Top 10 Impactful Georgia Tech Football Wins
By: Jack Purdy, BA 22 | Categories: Tech History
Georgia Tech’s storied football history is full of program defining wins, from the 1929 Rose Bowl all the way to the Miracle on Techwood Drive. Here are 10 of Tech’s most famous wins.
Wrong Way Riegels: The 1929 Rose Bowl
In Tech’s first bowl game in program history, “the first score came as the result of one of the strangest freaks of modern football,” according to the Georgia Tech Alumnus in January 1929.
In the second quarter, Stumpy Thomason fumbled a ball carry that was picked up by California’s captain Roy Riegels. Upon recovering the ball, Riegels was spun around at Tech’s 30-yard line and began running toward Cal’s endzone.
One of Riegels’ teammates managed to tackle him short of his own goal line, and Tech forced a safety on a blocked punt to go up 2-0.
It was the critical moment of the game as Tech won by a point, 8-7, securing their second national championship and their first bowl win in program history.
1952: No. 2 Georgia Tech vs. No. 12 Alabama, The $125,000 Tackle
Tech was 8-0 heading toward their third national championship, but Alabama remained their final major test of the season.
“All through the fading second period and the endless last half, the threat of a typical Thomas Tharp or Bobby Marlow run for a touchdown hung over the scene,” said Ed Danforth in his 1952 Atlanta Constitution recap of the game.
With Tech up 7-3, Alabama’s Marlow broke for a run deep in Tech’s territory that looked like it would result in a touchdown. Just before crossing the end zone, he was stopped by Tech safety Jake Rudolph, who flew in so hard for the tackle that he had to recuperate on the sidelines before returning to the game.
That tackle saved the game for Tech, earning the Jackets a bid to the Sugar Bowl and a $125,000 payday for reaching the game. .
1953 Sugar Bowl: No. 2 GT vs. No. 7 Ole Miss
Tech finished a defining 1952 season of the Bobby Dodd era in the Sugar Bowl.
With Tech leading 10-7 at halftime after a big defensive stop by George Morris, IM 53, and a field goal by Pepper Rodgers, IM 55, Ole Miss Head Coach Johnny Vaught was so distraught with his first team that he put in his backups to start the second half.
Tech took advantage of Vaught’s decision, forcing two turnovers and scoring on a Leon Hardeman, IM 54, 6-yard touchdown to go up 17-7. Ole Miss didn’t score in the second half, and Rodgers threw a touchdown to Jeff Knox, IM 54, in the fourth quarter to add to the lead.
The win completed Tech’s undefeated 1952 season and secured their third national championship, with a 26-game undefeated streak.
1962: GT vs. No. 1 Alabama
This game was considered Bobby Dodd’s greatest win. No. 1-ranked Alabama came to Grant Field with a 26-game undefeated streak, while Tech had beaten Florida and Tennessee earlier in the season.
Before the game, according to Kim King, IM 68, in his book Tales From The Georgia Tech Sideline, Alabama Head Coach Bear Bryant said, “It’s raining, it’s a sloppy field. This is Dodd’s weather. He knows how to win in this kind of weather.”
Mike McNames, CE 62, had the game of his life, completing an interception and running a 9-yard touchdown to go up 7-0 in the first quarter.
When Alabama scored their lone touchdown, McNames was Tech’s hero again, stopping a rush on the two-point conversion along with Ed Griffin.
Late in the game and still down one point, the ball was tipped by Bill Battle and intercepted by Don Toner, ChE 63, at Tech’s 14-yard line, handing Tech their first-ever win over a No.1 team and stopping Alabama’s 27-game unbeaten streak.
“This is the greatest victory I’ve ever been associated with,” said Dodd after the game.
1990: No. 16 GT vs. No. 1 Virginia
No. 16-ranked Tech recorded their second win over a No.1-ranked team, beating Virginia in what a Georgia Tech media guide called “the greatest game in Atlantic Coast Conference history.”
Before the game, vandals broke into UVA’s Scott Stadium and burned a section of turf down to the concrete underneath. The morning of the game, extra turf was surgically removed from UVA’s baseball stadium to patch the damaged section of the field.
Down 14 points at halftime, Tech forced a fumble and scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, going into the fourth quarter tied at 35-35.
Virginia failed in the fourth quarter to score a late go-ahead touchdown, kicking a field goal to tie the game with two minutes and 34 seconds left on the clock, opening the door for Tech.
“The stadium, overflowing with a record crowd of 49,700 and once so loud the Yellow Jackets couldn’t hear their plays called, fell silent. Scott Aldredge [Mgt 91] took the snap and Scott Sisson [Mgt 96] kicked the 37-yard field goal that sent Section 11—about 1,000 Tech fans—into a golden frenzy,” wrote Darryl Maxie in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The kick won it for Tech 41-38.
When the team arrived back at Tech, both goalposts at Bobby Dodd Stadium were gone, taken in a throng of approximately 4,000 Yellow Jacket fans as part of the victory celebration.
1991 Citrus Bowl: No. 2 GT vs. No. 19 Nebraska
A win over No.1-ranked Virginia placed Tech as one of the country’s top teams in 1990, leading up to the 1991 Citrus Bowl against No. 19-ranked Nebraska. Tech still needed a win to overtake No.1-ranked Colorado in the polls for the national championship.
Tech quickly brought the score to a 21-0 lead in the first half. Nebraska countered with two touchdowns in the second half, but Tech rolled to a 45-21 win.
The victory gave Tech its fourth national championship, with the Coaches Poll voting them No.1 by three points, overtaking Colorado in the final poll.
Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate 2008: No. 18 GT vs. No. 13 Georgia
2008 brought several firsts to Tech: their first season under Head Coach Paul Johnson with his triple-option offense and Tech’s first win over the University of Georgia in seven years.
Trailing by 16 points at half, Tech ran four unanswered scoring drives in the third quarter to make the score 38-28, led by Roddy Jones, Mgt 10, MBA 13, and Jonathan Dwyer, Cls 11.
In true Johnson fashion, Tech ran for 409 yards and threw for 19. Roddy Jones broke Tech’s yards/carry record at 16.5 yards/carry for 214 total yards, the second most yards/carry in program history.
"The Kick and the Pick”: No. 18 GT vs. No. 10 Georgia, 2014
By this game the Jackets already had their sights set on the postseason and the ACC Championship game, but a win over UGA would send Tech to a prime bowl game.In a rare, ranked matchup, both teams fumbled deep into each other’s territory. UGA created a turnover, which they returned for a 99-yard touchdown. Tech fumbled late in the fourth quarter and set up another Georgia touchdown, putting UGA ahead 24-21 with 13 seconds left on the clock.
Georgia squibbed the ensuing kickoff, giving Tech the ball on UGA’s 43-yard line before Tech’s Justin Thomas, BA 16, scrambled for 21 yards, setting up Harrison Butker, IE 17, for a then career-long 53-yard field goal, forcing overtime.
After Zach Laskey, HTS 15, scored for Tech in overtime, D.J. White, BA 15, intercepted a Georgia pass, giving Tech their first win over a top 10-ranked Georgia team.
2014 Orange Bowl: No. 12 GT vs. No. 10 Mississippi State
Tech’s victory over UGA helped earn an Orange Bowl berth against Mississippi State, which had received the No.1 ranking in five straight weeks earlier in the season.
Tech was up 14-0 in the first quarter, but Mississippi State closed the gap in the second quarter with a touchdown and two field goals. Quarterback Justin Thomas, scored Tech’s third touchdown of the first half, but an unlikely Hail Mary pass to end the first half kept Mississippi State only down one point at 21-20.
In the second half, Tech dominated offensively with three unanswered third quarter touchdowns, plus recovered a Bulldog fumble (on an option play, ironically, which was Tech’s primary offensive play call). In the fourth quarter, Synjyn Days’, STC 14, third touchdown of the game solidified the Yellow Jackets’ win, 49-34.
The Miracle on Techwood Drive: GT vs. No. 9 Florida State
Coming into Tech’s 2015 matchup against No. 9 Florida State University (FSU), the Jackets were on a five-game losing streak with their only wins from overmatched Alcorn State and Tulane. Tech was ranked in the first four weeks of the season before Notre Dame and Duke handily beat them. FSU was undefeated at 6-0, having just won against Louisville by 20 points.
The game was dominated by multiple future NFL players, but mostly by the kickers, Roberto Aguayo and Harrison Butker, who combined for six field goals, leading to a 56-yard attempt by Aguayo with 6 seconds left in regulation and the score tied 16-16. As the kick went up, Patrick Gamble, LMC 16, got a hand on the ball, leaving it free for Lance Austin, BA 22, to grab and return for 78 yards alongside his twin brother, Lawrence, BA 22, for the game-winning touchdown. The white-out crowd flooded the field.
