarterback N’Kosi Perry was shaken up but returned. Perry finished 16 of 28, 188 yards passing and two touchdowns. Cam’Ron Harris rushed for 136 yards in Dallas’ absence.
They honored the 1989 Miami National Championship team with at halftime. The head coach at the time Dennis Erickson led them out through the smoke. The current squad needs to win three of its final five games just to become bowl-eligible.
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This is bad, but no need to hit the panic button. The last time Miami lost to a team with a 1-5 or worse record this late in the season was 1974.
“They are part of the solution. There is no doubt about that. We have a small senior class and a very young football team. You can see the promise of the future while seeing some of the ugliness of the present. To me, for lack of a better word, this is a rebuild. We are not picking up where we left off with great success. To me, the [commits] have been excited in my conversations with them to be a part of the solution.”
Yikes! “This is a rebuild.” Not the words you want to hear for a program that hired a head coach to move forward, not backward.
The beat goes on.
Georgia Tech after a bye plays host to Pitt on Nov. 2.
Miami will take its talents to Pittsburgh on Oct. 26.
Photo/TonyCapobianco/WORLDWIDEWEST
