No. 10 Yellow Jackets clip pesky Deacons in overtime

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Georgia Tech Fights Off Wake Forest In OT
• Speed Game: Wake Forest Vs. Georgia Tech

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Also See

• Wake DE Malchow carted off field vs. Ga. Tech

Top 25 Overview

It was over when... QB Josh Nesbitt rumbled three yards for a touchdown in overtime to give the Yellow Jackets the win. Gameball goes to... Jonathan Dwyer, who rushed for a career-best 189 yards and went over 1,000 yards for the season. Stat of the game... 1-5. The Yellow Jackets only converted one fourth-down attempt, but it was a big one in overtime. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	17	24
Total Yards	291	463
Passing	263	51
Rushing	28	412
Penalties	4-35	7-78
3rd Down Conversions	6-16	6-15
4th Down Conversions	0-0	1-5
Turnovers	0	1
Possession	29:02	30:58

Air/Ground Leaders
Wake Forest Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Skinner 26/40 263 2 0	Georgia Tech Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Nesbitt 4/14 51 0 1
Wake Forest Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Pendergrass 11 30 0 9 Adams 5 12 0 6	Georgia Tech Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Dwyer 23 189 1 59 Jones 8 58 0 17
Wake Forest Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Williams 8 111 0 36 Brown 7 62 2 20	Georgia Tech Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Thomas 3 38 0 14 Melton 1 13 0 13

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				WAKE	GT
	FG	10:52	Scott Blair 45 Yd	0	3
	TD	05:50	Preston Lyons 31 Yd Run. (Scott Blair Kick)	0	10
SECOND QUARTER				WAKE	GT
	TD	14:05	Kevin Harris 1 Yd Run. (Jimmy Newman Kick)	7	10
	TD	08:03	Devon Brown 20 Yd Pass From Riley Skinner. (Jimmy Newman Kick)	14	10
	FG	02:30	Jimmy Newman 35 Yd	17	10
THIRD QUARTER				WAKE	GT
	TD	13:10	Jonathan Dwyer 59 Yd Run. (Scott Blair Kick)	17	17
FOURTH QUARTER				WAKE	GT
	TD	08:19	Josh Nesbitt 12 Yd Run. (Scott Blair Kick)	17	24
	TD	04:27	Devon Brown 11 Yd Pass From Riley Skinner. (Jimmy Newman Kick)	24	24
OVERTIME				WAKE	GT
	FG		Jimmy Newman 34 Yd	27	24
	TD		Josh Nesbitt 3 Yd Run.	27	30

ATLANTA -- Josh Nesbitt had already fumbled on one fourth-down play, gotten tripped up on another. He'd also been stuffed trying to run for a first down, and had yet another all-or-nothing play ruined by a dropped pass.

Yet there he was in overtime, standing on the sideline with coach Paul Johnson, insisting he could get the 18 inches or so Georgia Tech needed to keep alive its Atlantic Coast Conference title hopes.

Fast Facts

• A fouth-down gamble paid off for Georgia Tech when Josh Nesbitt scored on a three-yard run in overtime to beat Wake.

• Yellow Jackets running back Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 188 yards.

• Five of Wake Forest's six losses have come by three points or less.

• The Demon Deacons have lost 45 straight against top 10 opponents.

-- ESPN Stats & Information

"Are you sure?" Johnson asked his quarterback.

"Yeah," Nesbitt replied. "No doubt."

He was true to his word. No. 10 Georgia Tech pulled off a gutsy play on fourth down after failing four times during regulation, and Nesbitt ended it with a 3-yard touchdown run that pushed the Yellow Jackets to the cusp of the ACC championship game with a 30-27 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday.

Georgia Tech (9-1, 6-1) can wrap up the Coastal Division title by winning at Duke next weekend.

"The biggest game ever," Nesbitt said.

Jonathan Dwyer rushed for a career-best 189 yards and went over 1,000 yards for the season, but it was Nesbitt and the guys on the defensive side who bailed out the Yellow Jackets at the end.

After stifling Wake Forest (4-6, 2-4) on the first possession of OT, forcing a field goal, Georgia Tech drove to the 5 where it faced fourth-and-less-than-a-yard. The Yellow Jackets initially tried to draw Wake offsides, but was forced to burn a timeout when that didn't work.

Instead of sending on Scott Blair for a chip-shot field goal to extend the game, Johnson decided to go for the win right there. Even though his team was 0-for-4 on fourth down, the Yellow Jackets offense trotted back on the field.

If Johnson has any thoughts of kicking a field goal, Nesbitt persuaded him for one more chance.

"I could see the defense they were in," the quarterback said. "I just knew in my heart I could get it."

Nesbitt lowered his head and powered up the middle for a 2-yard gain. He scored on the very next play, bouncing off right tackle to go in standing before he flipped the ball high in the air and raised both arms in triumph. The entire team poured onto the field to celebrate underneath the goal posts.

"I felt like there was a monkey off my back," Nesbitt said. "Nothing was going right for me the whole game. To get that run and score to end the game just felt great."

Georgia Tech hasn't won an outright conference championship since 1990, the year they shared the national championship with Colorado.

"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."

It was another excruciating loss for the Demon Deacons, who must win their final two games to become eligible for its fourth straight bowl trip. Five of their defeats have come by a total of 13 points, two of them going to overtime.

"It's frustrating," said Riley Skinner, who passed for two touchdowns after sustaining a concussion in last week's one-point loss to Miami. "We are right there in every game. We're just not finishing it."

Georgia Tech jumped to a 10-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game, but Wake Forest dominated the second quarter and led 17-10 at halftime. The Yellow Jackets kept making dumb penalties, contributing to all three Wake Forest touchdowns. The offense also had its share of mistakes, getting called three times for chop blocks as the officials seemed to pay close attention to the interior line after opponents complained of dirty blocking tactics.

Dwyer broke off a 59-yard TD run on Georgia Tech's first offensive snap of the second half, tying the game at 17, and the defense took over from there. Wake Forest managed only one first down on its four possessions after the break, and Georgia Tech went ahead 24-17 when Nesbitt scored on a 12-yard run with 8:19 left in regulation.

But Skinner, who had only been cleared to play on Friday after he showed no lingering effects from the concussion, finally cranked up the Demon Deacons' offense. Wake Forest drove 74 yards in seven plays, capped off by Skinner's 11-yard touchdown pass to Devon Brown with 4:27 remaining.

After Georgia Tech was stopped again on fourth down, Wake Forest appeared to be driving into range for a winning field-goal attempt. But Skinner was sacked by Derrick Morgan on third-and-7 from the Georgia Tech 35, and Wake Forest decided to punt it away and settle for OT.

"I swiped at him," Morgan said. "I was just about out of gas. ... I had to muster up my strength and go out there and give it one more play, reach down deep within and get some strength and power."

Skinner was 26 of 40 for 263 yards, carrying most of the load on offense as the Demon Deacons were held to 28 yards rushing. Georgia Tech had another huge running day out of its spread option, piling up 412 on 62 carries.

It almost wasn't enough.

"We found a way to win in the end," Johnson said, "and 30 is more than 27."