College Football Old School Game of the Week: Tech Stuns FSU With The "Miracle on Techwood Drive"

 

Lance Austin begins to celebrate after completing the "Miracle on Techwood Avenue" in 2015.

In the middle of Atlanta, Georgia lays Bobby Dodd Stadium, the home football stadium for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets located at the intersection of Tenth Avenue and Techwood Drive.

In 2008 a miracle occurred there as the Yellow Jackets stunned the Florida State Seminoles 31-28 when the Seminoles fumbled the football near the goal line while driving for a potential game-winning touchdown in the final seconds, which was dubbed the "Miracle at North Avenue".

Seven years later, another miracle would occur at Bobby Dodd Stadium which would be known as the "Miracle at Techwood Drive" as the Yellow Jackets once again hosted the Seminoles in another key ACC contest.

The Seminoles came into the game ranked #9 in the country with a 6-0 record under head coach Jimbo Fisher, who had taken over for Bobby Bowden following his retirement in 2009 and led the Noles to the 2013 national championship and a berth in the inaugural four-team College Football Playoff in 2014.

The Noles were led on the field by quarterback Everett Golson, who had transferred from Notre Dame, and running back Dalvin Cook who had run for 955 yards in the first six games of the 2015 season as FSU traveled to Atlanta with the Noles hoping to notch their 30th straight ACC win.

While the Noles were looking to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Yellow Jackets were looking to turn around their 2015 season as they came into the game on a four-game losing streak and a 2-4 record, just a season removed from a 11-3 season in 2014 in which the Yellow Jackets defeated their arch rivals, the Georgia Bulldogs for the first time since 2008 and finished the season with a 49-34 win over Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl.

Led by head coach Paul Johnson and his triple option offense, the Yellow Jackets hoped to defeat the Seminoles for the first time since 2009.

 After the Noles went three-and-out to start the game, the Yellow Jackets would get the ball at their 16-yard-line as four straight running plays gained 19 yards until Thomas put the ball in the air as his first pass was caught by Mikell Lands-Davis but lost a yard to set up 3rd & 7 when FSU defensive end Josh Sweat picked off a Thomas pass and returned it six yards to give the Seminoles the ball at the Georgia Tech 19-yard-line.

Cook would run for 17 yards on the first play of the drive to give FSU a 1st & goal at the two-yard-line only for the Yellow Jackets defense to not allow another yard on the next three plays, forcing the Noles to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Roberto Aguayo to give Florida State a 3-0 lead midday through the first quarter.

The Yellow Jackets would respond on their next possession as they ran the ball seven straight times picking up 39 yards until an incomplete pass on 3rd & 6 would lead Johnson to call on Harrison Butker to come on and attempt a 53-yard field goal which he made to tie the game at 3 with 2:38 left in the first quarter.

Following a Florida State punt, the Yellow Jackets would get the ball back at their 25-yard line as four straight running plays would gain 19 yards until Thomas would try to get the first down on 3rd & 5 with a pass, only to have Seminoles defensive back Lamarcus Brutus intercept the pass and return it 57 yards to the Georgia Tech two-yard-line.

It would only take the Noles one play to get into the end zone as Cook punched it in for a two-yard touchdown to give Florida State a 10-3 lead with 11:46 to go in the second quarter.

FSU running back Dalvin Cook ran for 82 yards on 17 carries and caught four passes for 50 yards.

The Noles would force a Georgia Tech punt on its next possession to get the ball back at their 24-yard-line as Golson would complete passes of 22 yards to Kermit Whitfield and 20 yards to Travis Rudolph on a 10-play, 66-yard drive which ended with a 27-yard field goal by Aguayo to increase FSU's lead to 13-3 with 4:18 left in the second quarter.

An illegal block on the ensuing kickoff would force the Yellow Jackets to start their next possession at their six-yard-line as Isiah Willis was dropped for a three-yard loss on 1st down to make it 2nd & 13 at the three-yard-line when Thomas would complete a 33-yard pass to Ricky Jeune to give Tech a 1st down at its 36-yard-line.

Then after a four-yard run by Marcus Marshall on 1st down, Thomas would keep the ball on a quarterback option around the right side and run it for a 60-yard touchdown to cut the Seminoles' lead to 13-10 with 2:22 left before halftime.

The Noles would come back with a nine-play, 54-yard which saw Golson completing five of six passes for 50 yards on the drive which culminated with a 38-yard field goal by Aguayo on the final play of the first half to extend Florida State' s lead to 16-10 after the first 30 minutes.

Tech would get the ball to start the second half as the Yellow Jackets would keep it on the ground for the first nine plays of the drive as they drove from their 25-yard-line to the FSU 23-yard-line until an incomplete pass on 3rd & 8 would bring up another field goal attempt for Butker, this one from 40 yards out which was successful to get cut the Seminoles' lead to 16-13 with 8:27 left in the third quarter.

After a Florida State punt, the Yellow Jackets would drive from their 14-yard-line to the Florida State 28-yard-line with nine straight running plays to end the third quarter as the fourth quarter would begin with Tech facing a 3rd & 11.

That is when Sweat made his second big play of the game as he sacked Thomas for an 11-yard-loss to push the Yellow Jackets out of field goal range and force Tech to punt the ball back to the Seminoles whose next possession would begin at their 26-yard-line.

The Noles would drive down to the Yellow Jackets' 10-yard-line until Golson was intercepted when a pass was tipped and landed in the arms of Tech defensive back Jamal Golden in the end zone for a touchback as Tech would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line.

Following an exchange of punts, the Yellow Jackets got the ball at their 37-yard-line with 4:25 left in regulation and needing a field goal to tie the game.

Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas ran for 88 yards on 13 carries and completed four of 10 passes for 67 yards.

Three plays netted only four yards to force a 4th & 6 when the Yellow Jackets went for the 1st down which they got as Thomas completed a 36-yard pass to Brad Stewart to give Tech a 1st down at the Seminoles' 23-yard-line easily in field goal range.

Three straight runs would pick up five more yards to set up 4th & 5 when Butker was called on to attempt a 35-yard field goal that would tie the game.

Butker's kick would sail through the uprights to tie the game at 16 with 54 seconds left in regulation as the Noles would start their next possession at their 25-yard-line with two timeouts in their pocket and enough time to drive for a potential game-winning field goal.

Two runs by Cook picked up 11 yards to give FSU a 1st down at its 36-yard-line as Golson would complete a 22-yard pass to Cook to put the Noles in Georgia Tech territory with a 1st down at the Yellow Jackets' 42-yard-line.

A false start penalty would push the Noles back five yards to the Tech 47-yard-line as Golson would find Jesus Wilson for nine yards as the clock wound down to six seconds as Fisher sent in the field goal unit as Aguayo would attempt a 56-yard field goal that would allow FSU to escape with the win.

The kick never had a chance as Georgia Tech defensive tackle Patrick Gamble blocked the kick as the ball would bounce forward to the Yellow Jackets' 22-yard-line until it was picked up by defensive back Lance Austin, who turned to his left and ran down the sidelines then avoided Aguayo's tackle attempt at the FSU 15-yard-line as Austin took it into the end zone for the 78-yard touchdown as time expired to give Tech the shocking 22-16 win.

The "Miracle on Techwood Drive" ended Florida State's 29-game winning streak against ACC opponents as the Noles would finish the regular season with a 10-2 record as the Noles would earn a trip in the Peach Bowl where they would be upset by the Houston Cougars to finish the season with a 10-3 record

and #14 ranking in the final AP and Coaches polls.

As for the Yellow Jackets, the win over Florida State would be the high point of the 2015 season as they would lose their remaining four games of the season to finish with a 3-9 record, the worst season during Johnson's 11-year tenure as the Georgia Tech head coach.

The Yellow Jackets would rebound the following season with a 9-4 record which included a 28-27 win over the University of Georgia which featured another big play by Austin as he intercepted a pass to set up the game-winning touchdown, a six-yard run by Qua Searcy with 30 seconds left in the game.