Both Florida State and Georgia Tech entered the ACC Championship Game with plenty of storylines. The undefeated Seminoles continue to drop in the College Football Playoff Rankings despite not losing, and Georgia Tech overcame a great deal of preseason adversity and doubt to reach the conference title game.
It was an exciting game from start to finish, but the ending was very reminiscent of many Florida State games this season: The Seminoles just find a way to win. Despite the best efforts of the Yellow Jackets, Florida State finishes with an unblemished record in the regular season once again, beating Georgia Tech 37-35 in Charlotte to clinch the ACC Championship.
The first half was about as exciting as any game could be, with each team scoring back and forth on alternating possessions throughout the half. After an opening drive three-and-out by the Seminoles, Georgia Tech marched right down the field to score, going 71 yards on eight plays in less than four minutes.
FSU responded with a touchdown pass from Jameis Winston to a wide open Nick O'Leary, but the Ramblin' Wreck came right back and scored again to take the lead back, once again slicing up the Seminoles defense with option runs all the way down the field.
Dalvin Cook of FSU then rushed on seven straight plays and scored a touchdown, but Georgia Tech responded with another touchdown of their own. After scoring their second easy passing touchdown of the half (the defender covering Rashad Greene fell down), Florida State actually made a stop while on defense, slowing down the Flex bone/Triple-option for the first time. Winston capped off the drive right before half with another touchdown pass to Greene, and the Seminoles would head into halftime with a lead.
Georgia Tech scored on their first drive of the second half, once again marching all the way down the field at Bank of America Stadium without a single pass play. That was the last real success that the Yellow Jackets had offensively, as they could not sustain a drive against a rapidly learning and improving Seminoles defense. Florida State took a 31-28 lead at the end of the third quarter on a Roberto Aguayo field goal, and then extended the lead with two more field goals in the fourth quarter.
For as strong and seemingly invincible as the triple-option was in the first half, the Yellow Jackets' offense just could not get it going for most of the second half. They would score late in the game, thanks to some terrible tackling and general defensive play by FSU, but it would not be enough, as the Seminoles held on to beat the Yellow Jackets 37-35 to clinch the ACC title and a second straight perfect regular season.
This was a game focused on running the ball, and the ground game was crucial for both teams. Georgia Tech's Flex bone/Triple-option offense dominated the Seminoles defense in the first half, but they were slowed down a great deal in the second half. Regardless, they still put up a total of 322 yards on 59 carries, split up amongst eight different rushers. For Florida State, Dalvin Cook was the featured back with Karlos Williams out of the lineup, and he stepped up to the challenge, netting 151 yards on the day. Despite the influence of the running game, the big difference was the passing game, a category dominated by Florida State.
Justin Thomas had a big night for the Ramblin' Wreck, passing for 134 yards and rushing for 101 yards. Outside of Thomas, the leading rusher for Georgia Tech was Synjyn Days, who had 67 yards and three touchdowns. Darren Waller led the team in receiving with five catches for 73 yards. The biggest disappointment for the defense of Georgia Tech was their inability to take the ball away from FSU, especially Jameis Winston, who has had issues with turnovers this season.
Speaking of Winston, he had one of his best games of the season on Saturday night. He completed 21-of-30 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers, good for a passer efficiency rating of 189.5. Dalvin Cook's huge 151 yard game came on 31 carries, and he also had a touchdown to his credit. Rashad Greene, unsurprisingly, led the Seminoles in receiving with seven receptions for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
While the loss against conference rival Florida State is somewhat devastating, it was a highly successful season for Paul Johnson and his Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Picked by most people to finish in the bottom of the ACC, they had a phenomenal season and gave one of the best teams in the nation a run for their money on the national stage. They will still get a very good bowl game, and deservedly so. Considering the performance they had without even having their best receiver, this is a sad yet still honorable loss for the Yellow Jackets.
Florida State just wins. It's as simple as that. It isn't always flashy but they get it done. People doubt the weapons on offense but they show up when they need to. People doubt the defense but they play well enough to win. People doubt Jameis Winston, and then he comes out with arguably his best game of the season on the biggest stage.
It is a fairly safe assumption that defeating the #11 team in the nation, in the conference title game, to seal a perfect season, is enough to guarantee the Seminoles a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff. Their placement in the final rankings will be announced on Sunday, but whichever team FSU ends up facing, it would be foolish for spectators to doubt their ability to win, as they have proven time and again that they do what they need to do to get the job done.