Florida State: 0
Georgia Tech: 34

Coming off of its first and only loss during the 1955 campaign against the Auburn Tigers, Georgia Tech would take a break from its tough SEC schedule when it squared off with the Florida State Seminoles in late October on the flats.

The ‘Noles entered the contest with a record of 1-3, having fallen to Miami, Virginia Tech, and Georgia over the previous three weeks after defeating N.C. State 7-0 to open the season.

Despite the recent loss, the Jackets held the 13th spot in the AP poll with a record of 4-1, and entered the contest a heavy favorite over the outmatched Seminoles.

Florida State mustered just 6 yards on the game’s opening drive before punting out at the Georgia Tech 3 yard line. Three plays later, George Volkert raced 73 yards to the Seminole 6 yard line, looking to have setup an early Ramblin’ Wreck score. But Tech was unable to capitalize on the opportunity and turned the ball over inside the one yard line several plays later.

When the Seminoles punted back shortly thereafter, Wade Mitchell took the ball 39 yards on the return for the game’s first score and a 7-0 Yellow Jacket lead midway through the opening period.

The Jackets nearly struck again on the next series when Donald Stephenson looked to have returned an interception 40 yards for a score. But the play was reversed for illegal procedure on Florida State and the Seminoles eventually punted back several plays later.

Early in the second quarter, the Jackets threatened twice from within the Seminole 10, but were turned away on both occasions. Stan Flowers lost a fumble to Lee Corso in the first instance and the Jackets turned the ball over on downs in the second.

Late in the half, the Yellow Jackets embarked on a 51 yard scoring drive to extend their lead before intermission. William Cochran and Richard Gookin moved the Jackets to the 37 with their legs before Toppy Vann found Paul Vickers on a 14 yard strike to the 23. Vann followed with a 15 yard strike to Cochran and Jimmy Thompson rushed to within the one yard line shortly thereafter. Vann finally scored on a sneak to up the Yellow Jacket lead to 14-0 with roughly two minutes to play in the second quarter.

After the break, the Jackets began to increase their lead in a hurry. Vann capped off an 11 play, 59 yard drive early in the third period with a three yard sweep to make it 20-0 after Walter Grant’s missed extra point. But Grant redeemed himself on the ensuing Seminole possession when he recovered a fumble at the Florida State 38. The Jackets would score nine plays later on a 6 yard pass from Cochran to Ted Smith to extend the lead to 27-0.

As the final quarter began, Tech found itself knocking on the door yet again from the Seminole 2 yard line. But the Ramblin’ Wreck failed to score on this occasion and eventually turned the ball over on downs at the seven.

The fourth quarter passed with very little action until the Jackets took over at the Seminole 40 with 26 seconds to play. With the game already sealed, Grant found Vickers on a 40 yard touchdown pass to give Tech its final score in the 34-0 victory.

The victory improved Tech to 5-1 on the season with a tough contest on the horizon against the Duke Blue Devils on the flats. The Seminoles would go on to win four of their final five contests to finish the season at 5-5.

Statistics:

First Downs:
FSU – 5
GT – 24

Rushing Yards:
FSU – 71
GT – 290

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
FSU – 3-11-64
GT – 11-22-152

Interceptions thrown:
FSU – 1
GT – 1

Fumbles lost:
FSU – 1
GT – 1

Penalty yards:
FSU – 109
GT – 100

References:
Danforth, Ed. “Tech Romps Past Seminoles, 34-0.” The Atlanta Journal Constitution. 23 Oct. 1955