Georgia Tech beat No. 17 Miami 23-20 on Saturday night thanks to an improbable last-second touchdown pass. With 10 seconds left, Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King took a shotgun blast at the Miami 44-yard line. His first readings weren’t open, so he climbed to the right, to the right. At the same time, wide receiver Christian Leary stormed toward the end zone. Leary raced past the deep Miami defensive backs and King let the ball fly.
Leary caught it on pace around the 10-yard line with no defender near him. He slid into the end zone, giving Georgia Tech a crucial 23-20 lead. Instead of risking a blocked extra point, the Yellow Jackets kneed the ball on the extra point attempt. Miami got the ball back within two seconds, but Georgia Tech’s defense held firm.
Perhaps even more improbable than the touchdown is how Georgia Tech got into a position to win the game. Miami had the ball and led 20-17 with less than a minute to play. Georgia Tech had no more timeouts.
Instead of kicking the ball out, Miami coach Mario Cristobal stunningly designed a running play on third-and-10 from Georgia Tech’s 30-yard line. Running back Don Chaney Jr. fumbled the ball and Georgia Tech recovered, a play that stood after official review.
“At the end of the game I had a chance to put it away and should have told them right away to take a timeout.”
Cristobal said after the game. “Recalibrate and just get on your knees. So we gave them a chance and they took advantage and shot.”
Remarkably, practically exactly the same thing happened to Cristobal when he was coach at Oregon, near the end of an overtime loss to Stanford in 2018.
King completed a 30-yard pass to Malik Rutherford on the ensuing drive, setting up the game-winning touchdown pass.