Georgia Tech knocked off #10 Florida State in the first game of the 2024 college football season. The two ACC teams flew to Dublin, Ireland for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic and Florida State thought this could be the start of a huge season. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech was looking to just keep building its program in the right direction this season. However, the Yellow Jackets came out on top thanks to a game-winning field goal by Aidan Birr as time expired.
It was an amazing start to the college football season. Both offenses were clicking early on and imposing their will by running the football. The score was deadlocked at 14 at halftime thanks to two very long field goals from FSU placekicker Ryan Fitzgerald.
However, in the second half, it was Georgia Tech’s running game that took over. The Yellow Jackets finished with 190 rushing yards and three rushing TDs. QB Haynes King didn’t put up huge numbers but managed the game incredibly well to lead his team to the upset victory.
For new Florida State QB DJ Uiagalelei, it was a really disappointing first start. He ran the ball six times for just seven yards and finished with under 200 passing yards. Uiagalelei missed multiple throws throughout the game, which could have led to touchdowns for the Seminoles.
It was also a bad showing from Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell. Norvell managed the clock poorly at the end of the first half and the end of the game. Uiagalelei didn’t play particularly well, but it would also be fair to criticize the playcalling from Norvell. Most surprisingly, Georgia Tech dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball which was supposed to be a strength of this FSU team.
Going forward, this puts a major wrench in Florida State’s season. They had aspirations to win the ACC and make the 12-team CFP but that has now gotten a lot tougher. They still have to face three top-20 teams this season, Clemson, Miami and Notre Dame, in addition to tough teams like Florida and SMU.
For Georgia Tech, they are now a legitimate dark horse to win the ACC. Their two toughest games are non-conference games against Notre Dame and Georgia. Miami and NC State are the only ranked ACC opponents they face the rest of the season and the Yellow Jackets get to play both of those games at home. If they can steal one of those two games and go perfect against their other conference opponents, they could easily make the conference championship game.
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