NCAAF
College Football
Week 13
Pittsburgh nearly saw its 28-point lead erased, but held on for a 42-28 win. Paras Griffin / Getty Images
ATLANTA — No. 16 Georgia Tech had a raucous crowd in its biggest home game in years, aiming to move closer to an ACC championship and the College Football Playoff. Even after a horrid start and a backbreaking, 100-yard pick-6, a mystifying fake punt from unranked Pitt provided the opening.
Then the Panthers shut it again via a Ja’Kyrian Turner touchdown run to seal a 42-28 win. In doing so, Pitt blew up the ACC championship race.
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Georgia Tech (9-2, 6-2) would have clinched a spot in the ACC championship if it had won. Now entering the final weekend, nobody is ensured a bid, and six teams are still technically alive — including the Yellow Jackets, though they’re now a long shot.
Two teams control their destiny: No. 19 Virginia (9-2, 6-1) is in with a win over Virginia Tech, and SMU (8-3, 6-1) with a win over Cal.
If either Virginia or SMU loses, then Pitt (8-3, 6-1) would get in with a win over No. 12 Miami. The Hurricanes (9-2, 5-2), the ACC’s highest-ranked team in the CFP, also still have available paths, but they also still need a lot to happen.
Here’s where it gets messy: If two of Virginia, SMU and Pitt lose next weekend — or all three do — there are scenarios where Miami, Georgia Tech and Duke (6-5, 5-2) can make it in. There are at least eight of those additional scenarios, and some involve other games because of tiebreakers that come down to schedule strength.
In just one example, if SMU beats Cal, but Virginia and Pitt lose, and Duke beats Wake Forest, then the result of the NC State-North Carolina game would determine whether Miami or Duke plays SMU.
Another scenario would let Miami in if it wins, SMU wins and Virginia and Duke lose. A few other scenarios involve more complicated tiebreakers. Unless things break Miami’s way, it will need help in front of it, or more consideration from the selection committee.
In that vein, Pitt handling Georgia Tech the way it did could help Miami, if it can, in turn, handle the Panthers next week. The rocky nature of Pitt’s season is another example of how wacky the ACC has been this season.
Entering Georgia Tech, Pitt was coming off a 37-15 home loss to Notre Dame, before which coach Pat Narduzzi had said he didn’t care if his Pitt team lost 100-0 because it wasn’t a conference game.
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After Pitt’s fourth touchdown on Saturday night, the Panthers were on pace to beat Georgia Tech 84-0. Turner and Pitt freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel hit on big play after big play as the Panthers ran out to a 28-0 lead.
Still, Georgia Tech rallied, drawing within 28-14 at halftime. It was poised to get closer, reaching Pitt’s 5-yard line with just over six minutes left in the third quarter.
Then, Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King unwisely heaved a rushed pass that Pitt’s Braylan Lovelace returned 100 yards for a touchdown. It was King’s second interception of the game.
Georgia Tech still came back, with help from Pitt’s ill-advised gambit: Leading 35-21 with seven minutes left, and facing fourth-and-9 from its own 38, Pitt tried a fake punt via a direct snap, and it failed miserably. Three minutes later, King hit Josh Beetham for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 4:51 left.
Pitt answered, however, with Turner breaking free for a 56-yard touchdown. Georgia Tech fans started making their way out of the building.
Georgia Tech does have one more chance at redemption: It plays No. 4 Georgia on Friday, originally a Georgia Tech home game that moved to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in exchange for a $10 million guarantee.
The Yellow Jackets started the season 8-0, but are now wheezing to the finish. In their past three games, they have lost twice and needed a late field goal to win at Boston College, which has only one win this season.
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Seth Emerson is a senior writer covering college football for The Athletic. He has been covering the SEC since 2002, including stints as the Georgia beat writer for The Macon Telegraph and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the South Carolina beat writer for The State. He has worked for The Athletic since 2018.