Georgia Tech: 31
Virginia: 35

Ten days removed from its third loss of the season, Georgia Tech would attempt to redeem itself on a trip to Charlottesville, Virginia where it would face George Welsh’s 5-3 Virginia Cavaliers. Tech took the last meeting 13-7 in Atlanta in 1996 to break a four-game losing streak in the series. The Jackets had not won at Virginia, however, since breaking the hearts of the Cavalier faithful with a stunning 41-38 upset of then top-ranked Virginia en route to the 1990 National Championship.

Midway through the first quarter, Virginia scored on a 7 yard touchdown pass from Aaron Brooks to Bryan Owen to jump ahead 7-0.

Much of the remainder of the quarter passed before the Jackets threatened from within the Cavalier one yard line with just under two minutes to play. But Tech was unable to punch the ball in the end zone, and had to settle for an 18 yard Dave Frakes field goal to make it 7-3 with 1:47 to go in the period.

Virginia quickly marched the length of the field after the kickoff and scored 86 seconds later on a 20 yard pass from Brooks to Owens for a 14-3 lead.

The Jackets, however, answered in just twenty seconds when Joe Hamilton went deep to Derrick Steagall for a 74 yard touchdown pass to cut the UVA lead to 14-10 with one second to play in the period.

Tech’s defense held the Cavalier offense on the drive that followed and put the Jackets back in control early in the second quarter. Hamilton led a drive to within the Virginia 5, and Phillip Rogers gave Tech the lead at 17-14 on a 3 yard touchdown run five minutes into the period.

Brooks quickly answered for the Cavs, when he led a scoring drive that consumed just under three minutes and was capped off with a 10 yard touchdown pass to Billy Barber midway through the quarter. The scoring would settle down for the remainder of the half, and Virginia would hold a 21-17 advantage at the break.

The Yellow Jacket offense regained the lead at the start of the third quarter when Charles Wiley scored on a five yard touchdown run at the 12:24 mark to make it 24-21.

Virginia countered with a score of their own on the drive that followed when Brooks found Germaine Crowell on a 15 yard touchdown pass to regain the lead at 28-24.

The action settled for the remainder of the period before the Jackets struck again early in the fourth quarter. Wiley accounted for his second score of the contest on a 6 yard run just two minutes into the period, and Tech was back on top 31-24.

Tech held on to the lead for the majority of the fourth quarter before Virginia mounted a late drive to take the lead with 1:16 to play, breaking the hearts of the Yellow Jacket faithful. Anthony Southern accounted for what proved to be the winning touchdown on a one yard run to reach the 35-31 final.

Virginia would split its remaining two regular season games to finish the year at 7-4 overall, but despite becoming bowl eligible, would not be selected for post-season play.

Statistics:

First Downs:
GT – 21
UVA – 24

Rushing yards:
GT – 121
UVA – 109

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
GT – 21-26-337
UVA – 19-26-308

Interceptions thrown:
GT – 0
UVA – 1

Fumbles (Total-Lost):
GT – 3-3
UVA – 2-1

Penalties (Total-Yards):
GT – 7-75
UVA – 8-70

References:
USA Today Recap: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/scores97/97312/97312417.htm