2012 Season

2012-11-10 – Georgia Tech at North Carolina

Georgia Tech at North Carolina - 2012

Georgia Tech at North Carolina – November 10, 2012

Georgia Tech: 68
North Carolina: 50

After getting back to .500 with a 33-13 win over Maryland, Georgia Tech continued its road stint with a trip to Chapel Hill to face the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Jackets had won the previous three meetings in the series, the most recent a 35-28 decision in Atlanta in 2011. Carolina’s last victory over Tech came in 2008 in the form of a 28-7 rout in Chapel Hill. The loss was just Tech’s second in the series dating back to 1998, a stretch where they won 12 of 14 games. The Ramblin’ Wreck held the all-time series lead at 26-18-3.

Carolina jumped out to a quick start after Romar Morris returned the opening kick from his own goal line to the Tar Heel 40. Bryn Renner hit Erik Highsmith for 47 yards on second down, and Giovani Bernard ran twice for the final 8 and a touchdown to put UNC up 7-0 after just over a minute of play.

The Jackets tied the contest just two minutes later after a 5 play drive covered 75 yards and ended with a 25 yard Tevin Washington touchdown run. The senior quarterback kick-started the rive with a 39 yard pass to Orwin Smith on first down that carried to the Tar Heel 36 yard line.

The squads exchanged three-and-outs, and the Tar Heels began their third drive at their own 7 midway through the first quarter. Renner led the Heels 93 yards in 9 plays to put the Tar Heels back on top at 14-7. A.J. Blue’s 1 yard touchdown run was setup with a 22 yard strike from Renner to Quinshad Davis.

Vad Lee then took the reins for Tech at the Yellow Jacket 30 yard line and efficiently led the offense 70 yards in 12 plays, finally scoring on a 1 yard run to knot the contest at 14-all.

Carolina began marching towards the Tech end zone once more, but the Jackets caught a break at the start of the second quarter when Isaiah Johnson recovered Renner’s fumble at the Yellow Jacket 20 yard line.
Lee returned and alternated run and pass en route to the Carolina red-zone, from which David Sims scored on an 11 yard run to give Tech its first lead at 21-14 with 10 minutes to go in the half.

The Tar Heels began their next drive at their own 6 yard line and marched 94 yards in 11 plays to knot the contest at 21-21 midway through the second quarter. Morris accounted for the touchdown with a 30 yard run on 2nd and 8 shortly after Renner setup the score with a 16 yard pass to Sean Tapley.

The Jackets returned with Lee at the helm, and struck quickly when the redshirt freshman hit Darren Waller on a 63 yard pass to the Carolina 10 yard line. Sims ran once for 3 yards before Lee carried on three consecutive plays, finally scoring on 4th and goal from the 1 yard line to put Tech back on top 28-21.

Carolina took back over with four minutes to play and consumed most of the remaining time with an 8 play, 61 yard drive that ended with a 5 yard touchdown run by Blue. The Tar Heels went for two and converted to take a 29-28 lead at the break after Tech kneeled to kill the clock before halftime.

Jamal Golden provided some fireworks at the start of the second half when he returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. But Vad Lee’s pass attempt for the two-point conversion fell incomplete and the Yellow Jacket lead stood at 5.

The Tar Heels threw another punch on the first play of the following drive when Renner hit Bernard on a wheel route that went 78 yards for a touchdown, regaining the lead at 36-34.

Smith got the Jackets off to a good start on the next drive when he raced 29 yards down the left sideline for a first down at the Tar Heel 41 yard line. Lee hit Jeff Greene for 10 yards to the 27 a few plays later and Robert Godhigh eventually scored on a 4 yard run at the 9:52 mark to put Tech ahead 41-36.

The Ramblin’ Wreck defense quickly regained possession for Tech when Izaan Cross picked off Renner on first down at the Carolina 22 yard line. But three plays netted little yardage, so Chris Tanner came on to hit a 35 yard field goal to make it 44-36.

Tech’s defense held the UNC offense once more on the possession that followed, and on fourth down Carolina lined up to punt. But punter Tommy Hibbard caught the ball and broke towards the right sideline in an attempt to run for the first down, and Brandon Watts tackled him for just a two yard gain, forcing a turnover on downs at the Tar Heel 27 yard line.

Robert Godhigh then ran wide left on Tech’s first play that followed for a 27 yard touchdown that extended the Yellow Jacket lead to 51-36 at the 6:21 mark of the third quarter.

The Tar Heels would quickly punt after three plays netted just 2 yards, and the Jackets would take back over at the UNC 43. The offense pushed to the 25 before Synjyn Days was dropped for a 7 yard loss on second down to make it 3rd and 14. Lee then went deep to Godhigh, who made a leaping grab in between three Carolina defenders for a 32 yard touchdown reception to increase the Yellow Jacket lead to 58-36.

But just when it looked as if Tech would run away with the game, Renner led the Tar Heels 68 yards in 7 plays to make it 58-43 late in the third quarter. The score came on an 11 yard touchdown pass to Quinshad Davis.
At the start of the fourth, Lee put UNC back in the game when he threw an interception to Tim Scott that was returned 34 yards for a touchdown to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to eight at 58-50.

But the redshirt freshman returned to lead Tech 81 yards in 7 plays, extending the lead back to 15 on a 22 yard run by Smith. Lee accounted for a large chunk of the yardage on a 39 yard third down run that pushed to the UNC 37 yard line.

The Heels would go on to punt on their next possession, giving Tech the ball with 9:55 to play. Lee remained in the game and led a 75 yard drive to Carolina’s 17 yard line, consuming over six minutes of clock before Chris Tanner entered to ice the game with a 34 yard field goal with 3:40 remaining.

Tech would keep North Carolina scoreless for the remainder of the game, hanging on to win by a final of 68-50. The game would go down as the highest scoring game in ACC history. The 50 points scored by North Carolina was the most that they had ever scored in a loss, while Tech’s 68 points were the second-most given up by the Tar Heels in school history.

North Carolina would go on to win its final two games over Virginia and Maryland to finish the season at 8-4. Despite the winning record, the Tar Heels would forego bowl participation after the NCAA had ruled that it had committed several major violations over the previous several seasons.

Statistics:

First downs:
GT – 28
UNC – 23

Rushing yards:
GT – 380
UNC – 147

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
GT – 7-12-208
UNC – 24-35-350

Interceptions thrown:
GT – 1
UNC – 1

Fumbles (Total-Lost):
GT – 1-0
UNC – 2-1

Penalties (Total-Yds):
GT – 4-30
UNC – 4-28

References:
Game Summary: http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/111012aaa.html

Videos:

– Game Highlights

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