No. 8 G'Tech Survives Duke
A fly on the wall of the Georgia Tech locker room probably would have been scorched by George O'Leary's postgame speech.
A third straight week of mistakes set the coach of the No. 8 Yellow Jackets off into a tirade following his team's 38-31 victory over Duke on Saturday.
"I'm annoyed that we don't line up and have a killer instinct to put people away when you have a chance to do it," O'Leary said. "It was 21-0 and that's when you need to bow up and get things done."
Georgia Tech (5-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) followed a six-turnover effort of a week ago with a near collapse in the second half against the Blue Devils, fumbling twice in key spots and taking 10 penalties for 91 yards.
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The Yellow Jackets took a three-touchdown lead and appeared to be cruising, only to be outscored 31-7 to fall behind by three in the fourth quarter.
However, a short field goal and Sean Gregory's 19-yard scoring run up the middle with 2:56 left kept Georgia Tech on the heels of ACC-leading Florida State.
Joe Hamilton's 36-yard completion to Kelly Campbell, his career-high 11th catch of the day, set up Gregory's game-winning score and capped Hamilton's sixth fourth-quarter comeback in Tech's last 13 games.
"That was the big play but there were just too many lulls between big plays," O'Leary said of Campbell's catch.
Georgia Tech players said they got O'Leary's message loud and clear.
"He was pretty upset," senior center Noah King said. "I don't blame him. I came off the field and I felt like we lost."
King admitted the Yellow Jackets are not playing like a top 10 team. Tech needed Hamilton's 6-yard run to beat five-game loser North Caroina 31-24 last week.
"We've played well the first couple of games but these last couple we've really stunk up the field," King said.
Duke (1-5, 1-2) was attempting to beat its first top 10 team in a decade. Spencer Romine ran for three scores and threw for one.
"We had every opportunity to win the football game," Duke coach Carl Franks said. "Our guys know that, and they also know we've got a five-game season left."
Hamilton, who was 23-of-34 for 324 yards, had 256 yards of offense in the first half as the Yellow Jackets beat the Blue Devils for the fifth straight time and ninth time in the last 10.
Hamilton, a leading Heisman Trophy candidate, was near perfect in the opening 30 minutes, completing 15 of 18 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns as Georgia Tech led 28-14 at halftime.
"It seemed like we had a hard, hard time covering their receivers at times," Franks said.
A 5-yard quarterback keeper by Romine, a 32-yard field goal by Sims Lenhardt and an 11-yard scramble by Romine gave Duke a 31-28 lead with 13:11 left.
A 22-yard field goal by Luke Manget six minutes later tied the score and set up the late-game heroics for Hamilton and Gregory.
Duke's first-quarter problems continued as the Blue Devils fell behind 14-0 less than nine minutes into the game. Hamilton threw a 25-yard TD pass to Dez White on Georgia Tech's first series and Phillip Rogers added the first of his two 1-yard runs.
The Blue Devils have been outscored 48-3 in the first quarter through six games.
Hamilton had 177 yards of offense in the opening 15 minutes, accounting for 73 yards on Tech's third scoring drive to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter.
Then Romine got hot. Completions of 36 and 30 yards help set up Duke's first score, a diving 7-yard TD reception by Scottie Montgomery.
A fumbled exchange by Hamilton two minutes later led to Romine's 1-yard keeper and the Blue Devils were back in the game.
However, Hamilton and the Yellow Jackets countered with a 12-play, 75-yard drive, capped by Hamilton's 14-yard scoring pass to Jon Muyres. It was the first career TD reception for the junior.
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