Georgia Tech probably did not come to Duke expecting the kind of game it got. The No. 8 Yellow Jackets escaped Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday with a 38-31 victory, but not without being outplayed for much of the game.
Sean Gregory's 19-yard touchdown run capped a furious fourth quarter and rescued the Yellow Jackets (5-1, 3-1 in the ACC) from a disastrous upset. Georgia Tech coach George O'Leary was clearly disappointed with a come-from-behind win against 1-5 Duke (1-2 in the ACC).
"Coach was upset, and I don't blame him," Yellow Jacket center Noah King said. "I came off the field, and I felt like I lost."
The Yellow Jackets ran over the Blue Devils in the first half, taking a quick 21-0 lead and scoring four touchdowns on their first five possessions. Georgia Tech successfully converted all seven third downs it faced and Joe Hamilton threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns before the break.
Even when Duke pulled to 28-14 at halftime the Yellow Jackets still appeared in control. Then something strange happened. The Duke team that came out of the locker room did not appear to be the same one that went in.
Spencer Romine led the Blue Devils to 17 unanswered points to take a 31-28 lead early in the fourth quarter. But Hamilton finally came through and pulled out the victory, perhaps rescuing his Heisman Trophy campaign in the process.
While disappointed with the loss, Duke coach Carl Franks was pleased with Romine's performance.
"I'm proud of him," Franks said. "That guy comes to play all the time. It was a gutty performance."
The Duke comeback began with a nine-play, 80-yard drive to open the second half, during which Romine completed 5-of-6 passes for 68 yards and scored on a five-yard run.
While this touchdown brought Duke within
But the defense suddenly stepped up. In their first possession of the second half, the Yellow Jackets lost six yards on three plays and were forced to punt.
Duke got the ball back, and Franks showed offensive courage by going for it on a fourth-and-one at his own 31-yard line. The decision proved wise as Romine overcame a bad snap to find Ben Erdeljac for a seven-yard completion.
The Blue Devils could have tied the score, but fullback Devin Pierce dropped an almost perfect pass from Romine in the endzone.
The dropped ball forced the Blue Devils to settle for a field goal try. Sims Lenhardt nailed the 32-yarder and pulled the Blue Devils within four points.
After the game, Franks remarked that missed opportunities were a factor in the defeat.
"The opportunities were there," he said. "We had a chance to win that game. We just didn't execute."
Pierce's drop could have taken the wind out of the comeback, but Georgia Tech running back Phillip Rogers then fumbled on the ensuing possession. Senior linebacker Ryan Stallmeyer fell on the ball at the Georgia Tech 44.
The Blue Devils capitalized on the opportunity. After a 15-yard personal foul penalty against the Yellow Jackets, Romine hit Scottie Montgomery for 13 yards. On the next play Romine kept the ball, scrambling the final 11 yards for the touchdown. With 13 minutes remaining, Duke led 31-28.
An upset appeared likely after the Blue Devil defense again forced Georgia Tech to punt. But Erdeljac elected not to field the punt, which hit just inside the 20 and rolled all the way down inside the Duke 1.
Franks said that Erdeljac made the wrong decision.
"That should have been caught," Franks said. "The rule is that he is supposed to catch it. If he gets at the 10, he is not supposed to back up and catch it. But he should have caught that."
Duke was able to move the ball off the goalline, but on third-and-three at the Duke 8, Romine unsuccessfully attempted to go deep to Scottie Montgomery.
Franks did not attack his quarterback's decision after the game.
"Maybe he should have thrown underneath," Franks said. "But if he had hit him I would have been very happy."
After a 29-yard punt by Brian Morton, Georgia Tech took over at the Duke 37. The Blue Devils were able to keep the Yellow Jackets out of the endzone but not off the board. A 22-yard Luke Manget field goal tied the score at 31 with just over seven minutes remaining.
Duke's next possession stalled, and after a punt gave Georgia Tech the ball at its own 30, Hamilton immediately hit Kelly Campbell for 36 yards to the Duke 34.
The play drew widespread boos from the crowd as Campbell was out of bounds for most of the play. The officials ruled Campbell had been forced out, and after the game Georgia Tech coach George O'Leary agreed.
"He was pushed out of bounds," he said. "I was standing right there."
Three plays later, Gregory burst up the middle for the game-winner.
The Blue Devils got the ball back with just under three minutes remaining but could not move the ball. A 12-yard sack left them with fourth-and-17 at their own 42. Romine threw a desperation pass to B.J. Hill under heavy pressure, but it was knocked down by a defender and fell incomplete, sealing the victory for the Yellow Jackets.
"We didn't play well enough to win," Franks said. "We played hard, and we showed some improvement... if we had just made some plays on offense."
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