Georgia Tech’s chances of an ACC title and a spot in the College Football Playoff are all but over.
The No. 16 Yellow Jackets entered Saturday’s home game vs. Pitt needing to beat the Panthers to clinch a spot in the ACC title game. Instead, Pitt jumped out to a 28-0 first-half lead and held on for a 42-28 win.
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Georgia Tech cut the Panthers’ lead to 14 points at halftime and were in prime position to make it a one-score game in the third quarter. But QB Haynes King was intercepted by Pitt’s Braylan Lovelace at the goal line as Lovelace returned the ball for a 100-yard pick-6 and a 21-point lead.
King’s pass was the 10th play of a drive that started at the Georgia Tech 20-yard line and got all the way to the Pitt 5-yard line. As Pitt looked out of sorts for much of the second quarter and the start of the third, believers in momentum were feeling that the game was strongly tipping in the Yellow Jackets’ favor.
Georgia Tech had a chance again in the fourth quarter after an inexplicable Pitt fake punt led to a Georgia Tech touchdown with less than five minutes to go. But, again, believers in momentum had their faith punctured with a 56-yard TD run by freshman Ja’Kyrian Turner.
Saturday night’s game was the last ACC game of the season for the Yellow Jackets. A win against the Panthers would have ensured Georgia Tech would be a win away from a place in the 12-team playoff no matter what happened in Week 14 against Georgia.
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Instead, Georgia Tech needs to beat Georgia and hope for chaos in the ACC around it. All of that is unlikely to happen.
How the ACC stands
Pitt is now 6-1 in the ACC and in a three-way tie with SMU and Virginia atop the conference. The Panthers host Miami in Week 14, while SMU plays Cal and Virginia plays Virginia Tech.
If all three of the tied teams win, Virginia is in the title game against SMU. Pitt needs a win and for one of the two teams to lose. If just two teams win, the two winners will face each other. If just one team wins, it’ll get hectic from there, especially if Miami beats Pitt.
Despite currently being the top-ranked ACC team in the CFP rankings, the Hurricanes need a very specific outcome heading into the final week of the regular season. Miami needs Cal to beat SMU, Wake Forest to beat Duke, NC State to beat North Carolina, Syracuse to beat Boston College and Virginia Tech to beat Virginia to make the title game. Assuming the Hurricanes beat Pitt, of course.
