Kirk Herbstreit reacts to FSU season-opening loss to Georgia Tech
It didn’t take long for the first college football upset of the season. The first game of the year – in Dublin, Ireland – saw No. 10 Florida State fall to Georgia Tech on a last-second field goal from Aidan Birr.
The reactions quickly rolled in after the Yellow Jackets put the finishing touches on the 24-21 victory. That includes ESPN College GameDay’s Kirk Herbstreit, who also pointed out Florida State has the ability to get back on track and stay in the College Football Playoff picture.
“Man, tough loss for the Noles over in Ireland to a good GT team,” Herbstreit said. “The great news is with the new 12 team playoff, there’s still plenty of opportunities to climb back into the bracket. Regroup and keep battlin!”
Florida State had an up-and-down day on offense as Georgia Tech shut down the running game. DJ Uiagalelei also struggled in his Seminoles debut, completing 19 of 27 passes for 193 yards, but had a rough go throwing the ball down the field. However, he had a huge drive in the fourth quarter and converted multiple fourth downs to get it back to a tie game.
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Ultimately, though, Georgia Tech did what it did best, as Brent Key pointed out afterward. They “ran the ball.”
The Yellow Jackets totaled 190 rushing yards on Saturday, led by 75 yards and two touchdowns from Jamal Haynes. Quarterback Haynes King also had a strong day as a dual threat, throwing for 146 passing yards and adding 54 rushing yards on the ground.
How it happened: Georgia Tech stuns Florida State
Florida State struck first after Georgia Tech deferred. Lawrance Toafili took a 28-yard rush into the end zone, and Mike Norvell got creative on the two-point conversion attempt. The swinging gate worked and gave the Seminoles an early 8-0 lead over the Yellow Jackets.
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But Georgia Tech didn’t back down. King led an impressive opening drive of his own and Zach Pyron, out for a red-zone package, used a quarterback draw to get on the board and make it an 8-7 ballgame.
After a 52-yard field goal from Ryan Fitzgerald extended the FSU lead to 11-7, Georgia Tech put together a surgical 7:53 drive capped by a Haynes touchdown to put the Yellow Jackets out in front 14-11. That score held until Fitzgerald drilled a 59-yard attempt into the half to tie things up.
A missed Georgia Tech field goal got the second half started, and the game stayed tied until the fourth quarter. That’s when, after a 6:22 drive, the Yellow Jackets again found the end zone on Haynes’ second touchdown run of the day to go up 21-14.
Florida State rose to the occasion, though. Uiagalelei made multiple big throws on the ensuing possession, and Roydell Williams brought things back to a 21-21 tie with 6:33 to go. That gave Georgia Tech the ball back, and King led yet another impressive, clock-draining possession.
It ended with Birr’s field goal, sealing the 24-21 victory. In the process, the Yellow Jackets pulled off a major upset in just the first game of the year.