Georgia Tech pulls one from the Fire

Thank god for trick plays. If Georgia Tech didn’t have Scott Blair in the mix, they probably wouldn’t have won this game. Blair not only kicked the winning field goal, he also threw a touchdown pass, something his quarterback couldn’t do.

Blair threw a touchdown pass off a fake field goal, then booted a 36-yard kick with 57 seconds remaining as the 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets rallied to beat Clemson 30-27 after squandering a 24-point lead Thursday night.

Game Facts:

• Georgia Tech led 24-0 in the first half, and 21-0 after the first quarter!

• Clemson came all the way back to take a 27-24 lead in the fourth quarter.

• Georgia Tech’s Jerrard Tarrant’s 85-yard punt return in the first quarter was Georgia Tech’s longest since a 96-yard return by Randy Rhino in 1972.

• Anthony Allen’s 82-yard touchdown run was the third touchdown run of more than 80 yards for Georgia Tech under Paul Johnson. Prior to Johnson’s arrival, the Yellow Jackets hadn’t had an 80-yard run since 1981.

• Georgia Tech has won five of its last six games against Clemson.

Georgia Tech is now 2-0, and more importantly, 1-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. What’s both encouraging and a little worrying is that they clawed back and won the game in the fourth quarter, but they gave up a 24-0 lead! What looked like an easy and impressive victory almost turned into a potentially devastating loss. It could have been a case of sitting back and putting it in cruise control as the Jackets were up 24-0 with 4 1/2 minutes into the second quarter.

Georgia Tech looked very ordinary for most of the night and if it wasn’t for the three big plays, they probably wouldn’t have won the game. Josh Nesbitt was the biggest stinker as he only completed three passes all night, well five actually but two were to Clemson players.

He redeemed himself when he connected with Demaryius Thomas for a 39-yard pass, which set up Blair’s winning kick. But it doesn’t excuse the fact that he was just 3-14 with zero TD’s.

What Clemson can take from this game is that they overcame the nightmarish start and gave themselves a chance to win. Parker, a redshirt freshman making only his second college start, had himself a pretty good night, throwing for 261 yards and three touchdowns but he did have two picks. He hooked up with Spiller on a 63-yarder and Ford on a 77-yarder, and also had a 9-yard scoring pass to Dwayne Allen.

Clemson’s top offensive performers were Spiller, who rushed for 87 yards and caught four passes for 69 yards, and Ford, who had five catches for 109 yards.

Anthony Allen led Georgia Tech with 127 yards rushing on just five carries, including an 82-yard touchdown on his team’s second play from scrimmage.

Next up for Clemson is another huge ACC matchup with Boston College on the 19th. Georgia Tech also faces an ACC foe when they travel down to Florida to take on Miami (FL).