Bulldogs’ upset wrecks Jackets
Triple-option baffles Jackets’ defense while offense sputters
ATLANTA — Coach Brent Thompson was working as The Citadel’s offensive coordinator when the school upset South Carolina four years ago.
Now that he’s got a signature win of his own, Thompson has a big building block for his team.
“This is what we needed as a program, what I needed to get this program going in the right direction for the rest of the season,” Thompson said, “because we’ve got our whole conference schedule to play after this.”
Jacob Godek kicked a 37-yard field goal in overtime, quarterback Brandon Rainey ran for one touchdown and passed for another, and FCS The Citadel stunned Georgia Tech with a 27-24 upset victory on Saturday.
Georgia Tech’s defense allowed 320 yards rushing against the triple-option, a scheme it faced in practice the last 11 years under former coach Paul Johnson, but the Yellow Jackets (1-2) still figured to have an enough talent to overcome The Citadel.
Instead, the Bulldogs (1-2) never trailed despite having lost FCS games at home to Towson and on the road to Elon. Beating the Jackets gave The Citadel its first win over an FBS opponent since 2015 against South Carolina. Before that, the Bulldogs had not won against the higher classification since knocking off Arkansas and Army in 1992.
“We’ll celebrate this one for 24 hours and get back to work tomorrow,” Rainey said. “You can’t really hang onto wins. It’ll set you back, so we’re on to the next one.”
It was the Jackets’ first loss to an FCS or a Division I-AA opponent since Furman in 1983 and their first in 11 games against The Citadel.
Momentum turned in the third quarter when Rainey broke a 14-14 tie with a 22-yard TD run, and strong safety Sean-Thomas Faulkner stopped Georgia Tech’s Jordan Mason for no gain on the ensuing drive.
Rainey limped off the field early in the fourth and was replaced by Brian Murdaugh the rest of the way. Godek split the uprights to make it 24-21 with 1:51 to go. Brenton King sent the game to overtime with a 34-yard field goal at the end of regulation, but he missed wide left from 46 yards to end the first possession of overtime.
New Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins has struggled to find a formula for his up-tempo, pro-style offense, rotating quarterbacks Lucas Johnson and Tobias Oliver to mixed results in a blowout loss at No. 1 Clemson and a narrow home win over South Florida.
The end of regulation was a mess. Collins called timeout just before Oliver took a snap and ran for a 17-yard TD. With the score nullified and time for just one play, Collins had to send out King.