No. 15 Georgia Tech Survives Thriller

Sports Betting News - September 11th, 2009 - Written by Scott

Scott Blair will tell you he treated it like just another kick. That he envisioned himself at practice and no one else was around. That he imagined that a crucial ACC game was, in fact, not on the line.

He will tell you this, and then he will try to hold in his laughter.

After watching his team blow a 24-point lead, Blair was called on to punch through the biggest kick of his life. The junior delivered, nailing a 36-yard field goal with 57 ticks left on the clock to lift Georgia Tech to a 30-27 win. The Yellow Jackets maintained their front runner status for the ACC Coastal Division title, beating the Tigers for the fourth time in five meetings.

“I was just trying to treat it like a normal kick, not psych myself out,” Blair gushed after the game. “I wasn’t paying attention to the score at all. I didn’t want to think at the time that it was a game-winner. It was just another kick.”

Blair also threw the first touchdown pass of his career, nailing Demaryius Thomas on a fake field goal in the first quarter that put Tech up by three touchdowns. The play, seemingly sucking the wind out of everyone with a vested interest in Clemson, came in the wake of an official review that left both teams scrambling to get into position when play resumed. The field goal unit rushed on to the field and quick-snapped, leaving Clemson on their heels. They never even saw Thomas and Blair nailed him with a strike down the sideline. Tiger defensive back, Chris Chancellor, made a feeble effort to block Thomas from the endzone, but the damage was already done.

“I actually don’t remember catching the ball or throwing the ball too much,” Blair said with a big smile. “I guess it was dreamlike.”

Meanwhile, Clemson tail back C. J. Spiller, who returned for his senior season to avenge teams like Tech, had 156 total yards, including a 63-yard touchdown reception on a wheel route.

“I’m proud of the way we played against a top 15 team on the road,” a disappointed Spiller said after the game. “We kept thinking we would come back and get back in the game. You have to believe. You have to have faith.”

The Yellow Jackets only had the ball for three minutes in the first quarter, but managed to take a commanding lead with their special teams unit. Jerrard Tarrant returned a punt 85 yards to the house before Blair's TD strike served as the presumed dagger. Georgia Tech led 21-0 after the first ten minutes, and 24-0 late in the second quarter, only to blow the giant margin when Clemson rallied for 27 unanswered points.

Clemson dominated the line of scrimmage from that point, out gaining the Yellow Jackets 319-91 through the fourth quarter and finally took the lead on Richard Jackson's two field goals. Georgia Tech would finally regain some of their momentum, converting their first third down in the previous ten tries. Quarterback Josh Nesbitt connected with Thomas later in the drive, setting up Blair's clincher.

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