Georgia Tech players celebrate after the NCAA college football game between Georgia Tech and Florida State at the Aviva stadium in Dublin, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
College football has never seen a landscape change like the one we are going to witness in 2024. with the new era of the 12-team playoff, conference re-alignment & the evolution of the transfer portal, college football has a different feel this year.
To usher a season of more opportunity, Georgia Tech traveled to Dublin to take on the reigning ACC Champion, 10th ranked Florida State Seminoles in a game that many believed the Seminoles would use to try and wash away a 63-3 defeat at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs in last years Orange Bowl. FSU felt they deserved a spot in the playoffs a year ago, felt they were snubbed after going undefeated and winning their conference. They did not respond well in the bowl game with most of their starters sitting and their starting QB hurt (the true reason the Seminoles did not make the playoff). This was supposed to be FSU’s chance to show they still remain the team-to-beat in the ACC, but Georgia Tech had other plans.
With FSU taking the opening drive down for a quick TD, and converting a 2-pt conversion on a trick play to their tight-end, the Jackets and QB Haynes King bounced back with a scoring drive of their own to bring it within one, and send a message to FSU that they came to play.
The scoring immediately slowed down as both defenses dug in, but mistakes by Georgia Tech kept the Seminoles hanging around in a game that felt controlled by the Jackets. It just felt like Tech was playing with their food which was strange as they came into this game as 10.5 point underdogs. Tech got their opportunity to close it out as they drove down the field with the time winding off the clock, but a mishap on one of the final snaps of the game almost cost Tech dearly. A mishandled snap by King sent the ball bouncing back nearly ten yards behind the line of scrimmage, nearly being recovered by FSU. This set up a 3rd & 17 outside of comfortable field goal range for the Jackets kicker. But a 12-yard screen pass to Eric Singleton set up a 44-yard game winning field goal opportunity for Jackets kicker Aidan Birr. With no timeouts remaining Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell could only watch as Birr’s kick crept inside the left upright as time expired giving Tech the 24-21 upset victory.
This win now gives us a great look at what this 12-team playoff can provide. Georgia Tech can now still lose one game, but have a chance to play for the ACC title and a spot in the playoff. And if this game was a precursor for what’s to come in the 2024 season, then we are in for quite a treat.
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