ATLANTA — Some coaches probably would have taken the easy way out, just settled for the chip-shot field goal and took another shot in the second overtime.
Not Paul Johnson.
The Georgia Tech coach doesn’t mind putting it all on the line, even at the risk of costing his team a shot at the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
JOHN BAZEMORE/Associated Press Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson yells at an official during the first quarter Saturday.
“If you tell the kids ‘play to win,’” Johnson said Sunday, “then you have to play to win.”
The Yellow Jackets (9-1, 6-1 ACC) have been doing just that. They climbed to No. 7 in The Associated Press rankings and BCS standings after Johnson’s gutsy call on fourth down led to a 30-27 overtime victory against Wake Forest.
While Georgia Tech probably has too many teams to climb for a realistic shot at playing for the national championship, a nifty consolation prize possibly awaits. The Jackets can clinch the Coastal Division title with a win next weekend at Duke; a victory in the Dec. 5 ACC championship game at Tampa would send them to the Orange Bowl at the very least.
All those scenarios were in jeopardy when Georgia Tech faced fourth down at the Wake Forest 5, trailing 27-24 in overtime Saturday. The first-down marker was only a half-yard away, but the safe thing to do would have been to settle for a 22-yard field goal and extend the game to another round of possessions.
The Yellow Jackets already had failed four times on fourth down.
But he never really considered kicking a field goal. After attempting to draw Wake Forest offsides and getting a look at their defensive alignment, he called timeout.
Kicker Scott Blair stayed on the sideline. Quarterback Josh Nesbitt took the snap, lowered his head and easily picked up the first down with a 2-yard gain. On the very next play, Nesbitt went in standing for a 3-yard touchdown run that ended the game.
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