Central Florida: 17
Georgia Tech: 21

After their opening game at Virginia Tech was cancelled due to lightening, Georgia Tech returned home to face the Central Florida Golden Knights at Bobby Dodd Stadium with first-time starting quarterback George Godsey at the helm. The junior had seen limited playing time while backing up Joe Hamilton for two seasons and was far from a crowd favorite in his first appearance.

Tech’s new starter seemed to have gotten the Jackets off to a good start, advancing 34 yards to the Golden Knight 28 before the drive stalled. But Luke Manget was unable to capitalize for the Jackets, missing a 45 yard field goal and giving Central Florida the ball at her own 35 yard line.

The remainder of the first quarter was scoreless before the Golden Knights came alive early in the second period. When Godsey lost a fumble in Tech territory Central Florida scored the game’s first points with a 48 yard field goal. Tech’s new quarterback was pulled for backup Andy Hall later in the period in an attempt to light a spark. But Hall fared no better and lost a fumble at the Tech 9 yard line, shifting all momentum to the Golden Knights. Central Florida quickly capitalized when Kenny Clark scored on the first play of the ensuing drive to give the visitors a 10-0 lead.

Tech finally answered on its last drive of the half when Godsey returned to the game. The junior collected himself and led the offense 73 yards in the two minutes offense to cut the Golden Knight lead to 10-7 with thirteen seconds to play. Godsey capped off the drive with a 23 yard touchdown pass to Kerry Watkins.

Central Florida struck a big blow in the third quarter when Vic Penn hit Clark on a 79 yard touchdown pass with 9:42 to play in the period, pushing the Golden Knight lead to 17-7.
But Tech’s defense had finally had enough, and Central Florida would not sniff the end zone for the remainder of the game. Both teams remained scoreless for the rest of the third and most of the fourth quarters.

With little time remaining in the game, Godsey agains returned to replace backup Andy Hall on 3rd and 18 from the Tech 35. The Goose quickly connected with Jon Muyers on a 27 yard pass to spark the Yellow Jacket comeback. Shortly thereafter, with just 3:48 to play, Godsey hit Kelly Campbell for a 23 yard touchdown to cut the deficit to three at 17-14.

The Ramblin’ Wreck defense continued its strong performance and quickly forced a three-and-out, regaining possession for the offense after just 43 second of play.

Tech began at the Golden Knight 49 yard line in search of a game winning touchdown. Godsey connected on three passes en route to the five yard line, and Joe Burns added two runs to the Golden Knight one. With just 38 seconds remaining, Godsey play-action faked to Burns and hit Brian Lee on a one yard pass for the go-ahead touchdown. The Jackets now led 21-17.

Central Florida’s final possession ended when Jeremy Muyers intercepted Penn’s pass, and the Jackets narrowly moved to 1-0 on the young season.

Statistics:

First Downs:
CFU – 11
GT – 26

Rushing Yards:
CFU – 8
GT – 110

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
CFU – 16-31-247
GT – 23-41-226

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

Interceptions thrown:
CFU – 1
GT – 0

Penalties (Total-Yards):
CFU – 9-60
GT – 9-90

References:
Game Summary: http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090200aaa.html