Georgia Tech: 23
Wake Forest: 26

Fresh off of a bye week following a 45-42 victory at home over the Clemson Tigers, 12th-ranked Georgia Tech would put its 7-2 record on the line in Winston-Salem, North Carolina when it visited the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in late October.

The Deacons stood at 5-5 following a 48-35 loss at Duke, and looked to become bowl eligible with a win over the Jackets.

Tech, which led the all-time series 16-6, had taken the previous four meetings between the two schools after falling 20-13 to the Deacons late in the 1994 season.

The Deacons got the scoring started 4:21 into the first quarter when Ben Sankey found Chris McCoy for an 8 yard touchdown pass to put Wake on top 7-0.

The remainder of the opening period passed with little notable action, as the high-powered Yellow Jacket offense failed to produce any points.

Wake Forest added to its lead during the first minute of the second quarter when Morgan Kane ran for 4 of his 228 yards to give the Deac’s their second touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

While Tech continued to struggle, Matthew Burdick extended Wake’s lead to 20 at halftime when he connected on field goals of 22 and 40 yards on consecutive possessions late in the second quarter.

The Yellow Jackets collected themselves midway through the third quarter and finally cracked the scoreboard with a 2 yard touchdown run by Sean Gregory to make it 20-7.

But while Tech’s offensive woes returned in the fourth quarter, the Deacons extended the lead back to 26-7 with two more Burdick field goals from 36 and 35 yards, respectively.

Trailing 19 with little time remaining, Joe Hamilton quickly led the Jackets to a score when he connected on a 25 yard touchdown pass to Brett Basquin with 4:36 to play. The senior Heisman Trophy candidate then found Kelly Campbell for the two-point conversion to put Tech within eleven at 26-15.

Tech’s defense helped aid the potential comeback on the drive to follow when it forced a quick punt that was blocked and recovered in the end-zone by Jeremy Muyers for a touchdown. Kerry Watkins then rushed for a two-point conversion and the Wake Forest lead stood at just three with 3:27 to play.

But the comeback fell short, as the Deacons prevented any further Yellow Jacket scores to hang on for an impressive upset. The win earned Wake Forest its sixth win of the season, which would eventually translate to a berth in the Aloha Bowl to face the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Deacons would go on to win the contest 23-3 to earn their third bowl win of all time and finish the season at 7-5 overall.

Statistics:

First downs:
GT – 24
WFU – 20

Rushing yards:
GT – 165
WFU – 322

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
GT – 23-40-281
WFU – 10-13-88

Interceptions thrown:
GT – 2
WFU – 0

Fumbles (Total-Lost):
GT – 1-0
WFU – 0-0

Penalties (Total-Yds):
GT – 7-64
WFU – 9-59

References:
USA Today Recap: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/scores99/99324/99324467.htm