The key play in the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets loss to the Virginia Tech Hokies: a 15-yard personal foul on linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu, who otherwise had an outstanding game (10 tackles, 2.5 TFL for seven yards lost). Attaochu was flagged for flailing at Logan Thomas during what should've been a third-and-long stop that would've given Tech the ball with the late lead.
In his own words, Attaochu says he had "an adrenaline overdose" and was "hacking at the ball," in the process getting turned around and taking it too far. He said he knew what he did wrong, but agreed with all of Bobby Dodd Stadium that the play should've been blown dead.
And here's coach Paul Johnson on the penalty, which he disputed to officials along several paces during the next stoppage of play:
It was huge, and you compound it with the fact that then they drive it down and they score. Instead of getting the ball back somewhere around midfield, up five with all the momentum, maybe you've got a chance to go up two scores, and in that game, you needed to be up two scores with the way the game was going. It changed. I couldn't see what happened. The play was dead, it seemed like, forever, and they never blew the whistle or the guy just kept trying to move.