The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets fell to 2-2 in excruciating fashion on Saturday, as the Miami Hurricanes reeled off 23 unanswered points to come from behind for the overtime win. It was an ugly loss in the Coastal Division that put the Jackets at 1-2 in the ACC. Paul Johnson's squad has suffered two such heartbreaking divisional defeats in this first month of the season.
The game came to a quick end in overtime when Miami's Mike James reeled off a 25-yard touchdown run to end it. The Hurricanes' possession came after Paul Johnson went for it on fourth-and-one and failed to convert. But SB Nation's Georgia Tech blog, From The Rumble Seat, supported their coach's decision to not settle for the overtime field goal:
Sure, in hindsight it's easy to say that he should have kicked the field goal. But I won't blame him for a second for electing to go for it. First off, his philosophy of "we don't deserve to win if we can't get 3 feet" is one that I love. He's absolutely right. Any team who can't get a single yard has no business winning a game against an equally-matched opponent. But at the same time, electing to kick a field goal would have been a much worse decision. Doing so would show confidence in the defense to keep Miami from getting 25 yards and extend the game into a second overtime. Why on Earth would he have that confidence in a defense that had just allowed Miami to gain 91 yards without forcing so much as a third down?
In the end, the defense quickly relented and James cruised in for a TD that would have made the field goal insignificant. The more troubling trend, as From The Rumble Seat points out, is the Yellow Jackets' inability to put teams away when they have them on the ropes. The game should have never been within range of an overtime.
For more on the Yellow Jackets, head over to From The Rumble Seat. For the Miami perspective, check out The Seventh Floor.