Season-opening upset: How did Georgia Tech knock off FSU?

By Grace Raynor, Manny Navarro and Austin Mock

The college football season started with a bang Saturday in Dublin, Ireland, with No. 10 Florida State falling 24-21 to Georgia Tech in an ACC matchup. The Yellow Jackets finished off the upset on a 44-yard field goal by Aidan Birr as time expired.

Georgia Tech finished with 336 yards of total offense, including 190 rushing, and Jamal Haynes had two rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Haynes King passed for 146 yards and rushed for 75 yards and controlled the game. Florida State had 291 yards of offense, including 193 yards passing from quarterback DJ Uiagalelei in his first start for the Seminoles.

1. Georgia Tech’s big drive pays off: It looked like the Yellow Jackets were due for trouble late in the third quarter when King fumbled on second-and-3 as he attempted to hand off the ball. But right guard Keylan Rutledge somehow jumped on the ball with Florida State defenders converging on him from everywhere to keep the drive alive.

The Yellow Jackets lost 9 yards on the play and faced third-and-12 from the FSU 43-yard line before King found wide receiver Malik Rutherford for 15 yards up the middle. Three plays later, the Yellow Jackets were in the end zone to take a 21-14 lead. Rutledge diving on the ball the way he did will go down as one of the most crucial moments of the game. The Middle Tennessee transfer was a coveted prospect in the transfer portal this offseason and joined a Georgia Tech offensive line that returned every other starter. — Raynor

2. Yellow Jackets strong at QB and up front: King then taking over — throwing for 61 yards and rushing for 21 yards on a second-and-5 to put Georgia Tech at the 2 — showed what Georgia Tech is capable of at its best. Two of the Yellow Jackets’ biggest strengths are at quarterback and along the offensive line, and both groups took over when it mattered. That touchdown allowed Georgia Tech to still have some wiggle room when Florida State tied the score at 21-21 on the next drive, and the Yellow Jackets responded again with the game-winning drive.

Birr became the hero when his game-winning field goal as time expired gave the Yellow Jackets its biggest win of the Brent Key era. — Raynor

Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King passed for 146 yards and rushed for 75 yards Saturday against Florida State. (Tom Maher / INPHO via USA Today)

3. The Yellow Jackets have a new look: We’ve heard so much about Key and his staff taking the next step this offseason as the program continues to build, but Saturday was proof of concept. This is a Georgia Tech team that absolutely can make noise in the conference race. — Raynor

4. Seminoles’ ACC repeat road will be tough: If Florida State is going to repeat as ACC champion, it’s going to look different than it did a year ago when Jordan Travis, Trey Benson, Keon Coleman, Johnny Wilson and Jaheim Bell anchored the league’s highest-scoring offense.

The loss was an eye-opener for Seminoles fans, many who may have been expecting a repeat of last year’s 13-0 run to the conference crown. This is a much different team — minus 10 players who were taken in the NFL Draft. New quarterback Uiagalelei struggled to throw the ball downfield until he connected on two huge fourth-down conversions on Florida State’s 15-play, fourth-quarter touchdown drive with 6:33 to play. — Navarro

5. Uiagalelei was OK, but the Noles need more: Uiagalelei finished 19-of-27 passing (70 percent completion percentage) for 193 yards, but 13 of those completions were within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. He was 2-of-5 on throws 15 yards downfield – the two fourth-down throws he made to help FSU tie the score at 21.

Uiagalelei doesn’t have the same downfield threats Travis had last season, but Uiagalelei has never been known for being a great downfield thrower. — Navarro

6. Florida State needs weapons to emerge: Its top receivers were Ja’Kai Douglas (four catches, 55 yards) and Malik Benson (four catches, 39 yards), but running backs Roydel Williams (three catches, 31 yards), Lawrance Toafili (three catches, 25 yards) and Jaylin Lucas (one catch, 5 yards) were heavily involved as well. — Navarro

7. The Seminoles’ defense struggled: FSU’s issues weren’t solely on offense. Georgia Tech averaged 5.3 yards per carry and had several sizable runs in the first half in part because FSU’s defense didn’t always stay in the right gaps. Florida State has to replace its top two tacklers — linebackers Tatum Bethune and Kalen DeLoach. The Seminoles had only three tackles for loss and didn’t produce a sack in Saturday’s loss. — Navarro

8. Clemson is ACC’s new favorite: Florida State entered the game with a 54 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff, according to our College Football Projection model. After the upset loss, the Seminoles’ odds dip to 25.5 percent. They’re no longer the ACC favorites — Clemson takes the honors (24.6 percent) — as the Seminoles’ conference title odds fell to 16.6 percent.

Clemson is now the favorite for a first-round Playoff bye, while Florida State drops out of our projected bracket as the second team out. Despite the upset, Georgia Tech makes the Playoff just 1.4 percent of the time in our model’s simulations. — Mock

(Photo of Jamal Haynes: Tom Maher / INPHO via USA Today)