Georgia Tech hopes to ride momentum from win over Florida State
ATLANTA -- Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson reminded everyone Monday that one miraculous play does not make the season. With four games remaining, the Yellow Jackets still have a chance to salvage their season and keep their bowl streak alive.
"I hope there's a sense of urgency," Johnson said. "I hope we never lost it. But you've got to take it game by game. You can't get too far ahead of yourself, and my message to the team will be, 'Hey, we've got to try to get number four.' I mean, you've got to try to get four."
Johnson, whose team is 3-5, was reminding listeners that teams don't have a chance to reach the six wins needed to become bowl eligible unless they first win that fourth game. In Georgia Tech's case, that could come this weekend against Virginia. The Yellow Jackets also have games remaining against Virginia Tech, Miami and Georgia.
One of the main concerns for Georgia Tech will be the ability to come down from the euphoric feeling brought about by the win over Florida State on a play that's now being widely called "The Miracle on Techwood Drive." Johnson hopes his team will show up in Charlottesville, Virginia, feeling the urgency to keep winning.
"We've still got a big, big hole to dig out of," he said. "We've got to get ready to play. This is the next game, and then we've got a bye week. So if we can pull ourselves back up to one game, the goal of the team right now is to get to a bowl game. So we've got to win four. We've got to get win number four here before the bye week and just keep, keep pushing."
The 22-16 win over Florida State earned several players national and regional recognition.
Specialist Lance Austin, safety Jamal Golden and place-kicker Harrison Butker all were named players of the week their positions by the Football Writers Association of America, which also cited the Yellow Jackets as its team of the week.
Austin and Golden also were honored by the ACC.
Austin, a sophomore from Lamar County, picked up the blocked field goal and ran 78 yards for the winning score to complete the upset win. It was the first blocked field goal to be returned for a touchdown on a game's final play since Southern California did it against Utah in 2011.
Golden, a sixth-year senior, led the defense with a career-high nine tackles, including seven solo stops, and intercepted a pass in the end zone, the eighth interception of his career. Golden also was the lead blocker in Austin's game-winning return.
Butker, a junior, was 3-for-3 on field goals, including a 53-yarder that tied the game with 54 seconds remaining.
"Now, hopefully we can take that and try to get some momentum and build on it," Johnson said. "We've still got a big hole to dig out of, but we're in better shape than we were a week ago."
This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Georgia Tech hopes to ride momentum from win over Florida State ."