Georgia Tech Vs. Virginia Tech: Yellow Jackets Fall 37-26 In Key ACC Contest

In Georgia Tech's 37-26 loss versus the Virginia Tech Hokies, Yellow Jackets linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu's 15-yard personal foul on Logan Thomas proved to be costly, as he was flagged for punching Logan Thomas. The penalty was called on a key third-and-long and a stop would've given Tech the ball with the late lead.

Attaochu was consequently suspended by the team for a half-game for Saturday's ACC matchup between Georgia Tech and Duke in Durham, North Carolina.

Coach Paul Johnson responded to the controversial penalty on Monday:

Georgia moves up one spot this week to No. 14 in the latest BCS Rankings for Week 12. Fresh off of its dominating victory over Auburn, the Bulldogs are just a win over Kentucky away from clinching a spot in the SEC Championship game. 

There was a slight shuffling of the rankings this week with Boise State and Stanford suffering losses. LSU remains at the top and is followed again by Oklahoma State and Alabama. Oregon is this week's big mover jumping from No. 7 last week to No. 4 this week. Oklahoma remains at No. 5 in this week's rankings. 

Arkansas checks in at No. 6 and is followed by the two likely participants of the upcoming ACC Championship game in No. 7 Clemson and No. 8 Virginia Tech. Stanford falls from No. 4 to No. 9 after losing to Oregon and Boise State drops five spots to No. 10 after its loss to TCU. 

After losing to Virginia Tech on Thursday, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets fall out of this week's rankings. 

Here is a look at the full BCS Rankings for Week 12:

Check out our College Football Rankings, Week 12 StoryStream for more on all of the polls. For more news and opinion, check out SB Nation's NCAA Football hub.

Linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu has shined for Georgia Tech when healthy, but his personal foul penalty on Virginia Tech's Logan Thomas on a third-and-long in the third quarter gave the Hokies new life, and the eventually came back from the Yellow Jackets' 26-21 lead to win the game. Head coach Paul Johnson noted the penalty as the tipping point in the second half:

It was huge and it compounded with the fact that they drove it down and scored. Like I said, we might have gotten the ball back somewhere around midfield up five and had the momentum to possibly have a two score lead, and in that game we needed to be up two scores. It changed. I couldn't see what happened. The play was dead for what seemed like forever, they never blew the whistle and Logan Thomas kept trying to move, we couldn't get him down anyway. He was a big, strong guy.

For his part, Attaochu owned up to the flag, citing too much adrenaline:

I'm not going to lie, I'm not going to sit here and tell you no, I knew I was going too hard. I'm a high-energy player. When I made contact with him, he wasn't going down. We do that in practice when someone is standing up by hacking for the ball when I was behind him. My body kind of moved to his front so I kept hacking for the ball and then the flag was thrown. I'm not dumb I knew it was the reason for the flag.

The loss, Georgia Tech's third in four games, knocks the Yellow Jackets out of contention for the ACC Championship. Quarterback Tevin Washington commented on the letdown inside the locker room:

It's a let down. We worked all offseason and this season our way to the ACC (championship) so it's just a let down. There's nothing we can do about it now but go out and try to win the next two and put our selves in position to have a decent record.

For more on Georgia Tech, visit From The Rumble Seat. For more on everything college football, visit SB Nation's college football news hub. 

Georgia Tech took a step backwards in its quest for the ACC Coastal division crown and a spot in the ACC Championship game after falling 37-26 to Virginia Tech. Logan Thomas carried the Hokies to victory scoring five touchdowns. 

The Yellow Jackets took a 26-21 lead with 4:29 to go in the third quarter but were outscored 16-0 the rest of the way by the Hokies. Logan Thomas' 12 yard rushing score gave Virginia Tech back the lead with 32 seconds remaining in the third quarter. 

On the next Virginia Tech possession Thomas found Chris Drager for a 14 yard touchdown that extended the lead to 34-26. Cody Journell tacked on a field goal to make it a two score game with just over three minutes to go in the game. 

Georgia Tech's Tevin Washington finished with 97 yards passing and 77 yards rushing with three touchdowns. Embry Peeples led the way for the Yellow Jackets on the ground with 84 yards rushing. 

Logan Thomas was the star of the game throwing for 209 yards, running for 76 and scoring a combined five touchdowns. David Wilson finished with 23 carries and 169 yards for the Hokies. 

The Yellow Jackets racked up 243 yards rushing and 340 total yards however they surrendered 267 yards rushing and 476 total yards to Virginia Tech. 

For more on this game, Georgia Tech Fans should check out From The Rumble Seat and Virginia Tech fans should stop by Gobbler Country. 

The entire game between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Virginia Tech Hokies could come down to two plays. One was a fourth down conversion that Georgia Tech couldn't convert and the other was a fourth and one situation that Virginia Tech did convert on its way to another Logan Thomas touchdown for a 34-26 lead. 

After converting that fourth and one, Thomas found Chris Drager in the end zone for this third passing touchdown of the night. Thomas also has two touchdowns rushing giving him five total in the game. 

Georgia Tech trails by eight and will likely put the ball back in Tevin Washington's hands who had three touchdowns himself tonight. Perhaps Embry Peeples would also warrant more touches as he has 84 yards rushing on just three carries thus far. 

For more on this game, Georgia Tech Fans should check out From The Rumble Seat and Virginia Tech fans should stop by Gobbler Country. 

This game is turning into a heavyweight fight with each team landing a flurry of punches. Virginia Tech retook the lead 27-26 on a 12 yard run from quarterback Logan Thomas who capped off a 74 yard Hokies' drive. 

Virginia Tech was aided by a personal foul penalty against the Yellow Jackets' Jeremiah Attaochu on a sack of Thomas. That play put the Hokies in business as David Wilson ripped off a big 44 yard run down to the Tech 21 yard line. A couple of Josh Oglesby runs pulled Virginia Tech a little closer before Thomas barreled his way into the end zone. The two-point conversion attempt failed with the score remaining 27-26 in the favor of Virginia Tech. 

Thomas moved ahead in his head-to-head battle with Tevin Washington scoring his fourth touchdown of the game. The Hokies' quarterback has thrown for 195 yards and two scores and has ran for 45 more yards and two more touchdowns. 

For more on this game, Georgia Tech Fans should check out From The Rumble Seat and Virginia Tech fans should stop by Gobbler Country. 

Virginia Tech's David Wilson coughed up the first turnover of the game and Georgia Tech used a couple of big plays to retake the lead 26-21. 

Isaiah Johnson recovered Wilson's fumble on Virginia Tech's first drive of the second half. The Yellow Jackets took over possession and marched 84 yards in just under three minutes. The Yellow Jackets got back-to-back plays of 39 yards and 28 yards from Embry Peeples and Tevin Washington who later scored his third touchdown of the game with another one yard run. 

Georgia Tech is up to 256 yards rushing on the night as their offense has gotten back in gear in the second half. Washington now has 97 yards rushing in the game to go along with his 98 yards passing and three touchdowns. 

For more on this game, Georgia Tech Fans should check out From The Rumble Seat and Virginia Tech fans should stop by Gobbler Country. 

Georgia Tech opened the second half with a eight play, 74 yard drive that resulted in a Tevin Washington one yard touchdown run to pull the Yellow Jackets to within 21-19 of Virginia Tech. The ensuing two-point conversion attempt by Washington was no good and the score remained 21-19. 

Tech's drive was helped by a late-hit penalty by the Hokies defense on the first play of the second half. Washington had a 35 yard run during the drive. Preston Lyons' 10 yard run set the Yellow Jackets up at the three and two Washington runs later gave the Georgia Tech the score. 

Washington takes over the team lead in rushing on the night with 15 carries for 67 yards and both of the Yellow Jackets' touchdowns. Now it remains to be seen whether the Georgia Tech defense can sustain the momentum that was started by the offense. 

For more on this game, Georgia Tech Fans should check out From The Rumble Seat and Virginia Tech fans should stop by Gobbler Country. 

After pulling to within 14-10 with a Justin Moore 41 yard field goal, Georgia Tech's defensive woes struck again as Logan Thomas hit Danny Coale who weaved his way through the Yellow Jackets' defense for a 63 yard touchdown to make the score 21-10 at the half. 

With just 44 seconds left in the half, the Yellow Jackets came roaring back down the field thanks to a big play from Tevin Washington to Stephen Hill. However, a Virginia Tech sack of Tevin Washington forced the Yellow Jackets to kick another field goal to close out the half.  

Thanks to that flurry at the end of the half, the stats for each team are comparable. Virginia Tech has a slide edge with 254 total yards and a little over 16 minutes in time of possession. 

Tevin Washington completed 4 of 6 passes for 98 yards in the first half. He also rushed for 28 yards and has the Yellow Jackets' only touchdown. Embry Peeples carried the ball one time in the first half but is Georgia Tech's leading rusher with 39 yards. Tyler Melton caught two passes for 55 yards. 

Logan Thomas finished the first half 4 for 8 with 123 yards and two touchdowns. David Wilson has 11 carries for 84 yards while Jarrett Boykin hauled in two passes for 42 yards. 

For more on this game, Georgia Tech Fans should check out From The Rumble Seat and Virginia Tech fans should stop by Gobbler Country. 

After tying the game, it didn't take long for Virginia Tech to come right back and take the lead. Logan Thomas found Jarrett Boykin for a nine yard touchdown to make the score 14-7. 

David Wilson was the main culprit on Virginia Tech's seven play, 70 yard drive that took just 2:46 off the clock. Wilson gashed the Tech defense for over 60 yards rushing and now has 84 yards in the game on 11 carries. 

After four straight runs by Wilson, it looked like the Hokies drive might stall out inside the red zone. However, Thomas found Boykin on third down to give Virginia Tech its first lead of the game. Thomas has completed just 3 of 7 passes for 60 yards and has rushed for 31 more. 

For more on this game, Georgia Tech Fans should check out From The Rumble Seat and Virginia Tech fans should stop by Gobbler Country. 

Virginia Tech successfully flipped the field position battle against the Yellow Jackets which resulted in a short Hokies' drive for a touchdown to tie the game. Logan Thomas' fourth down quarterback sneak capped off a nine play, 36 yard drive that tied the game at 7-7.

A Virginia Tech punt from Michael Branthover pinned the Yellow Jackets deep in their own territory at the six yard line. A fumbled snap by Tevin Washington and a dropped pass from Orwin Smith forced Georgia Tech to punt. A 30-yard punt from the Yellow Jackets set the Hokies up with a short field. 

From there the Hokies were able to methodically move the ball down the field behind the running of Thomas and Josh Oglesby leading eventually to Thomas' one yard plunge on fourth down. 

For more on this game, Georgia Tech Fans should check out From The Rumble Seat and Virginia Tech fans should stop by Gobbler Country. 

Tevin Washington's two yard run gives the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets a 7-0 lead over the Virginia Tech Hokies in a key ACC match up in Atlanta. Washington's run capped off a 13 play, 80 yard drive for the score.

The Yellow Jackets forced Virginia Tech to punt on its first possession and then used a big 39 yard run by Embry Peeples to set itself up in Virginia Tech territory. Tech was hit with a chop-block penalty that put them in a very long situation. Three runs put the Yellow Jackets to within five yards of a first down and Paul Johnson sent the offense back onto the field to go for it. 

Before Tevin Washington could snap the ball, one of the Hokies' defenders fired into the neutral zone for an off sides penalty that gave the Yellow Jackets a first down. Two plays later, Washington dove into the end zone to give Georgia Tech the early 7-0 lead. 

For more on this game, Georgia Tech Fans should check out From The Rumble Seat and Virginia Tech fans should stop by Gobbler Country. 

Georgia Tech remains +1 underdogs against Virginia Tech in a nationally televised game that will determine the course of the rest of their season.

The Hokies have dominated the ACC Coastal Division since its creation in 2005, winning it four of its first six years. Under Paul Johnson, the Yellow Jackets have emerged as their biggest threat amid a group of primarily basketball-focused schools. 

His triple-option offense has confounded the ACC since he brought it with him from Navy in 2007, but teams with a week off to prepare for it have traditionally performed better against it. Indeed, the Hokies, who haven't played since narrowly defeating Duke on Oct. 29, have tweaked their starting line-up to prepare for Georgia Tech's ground-heavy attack.

Offensively, sophomore QB Logan Thomas has emerged as a reliable starter. He hasn't been a star, throwing for only 1,934 yards while completing 60.2% of his passes, but, for the most part, he's been able to avoid critical mistakes, averaging less than one interception a game.

Instead, junior RB David Wilson has been the centerpiece of Virginia Tech's offense, rushing for 1,185 yards on 6.3 yards a carry with 7 TD's for the season.

With both teams looking to run the ball, the over/under for the game is only 50 points.

A little know fact about the Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech match up on Saturday is that since 2005, the winner of the regular season match up between the two teams has gone on to win the Coastal Division and play in the ACC championship game. That once again appears to be the case as the winner will be in the driver's seat in the division while the loser not so much.  

"This game has been a big part of the division race," Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said. "Again this year, if we lose we're out of the race, so to speak, so it's a big game for us."

Game date, time: Thursday, November 10, 8:00pm ET

Location: Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

TV: ESPN

Radio Coverage: 790 The Zone

Streaming: ESPN 3

For more on this game, Georgia Tech Fans should check out From The Rumble Seat and Virginia Tech fans should stop by Gobbler Country. 

One of the advantages of Paul Johnson's triple-option offense is its contrarian nature. Since few other teams in college football run anything like it, college defenses are typically not structured to stop it.

Virginia Tech is no different, which is why the Hokies have dramatically altered their defense heading into their Thursday night game against Georgia Tech:

"It's a pain in the ass," said long-time Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. "You can quote me on that. If it was simple, everybody would be shutting it down. You don't see anybody doing that."

With a bye week to prepare for the game, the Hokies made three changes to their starting line-up: moving DE J.R. Collins to DT, OLB Jack Tyler to MLB and CB Kyle Fuller to OLB. 

All three moves are designed to make Virginia Tech's defense faster and lighter. They want to be able to combat Georgia Tech's agile offensive line as well as cover the field sideline-to-sideline.

Georgia Tech opens as a slight 1.5 point underdog at home in Thursday night's pivotal ACC matchup against Virginia Tech. Perhaps influenced by the Yellow Jackets' impressive victory over Clemson, 57 percent of people placing bets are taking Georgia Tech and the points according to Oddsshark.com. 

Georgia Tech is 7-2 overall this season and 5-3-1 against the spread. The Yellow Jackets are just 1-3-1 against the number in the last five games with the lone win coming against Clemson. 

Virginia Tech enters the game with an 8-1 overall record but has played a ton of close games as their 2-7 mark against the spread suggests. Despite that, the Hokies are 19-2 over their last 21 games regardless of the spread. 

The over/under for the game has been set at 50. After obliterating the over early in the season, the Yellow Jackets have been under in four of the last five games. This game figures to be no different as Virginia Tech has been under in six of its last eight games and six of its last seven on the road. 

For more on this game, Georgia Tech Fans should check out From The Rumble Seat and Virginia Tech fans should stop by Gobbler Country.