Georgia Tech freshman Wesley Wells celebrates after kicking the winning field goal in overtime against Virginia on Saturday in Atlanta.ATLANTA - Georgia Tech relied on an unlikely formula to pull off its fourth straight victory on the football field, combining a brilliant catch for its only pass completion of the game with four field goals from a freshman who wasn't even the Yellow Jackets' top kicker at the beginning of the season.
Wesley Wells booted a 40-yarder in overtime, with the ball barely sliding through as it skimmed the right upright, and Virginia's Brian Delaney missed his attempt from 35 yards to give the Jackets a 30-27 victory on Saturday.
"Sometimes the nerves get to you a little bit," Wells said. "It was a roller-coaster of emotions while the kick was up and the ball hitting the post and going in."
Wells booted the longest field goal of his collegiate career from 48 yards to push Tech to a 27-24 lead with 1:04 remaining in regulation. The Cavaliers drove for the tying field goal, with Delaney connecting from 31 yards on a do-over with one second left after Virginia was flagged for a false start on his first attempt.
Neither team picked up a first down in overtime, so it came down to the kickers.
Wells made his attempt - "my first game-winner," he said, even going back to high school.
Delaney hooked his badly, his head dropping as soon as his right foot connected with the ball.
The Yellow Jackets (7-4, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) clinched a winning season, quite a comeback from a 1-3 start. Coach Paul Johnson credited his seniors, who were honored before their final game at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
"They did a great job of keeping this team together," he said.
Virginia (7-4, 4-3) was eliminated from the ACC Coastal Division race before it even took the field. Pittsburgh clinched a spot in the league championship game against Clemson with its 34-13 victory at Wake Forest.
Tech only compounded the Cavaliers' misery.
"It hurts," Virginia receiver Olamide Zaccheaus said. "This is real tough."
Brad Stewart stretched out as far as he could to haul in Georgia Tech's lone completion, a 37-yard pass from TaQuon Marshall on third down to set up Wells' go-ahead kick near the end of regulation. Stewart escaped cornerback Bryce Hall with a double move, leaped for a ball that appeared overthrown and managed to hang on while crashing to the turf.
"That was my last catch ever at Bobby Dodd," Stewart said. "How crazy is that?"
Then Wells won it in overtime - not bad for a walk-on who only took over the kicking job after two other kickers failed to hold down the job.
Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins completed 21 of 26 passes for 217 yards, and also led the Cavaliers in rushing with 73 yards despite injuring his left ankle when he was sacked for a safety in the first half. He was helped off the field by two teammates but missed only one series.
Marshall ran for 107 yards and completed one of eight passes.
That one was enough.
While Perkins was out, freshman Brennan Armstrong guided the Cavaliers to a touchdown in only his third college appearance. He threw a short pass near the sideline to Joe Reed, who shook off a defender and raced for a 56-yard touchdown.
In the span of just 11 seconds, Tech had turned an early 7-3 deficit into a 13-7 lead.
With Virginia backed up on its own 1 after a punt, Perkins took a snap in the end zone and rolled left to throw, only to be grabbed by Tech's Brant Mitchell and finished off by 325-pound nose tackle Brandon Adams for a safety.
Making matters worse for the Cavaliers, Juanyeh Thomas returned the free kick 77 yards for a touchdown and Marshall ran for a 2-point conversion.
Virginia limited the nation's top rushing team to only a handful of big plays.
Tech had 268 yards on 52 carries - nearly 100 yards below its season average and only the fourth time this season the Jackets have been limited to fewer than 300 yards. It was quite a contrast to the last time Virginia faced such an offense. In the 2017 Military Bowl, option-based Navy ran for 452 yards and romped to a 49-7 victory.
Saturday's game was a brutal loss for the Cavaliers, who not only surrendered a safety and a special teams touchdown but also botched a punt return when the ball hit a Virginia player in the back while he was trying to get out of the way. The Jackets recovered the fumble, leading to their only offensive touchdown.
"The storyline is special teams' miscues," Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall said.
Here's another one, per Tech's view: A gutsy performance by a team that seemed headed for a dismal season but has now put itself in decent position when bowl invitations go out.
Before that, Tech makes the 70-mile trip to Athens next Saturday to take on No. 5 Georgia (10-1). The Jackets have won in their past two appearances at Sanford Stadium and hope to deliver another stunner against the playoff-contending Bulldogs.