ATLANTA — Haynes King scrambled to his right, looking desperately for someone — anyone — who might be open for Georgia Tech. Just when it looked as if he was all out of time, Brett Seither suddenly appeared in the back corner of the end zone.
King hurled the ball toward his big tight end.
Seither made the leaping catch while somehow grazing the turf with the tip of his left cleat before tumbling out of bounds.
King’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Seither with 4:28 remaining gave Georgia Tech a 46-42 victory over No. 17 North Carolina on Saturday night, handing the Tar Heels another shocking loss.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys right now,” Yellow Jackets coach Brent Key said.
Overcoming an early two-touchdown blitz by North Carolina (6-2, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) and a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Jackets shredded the Tar Heels for 635 yards in a shootout that was finally decided by a big hit on defense.
King was 23-of-30 passing for 287 yards and four touchdowns — two of them to Seither, the other two hauled in by Malik Rutherford. Dontae Smith rushed for 178 yards and another score for Tech (4-4, 3-2).
“We played awful defense in the fourth quarter,” North Carolina coach Mack Brown said. “It was awful.”
Coming off an inexplicable 31-27 loss at home to a one-win Virginia team, North Carolina jumped ahead 14-0 and appeared to be in good shape when Drake Maye hooked up with Doc Chapman on a 35-yard touchdown with 11:13 remaining to make it 42-32.
But just two plays later, Smith broke loose right down the middle of the field for a 70-yard touchdown that suddenly made it a game again.
North Carolina responded by driving into position for a field-goal attempt. Noah Burnette had not missed all season, coming into the night 11-of-11, but he yanked a 39-yarder wide left.
King seized the opportunity, breaking off another huge run on the very next play. He went 52 yards before the Heels finally hauled him down, putting Tech into field-goal range just like that.
“I thought we were in great shape,” Brown said. “They adjusted and ran the ball and we couldn’t stop them. Just very, very disappointing.”
Smith ripped off runs of 10 and 14 yards, only to be thrown for a 4-yard loss on second-and-goal at the 1. On third down, King rolled to his right, desperately scanning the end zone, before he spotted Seither in the back right corner.
AP photo by John Bazemore / Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King drops back to pass during the first half of Saturday’s game against North Carolina in Atlanta.North Carolina’s final gasp ended with Maye’s 36-yard pass to Devontez Walker, who was looking to his right when Ahmari Harvey delivered a crunching blindside hit from the left to knock the ball loose. K.J. Wallace fell on the fumble for Tech, which ran out the clock and sent a small but vocal crowd storming the field on homecoming at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Walker, who has made a big impact after a long eligibility fight with the NCAA, remained on the turf for several minutes after his fumble. Worried teammates kneeled around him while he was treated by the training staff. The receiver was finally able to get up, but he was very wobbly and had to be assisted off the field.
Maye threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns, and he also scored on a 14-yard run. Omarion Hampton had a big game on the ground, rushing for 153 yards and two touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough against an opponent that broke off one big play after another.
And now a dream season for the Heels has suddenly gone up in smoke. This defeat falls on the defense, which simply couldn’t find a way to stop the relentless Jackets. North Carolina gave up 8.1 yards per play and a staggering 348 yards on the ground.
“We’ve got to go home, grow up, handle it, take responsibility for it and move on,” said Brown, whose team gets that chance next Saturday when Campbell (4-4) of the Football Championship Subdivision visits Chapel Hill.
Key improved to 4-0 against ranked ACC opponents, and this was a big one. With two straight road games coming up, the Jackets got a much-needed victory to bolster their chances of becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2018.
This triumph came the same night the school former coach Paul Johnson, who is being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Johnson was an honorary captain for the pregame coin toss and received a standing ovation when he was introduced on the field during a break in the first quarter. His name also was added to the facade of the upper deck at Bobby Dodd Stadium where all of the school’s Hall of Famers are recognized.
Johnson coached at Georgia Tech from 2008-18, guiding the Yellow Jackets to an 82-61 record and nine bowl appearances.
The Jackets are on the road next Saturday at Virginia (2-6, 1-3), which fell just short this week in its bid to follow up the stunner of North Carolina and lost 29-26 in overtime to Miami — the same team Tech shocked with a last-second victory on Oct. 7.
Key’s team has yet to win consecutive games this season, but it has also failed to lose consecutive games, with the unpredictable results including a 38-37 home loss to Bowling Green of the Mid-American Conference.