Aidan Birr etched his name into Georgia Tech lore on Saturday night. With the clock hitting zero and the season’s biggest moment on the line, Birr drilled a 55-yard field goal to lift the Yellow Jackets to a stunning 24-21 upset over No. 12 Clemson at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
The kick, tied for the longest in Georgia Tech history, capped a frantic final sequence in which the Yellow Jackets’ field goal unit scrambled onto the field with no timeouts left and just seconds remaining. The ball was snapped with the clock nearly expired, and Birr’s boot sailed straight through, sending the home crowd pouring onto the field in celebration.
“It was chaos, but we were ready,” Birr said. “I trusted my line, and when I saw it go through, I’ll never forget that feeling.”
Quarterback Haynes King returned from a lower-body injury that sidelined him in the Sept. 6 win over Gardner-Webb, and his impact was immediate. The junior went 19 of 27 for 216 yards through the air while adding 103 rushing yards on 25 carries. His 1-yard touchdown sneak and a subsequent two-point conversion early in the fourth quarter gave Georgia Tech (3-0, 1-0 ACC) a 21-14 lead.
King’s toughness and dual-threat ability helped the Jackets answer Clemson’s repeated surges. “Haynes is the heartbeat of this team,” Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key said. “He gave us everything he had.”
Cade Klubnik’s night reflected Clemson’s (1-2, 0-1 ACC) uneven performance. He finished 15 of 26 for 207 yards with one interception and one fumble. He connected on a 73-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Bryant Wesco to briefly put the Tigers ahead 14-13 early in the second half, and added 62 rushing yards with a goal-line sneak late in the first half.
But turnovers and stalled drives proved costly. Clemson’s opening possession ended with Klubnik’s fumble, and its second drive with a missed 52-yard field goal. Later, on the Tigers’ first drive of the second half, Klubnik was intercepted at the Georgia Tech 7-yard line by Omar Daniels — killing momentum that might have swung the game.
“The turnovers just kill us,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “We put ourselves in tough situations, and Georgia Tech made us pay.”
With 3:26 left and the score tied at 21, Georgia Tech took over at its own 25. King orchestrated a poised march down the field, mixing short completions with designed quarterback runs to move into Clemson territory. On fourth-and-3, with no timeouts and the clock dwindling, Key opted to bring out Birr for the 55-yard attempt. The rest became instant history.
Clemson, now staring at an early-season hole in the ACC standings, returns home to face Syracuse next Saturday in a critical conference matchup. Georgia Tech looks to keep its momentum rolling when it hosts Temple in a nonconference game.
For now, though, the Yellow Jackets will savor one of their most dramatic wins in recent memory — a victory defined by resilience, a gritty quarterback performance, and a historic kick.
