MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Haynes King threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Christian Leary with two seconds remaining after Miami turned the ball over with the game all but won, and Georgia Tech stunned the 17th-ranked Hurricanes 23-20 on Saturday night.
Georgia Tech got the ball back with 26 seconds remaining after referees ruled Miami running back Don Chaney fumbled at the Yellow Jackets’ 26 — after the Hurricanes decided not to take a knee on that play to essentially run out the clock.
And Georgia Tech (3-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) turned that mistake into a victory, after Leary got behind the Miami defense.
The Hurricanes (4-1, 0-1) had a six-lateral try on the final play of the game but got stopped near midfield.
Tyler Van Dyke threw for 288 yards but was intercepted three times for Miami. Xavier Restrepo caught 12 passes for 144 yards for the Hurricanes, who got a rushing score from Henry Parrish Jr.
Haynes King and Jamal Haynes had third-quarter rushing touchdowns for the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech’s under-new-management defense — the team elevated Kevin Sherrer to defensive coordinator after a loss to Bowling Green last week — frustrated Miami for much of the night, then somehow got the takeaway it needed at the end.
Miami had scored all 16 quarters it had played in the first four games, and came into the night as one of three teams to score at least 38 points in every game this season. But it took until the final play of the half, a 30-yard field goal by Andres Borregales, to get any scoring from either side.
Georgia Tech went up 17-10 early in the fourth after Jaylon King intercepted a pass from Van Dyke and rumbled 66 yards to the Miami 15. Only a full sprint from Van Dyke, who never gave up on the play, kept King from scoring. The Yellow Jackets managed only a field goal, and Miami kept within striking distance.
Miami thought it was about to tie it with 10:15 left when Van Dyke connected with Colbie Young on what was originally ruled a 60-yard scoring pass. Replay got it correctly overturned; Young’s knee was down, barely, at the Georgia Tech 3-yard line.
And that was an awful break for Young, on two levels.
His knee bent awkwardly as he fell backward while trying to make a block one play later on the run in which Parrish scored to pull the Hurricanes into a tie after the extra point. But even that was an adventure for Miami, with the first kick missing following a high snap — and Georgia Tech getting penalized for hitting the snapper.