Haynes King threw for 243 yards and a score, adding 106 yards and two touchdowns on the ground as No. 16 Georgia Tech escaped with a 30-29 overtime victory over Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., in Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday.
King ran for a 2-yard touchdown to begin overtime, before Demond Claiborne’s 25-yard rush cut Wake’s deficit to 30-29. Wake Forest elected to go for the game-winning two-point conversion but Robby Ashford’s pass fell incomplete, sealing the Georgia Tech win.
Eric Rivers had eight catches for 77 yards and a score for the Yellow Jackets (5-0, 2-0 ACC), who extended their best start to a season since 2014.
Ashford threw for 229 yards, adding a score on the ground, while Claiborne ran for 119 yards and two scores for Wake Forest (2-2 ,0-2 ACC).
After Connor Calvert’s 24-yard field goal pushed Wake’s lead to 20-3, Georgia Tech finally found the end zone on King’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Rivers with 5:39 left in the third quarter.
The Yellow Jackets then cut their deficit to three on King’s 5-yard rushing score with 17 seconds left in the third.
Georgia Tech knotted the score on Aidan Birr’s 19-yard field goal with 9:49 left in the fourth, before Calvert missed a 27-yarder that kept the score tied with 6:54 remaining.
Jamal Haynes then fumbled, leading to Calvert’s 29-yard field goal to put Wake Forest ahead 23-20 at the 5:07 mark.
After Wake’s punt, King led Georgia Tech to a game-tying drive as Birr’s 33-yard field goal with two seconds left sent the game to overtime.
Georgia Tech struck first on Birr’s 35-yard field goal with 8:09 left in the first quarter.
Facing a fourth-and-six on Wake Forest’s 39-yard line, Georgia Tech punter Marshall Nichols found Will Kiker on a fake punt pass, but the gain was for five yards, turning the ball over on downs to Wake Forest with 13:11 remaining in the second quarter.
Two plays later, Ashford connected on a 35-yard pass to Chris Barnes, pushing the Demon Deacons’ drive to Georgia Tech’s 20-yard line. Claiborne then broke off a 16-yard rush, leading to Ashford’s 4-yard rushing score to give Wake Forest a 7-3 edge at the 10:46 mark of the first half.
The Demon Deacons tacked on with Claiborne’s 27-yard rushing score and Calvert’s 24-yard field goal to give Wake Forest a 17-3 halftime lead.
