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Jackets edge Deacons in OT
Georgia Tech wins 7th straight; WFU loses 4th in a row
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Published: November 8, 2009
ATLANTA
The 2009 Wake Forest football season appears destined to be remembered as the Big Tease, with yesterday's 30-27 overtime loss to 10th-ranked Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium being the biggest tease of all.
Quarterback Josh Nesbitt converted a do-or-die first down on a fourth-and-inches from the 5-yard line and then darted 3 yards for the winning touchdown to extend the Yellow Jackets' streak to seven straight wins and avert what would have been Wake Forest's first victory over a Top-10 team since Coach Peahead Walker's 1946 team upended No. 4 Tennessee.
But for the Deacons, who squandered a chance to win in the final two minutes of regulation before taking a 27-24 overtime lead on Jimmy Newman's 34-yard field goal, the loss was another verse of a sad song. Wake Forest (4-6) has suffered five losses by three points or less.
"I'm really sad for them because they're playing really, really hard and we're playing really good teams right to the wire," Coach Jim Grobe said. "But we're just not having any success."
The Deacons, who have lost four in a row, now must beat Florida State next week and Duke on Nov. 28 to qualify for their fourth straight bowl trip. Georgia Tech, led by Jonathan Dwyer's career-best 189 yards on 23 carries, improved to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in ACC play.
"It's frustrating," quarterback Riley Skinner said. "We're there. There's no other way to explain it. We're there, but we're just not finishing.
"Losing five games by a combined 13 points, it's pretty tough."
Coach Paul Johnson of Georgia Tech said he had no qualms about trying to convert the fourth and inches in overtime, even though his team trailed 27-24. He called one timeout, but sent his offense back on the field for Nesbitt's 2-yard sneak to the 3.
"I play to win," Johnson said. "The kids work hard and put in a lot of time and effort. If we can't make an inch there, we don't deserve to win the game.
"Shoot, the ball's on the 3-yard line. Give the kids a chance to win the game."
Skinner, bouncing back from a concussion that knocked him out of the final 6½ minutes of last week's loss to Miami, showed his mettle by completing 26 of 40 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions.
But after Skinner led a 74-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 24, the upset was in his grasp when Nesbitt fumbled the ball away on a fourth-and-8 at the Wake Forest 41 with 1:50 to go.
Skinner's 21-yard strike to Marshall Williams (eight catches for 111 yards), followed by his 3-yard scramble on second down moved the Deacons to a 52-yard field goal by Newman for the lead with a minute left. But defensive end Derrick Morgan sacked Skinner for a 5-yard loss on third down, and Grobe called on Shane Popham to punt.
"I'll be honest with you, I didn't want to be in overtime with these guys," Grobe said. "Basically overtime is Red Zone, and that's what Wishbone teams do. They play great in the Red Zone.
"But at the same time there's a little more than a minute left in the game and I didn't want to give them the football that far out with a chance to hit a couple of throws and kick a field goal and beat us in regulation. Had Riley not taken that sack on third down, we would have probably kicked a field goal -- I can't swear to that -- or at least felt a little better about going for it."
Overtime began in promising fashion for Wake Forest when Josh Adams carried for 6 yards. But a second straight running attempt proved disastrous when Adams was dropped for a loss of 4.
Skinner, finding no receivers open, scrambled for 6 yards on third down and Newman kicked the field goal on fourth-and-2 from the 17.
"We just weren't having any success running the football," Grobe said. "When we popped the first run in overtime, I think what we were looking for was to possibly pop a second run -- and if we don't lose yards there we've got a reasonable third-and-4 throw.
"But that took us to a little bit longer yardage and made it a little tougher throw. We got pressure and Riley . If we're third-and-4 we've got a first down there."
Georgia Tech outgained the Deacons 463 yards to 263, with 412 of the Yellow Jackets' yards being gained on the ground. But after Dwyer broke the first the Georgia Tech play of the second half 59 yards for a touchdown that tied the game at 17, Wake Forest stopped the next two Yellow Jackets drives.
The Deacons' downfall was not being able to capitalize. Wake Forest, after putting together touchdown drives of 82 yards and 69 yards, managed only one first down on their first four drives of the second half.
"It's tough to see the way our defense played against such an explosive offense," Skinner said. "They played their hearts out and we just didn't enough to complement that."
727-7323
Wake Forest 0 17 0 7 3 -- 27
Georgia Tech 10 0 7 7 6 -- 30
First Quarter
GaT--FG Blair 45, 10:52.
GaT--Lyons 31 run (Blair kick), 5:50.
Second Quarter
WFU--K.Harris 1 run (Newman kick), 14:05.
WFU--Brown 20 pass from Skinner (Newman kick), 8:03.
WFU--FG Newman 35, 2:30.
Third Quarter
GaT--Dwyer 59 run (Blair kick), 13:10.
Fourth Quarter
GaT--Nesbitt 12 run (Blair kick), 8:19.
WFU--Brown 11 pass from Skinner (Newman kick), 4:27.
Overtime
WFU--FG Newman 34.
GaT--Nesbitt 3 run.
A--51,415.
TEAM STATISTICS
WFU GaT
First downs 17 24
Rushes-yards 25-28 62-412
Passing 263 51
Comp-Att-Int 26-40-0 4-14-1
Return Yards 28 32
Punts-Avg. 7-46.1 1-37.0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 4-35 7-78
Time of Possession 29:02 30:58
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Wake Forest, Pendergrass 11-30, Adams 5-12, Brown 1-2, K.Harris 2-1, Skinner 6-(minus 17). Georgia Tech, Dwyer 23-189, Jones 8-58, Nesbitt 21-54, Allen 3-43, Lyons 4-41, S.Hill 1-21, Wright 1-7, Peeples 1-(minus 1).
PASSING--Wake Forest, Skinner 26-40-0-263. Georgia Tech, Nesbitt 4-14-1-51.
RECEIVING--Wake Forest, Ma.Williams 8-111, Brown 7-62, Givens 4-52, Rinfrette 2-27, Adams 2-8, K.Harris 1-3, Pendergrass 1-2, Skinner 1-(minus 2). Georgia Tech, D.Thomas 3-38, Melton 1-13.
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