Georgia Tech came into Chapel Hill looking for win number five and it took every second of the game clock to pick up that fifth win as the Jackets prevailed 41-34 thanks to a 68-yard touchdown run by Jamal Haynes with 28 seconds left in the game after the Jackets gave up a 10-point fourth quarter lead.

Haynes thought the moment might come as the Jackets were trying to play for at least a field goal and catch UNC by surprise with just seconds left in the game and two timeouts.

“The coaches kept telling me on the sideline, bust one, bust one,” Haynes said. “They told me to calm down and one is going to come and I got the ball and I was really thinking an explosive play and my left guard and left tackle pulled and one kicked and one wrapped and I saw daylight and just hit it.”

Head coach Brent Key picked up another ACC road win with the victory over the Heels despite battling numerous injuries on the offensive side of the ball.

“I’m proud of the team for playing for 60 minutes. We pride ourselves on playing for 60 minutes. We got the ball back with less than a minute there at the end after they kicked the field goal and we were trying to push it out there with two timeouts with them playing off coverage to get a favorable position and get into field goal range, he popped through there and made a cut and another cut and oh boy he was gone,” Key said. “He ended up scoring, good job and a good win. We will enjoy it but there are a lot of things we need to clean up in the game.”

The plan had been to be aggressive but conservative with overtime in the back pocket with the game tied at 34.

“When you are in that position you already have overtime and you didn’t want to give the ball back to them, so you wanted to push it out and see if you could get field position because we had two timeouts, we had the ability to run the ball and then run it again and hit a timeout and possibly get closer for a higher percentage throw to get in field goal range, but so much for the plan,” Key said of the final offensive drive.

A battered Tech team on offense played most of the fourth quarter without starting quarterback Haynes King who left with an undisclosed injury to his upper body. King was 11-22 passing for 127 yards with 107 yards rushing on 11 carries and two touchdowns prior to the injury.

King and Haynes both reaching the 100-yard mark in the same game was the first time two Tech players did that since 2020 when running back Jordan Mason and quarterback Jeff Sims each ran for over 100 yards in a win over Duke. In that game, Jahmyr Gibbs had 91 yards rushing as well coming up just short of three 100-yard rushers.

Backup Zach Pyon who has been the Jackets’ touchdown vulture came off the bench and was 1-1 passing for seven yards and ran it five times for six yards.

“When Zach came in there he did some good things to help us win the game in the fourth quarter. It was a field position game,” Key said.

Pyron also downed a punt early in the game working on the punt team and Key said that his versatility as a player is something he greatly admires.

“I’ve said since the beginning I’m proud of Zach and how he has improved as a quarterback and a football player. He loves playing football and he loves the game and you want the best people on the field and we are starting to work him in on special teams as well as he will have a role there as we continue the season.”

King’s status moving forward to Notre Dame next week in Mercedes-Benz Stadium is uncertain as he left the game with an apparent shoulder injury. King was on the sideline after spending time in the medical tent, but did not have his helmet for Tech’s final three drives.

“We will know something soon, he is in there enjoying the victory,” Key said of King’s status after the game.

Running back Jamal Haynes ran for a career-high 170 yards and two touchdowns and added a nine-yard catch to his banner day. It was the second game in a row Haynes eclipsed the 100-yard mark rushing this season.

Georgia Tech ran for 214 yards on 27 carries in the first half to take a 20-14 lead into the locker room including a 31-second 63-yard drive to end the half yielding a field goal. Tech ended the night with 371 yards rushing on 48 carries for a 7.7 yards per carry average.

Chad Alexander Jr. a few days after being put on scholarship ran for 61 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

In the passing game, Malik Rutherford had three catches for 35 yards and Luke Harpring had a pair of catches for 36 yards as he was pressed into action with injuries to veteran tight ends Jackson Hawes and Josh Beetham sidelining them before the game and Ryland Goede leaving the game with a knee injury. Avery Boyd added two catches and Eric Singleton Jr had three catches for 19 yards and eight yards rushing along with a 21-yard kickoff return. Rutherford added 19 yards rushing on two plays.

Not lost for anyone was Tech going against former head coach Geoff Collins who is now the defensive coordinator at UNC. Collins' defense gave up 505 yards on 71 plays in the game for almost 7.1 yards per play and 41 points. Key said that Collins' defense played very differently than they expected and that caused offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner to switch to a run-heavy scheme.

"We talk every week about taking what the defense gives us and we came into the game not necessarily with this plan. It is about adjustments and in the first quarter it was about seeing what they were doing and we took some shots downfield and they were playing off and trying to keep everything in front of them. When teams are playing quarters coverage and trying to play the best of both worlds, in the past these guys have been coming downhill and if the ball is even a token look at the running back those safeties are like a gun coming down, today our running back had the ball in his hand one or two steps and they were making sure that kind of told us the plan and we had to take what they would give us and that is where the run game came from," Key said of the offense.

Defensively the Jackets wanted to slow down All-ACC running back Omarion Hampton and Hampton had 137 yards rushing on 18 carries, but he only had 66 yards on 17 of his carries, he had a 71-yard run sprinkled in that boosted his numbers.

"We knew we had to stop him and I came into this game expecting him to carry the ball 30 times," veteran linebacker Kyle Efford said of Hampton. "We knew we had to make them one dimensional and we did a good job of that for a lot of the game."

UNC quarterback Jacolby Criswell threw for 209 yards and a touchdown while adding 73 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns. Criswell bailed out the Heels on several key third downs with his legs.

J.J. Jones and Kobe Paysour each had three catches for a combined 115 yards and one touchdown. Former Yellow Jacket Nate McCollum was held to one catch for 13 yards going against his former team and he had a key third down drop that led to a field goal attempt.

Defensively for the Jackets Kyle Efford led the team with 10 tackles including six solo tackles. Trenilyas Tatum finished second with six tackles and half a sack that he split with Makius Scott. Tatum also had a forced fumble that Ahmari Harvey recovered in the game. One of two takeaways for the Jackets.

Defensive end Sylvain Yondjouen had a sack, two QB hurries and two batted passes from the defensive end spot.

Nickel Syeed Gibbs added the other sack, a strip sack of Criswell that Jordan van den Berg recovered.

Tech scored 34 of their 41 points in the red zone going 6-6 while UNC scored only 24 points on their four red zone attempts. Tech held UNC to 4-14 on third down and 2-3 on fourth down while Tech was 4-11 on third down and did not have a fourth down attempt.

The biggest momentum swing in the third quarter came via a punt return for a touchdown on a play where David Shanahan nearly had his punt blocked and hit a line drive to Alijah Huzzie who took it 69 yards to the house. Tech managed to answer with another touchdown, but that momentum killer sparked UNC’s fourth quarter comeback.

Aidan Birr was 2-3 on field goals hitting from 26 and 29 but hooking a 49 yard attempt.

“We gave up a punt return for a touchdown and had a missed field goal and had numerous return yardage in there and we need to clean up our return teams and check our personnel schematically to make sure we are doing the right things and playing with the right sense of urgency.

North Carolina won the opening toss and deferred to the second half. Eric Singleton took the opening kickoff 21 yards to the GT23. Avery Boyd caught an 11-yard pass on first down to the GT34. Jamal Haynes took his first carry nine yards to the GT43. Singleton took a jet sweep across midfield eight yards to the UNC49. Haynes ran for four yards on first down but King overthrew Singleton on second down on a deep shot and overthrew Abdul Janneh on third down to force a Tech punt. David Shanahan’s punt was downed at the UNC3 by Kyle Efford.

Omarion Hampton ran for two yards on first down. Jacolby Criswell scrambled for a first down on the next play to the UNC14. Hampton was stuffed on first down and Criswell ran into his own man, but spun out for a short gain on second down. Kobe Paysour caught a 24-yard pass to the UNC40. After getting no yardage on the first two downs, Syeed Gibbs strip sacked Criswell on third and long and Jordan van den Berg recovered at the UNC38.

King hit Ryland Goede for 16 yards on first down to the UNC22. Haynes ran for four yards on first down to the UNC16. King scrambled for 14 yards to the UNC4. Zach Pyron ran for one yard on the next play to the UNC3. Chad Alexander picked up one yard on the next play to the UNC2. Alexander scored his first career touchdown on the next play and Aidan Birr hit the PAT to put Tech up 7-0 in the first quarter with 6:12 left in the first quarter.

UNC started at the 25 after a Birr touchback. Sylvain Yondjouen drilled Criswell on first down forcing a throwaway. Hampton caught a short pass for three yards on second down. Romello Height drilled Criswell on third down forcing another errant pass and a punt. Tom Maginness punted the ball 39 yards out of bounds at the GT33.

Haynes ran for three yards on first down. Singleton caught a screen for no yards and then a false start backed the Jackets up. Singleton couldn’t haul in a third down deep shot that Marcus Allen broke up. Shanahan’s 63-yard punt was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty. Shanahan’s second punt went 52 yards to the UNC22.

Criswell threw a 53-yard pass to J.J. Jones on first down to the GT33. A pass interference on Syeed Gibbs set up first and goal at the GT10. Hampton picked up nine yards on the next play to the play setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by Criswell to tie the game at 7.

After a touchback on the kickoff, Alexander lost one yard on first down. King overthrew Boyd on second down and then King threw it awkwardly on the next play to force a punt. Shanahan’s punt was fielded by Alijah Huzzie to the UNC39.

Hampton ran for nine yards on first down to the UNC48, Bryson Nesbitt caught an 11-yard pass to the GT45 and Criswell ran for 15 yards on the next play to the GT26. Hampton was stuffed on second down and on third down, LaMiles Brooks on a safety blitz forced an errant throw into the end zone. Rodney Shelley blocked the 42-yard field goal.

Tech started the next drive at the GT25. After a short run by Haynes, Malik Rutherford took a jet sweep 10 yards to the GT37. Haynes ran for seven yards on the next play to the GT44. Haynes picked up four more to convert to the GT48. Alexander ran for four yards across midfield and King threw away his second down pass to set up third and six. Alexander ran for 28 yards to the UNC20. Luke Harpring caught a nine-yard pass to the UNC11. Haynes picked up three yards to set up first and goal at the UNC8. King picked up seven yards on a run. Pyron lost three yards on the next play. Jordan Williams had a false start to move them back to the UNC9. Chase Lane couldn’t haul in the third down pass and Birr connected on a 26-yard field goal to make it 10-7 Georgia Tech

Nate McCollum returned Birr’s rolling kickoff 22 yards to the UNC27. Hampton broke off a 43-yard run, but an offensive facemask wiped out his run to make it 1st and 15 at the UNC22. Zeek Biggers batted down Criswell's pass on first down and Yondjouen sacked Criswell on second down. John Copenhaver caught a two-yard pass to force a punt. Maginness’s punt rolled out of bounds at the GT38.

Haynes ran for four yards on first down to the GT42. Haynes caught a pass for nine yards to cross midfield to the UNC49. King on the QB keeper picked up five yards to the UNC44. Rutherford caught a 10-yard pass to the UNC34. Alexander ran for five yards to the UNC29. Rutherford on a jet sweep picked up 9 yards to the UNC20 to bring up the two-minute timeout.

After a touchback on the kickoff, UNC started at their own 25. Hampton took the first touch 71 yards to the GT4 before Syeed Gibbs tackled him. Hampton was stopped at the one by Joshua Robinson. UNC had 12 men in the huddle on the next play to move them back to the GT6. Caleb Hood took a direct snap to the GT4 where Biggers stuffed him to set up third and goal. Jones hauled in a four-yard touchdown to make it 17-14 Georgia Tech with 34 seconds left in the half.

Following a touchback, Tech had the ball with 34 seconds left and two timeouts. Haynes reversed the field and ran for 37 yards to the UNC38 before he was chased out of bounds. King on second down ran for 12 yards to the UNC26 and Key burned his second timeout. King ran for 14 yards to the UNC12 to set up a short Birr field goal from 29 yards out to make it 20-14 with three seconds left.

Birr’s squib kick was fielded by Ryan Ward who fell forward for three yards to end the half.

After a touchback, Hampton ran for four yards on first down and Criswell threw a screen to Bryson Nesbit for two yards to set up third and four. Kyle Efford picked up a late-hit on Nesbit on an incomplete pass to give UNC a first down at their own 46. Paysour caught a pass to the GT36. Efford and Makius Scott sacked Jordan Shipp on a trick play for a 13-yard loss to the GT49 on third down. Darwin Barlow caught a screen for 17 yards, but Warren Burrell broke up the fourth down pass to force a turnover on downs at the GT33.

Haynes ran for eight yards on first down to the GT41 and picked up three more for a first down at the GT44 on the next play. Alexander picked up 14 yards on the next play to the UNC42 and then Boyd caught a pass for eight yards to the UNC34 on the next first down. King converted on second down to the UNC29. King threw a play-action pass to Singleton for 14 yards on the next play to the UNC15. King picked up seven yards on the next play to the UNC7. King scored on a QB keeper on the next play from seven yards out to make it 27-14 Georgia Tech with 6:46 left in the third quarter.

Nate McCollum took the kickoff 39 yards to the UNC39 where E.J. Lightsey tackled him. Hampton ran for 7 yards on first down and Nesbit caught a nine-yard pass to the GT45. Criswell couldn’t connect on a deep shot on first down and Tech bottled up Hampton on second down to set up third and 10 at the GT45. Copenhaver converted the third down against a Tech blitz. Hood ran for two yards on first down, Criswell threw a shovel pass to Hampton for minus two and Criswell threw an errant pass under pressure to force a field goal attempt. Noah Burnette hit the 50-yard field goal to make it 27-17.

After a touchback, Alexander had no gain on first down. Singleton caught a short pass for five yards to the GT30. King overthrew Alexander on third down to force a punt. Shanahan’s punt was nearly blocked and the line drive was returned 69 yards by Huzzie for a touchdown to make it 27-24 Tech with 1:10 left in the third quarter.

After the touchback, Tech took over at their own 25 again. Haynes lost four yards on first down, but Rutherford caught an 18-yard pass to the UNC39. That play ended the third quarter. King overthrew Rutherford under pressure on first down, but Haynes ran for eight yards and then King converted on third and short to the UNC49. Alexander picked up four yards on first down to the UNC45. Harpring caught a 27-yard pass on a what looked like a busted run play. King ran for 11 yards to set up first and goal at the 6. Haynes ran for two yards on the next play and then punched it in on second and goal from the from the four to make it 34-24 (Birr PAT) with 11:18 left in the game.

Nate McCollum caught a pass after the touchback and Trenilyas Tatum forced a fumble and Ahmari Harvey recovered it at the UNC38.

Pyron took over for the next series for an injured King and ran for three yards on first down and Alexander ran for two yards on the next play. Tech had to burn a timeout after some miscommunication on personnel with 9:44 left in the game. Pyron was stopped on third down and Birr missed from 49 yards from the right hash to turn the ball back over to UNC.

From the UNC32, Criswell ran for four yards on first down and Hampton was stuffed on second down by Biggers to bring up third and six. McCollum dropped a pass on third down to set up fourth and six from their 36. UNC lined up to go for it with 7:45 left and had to burn a timeout. Criswell scrambled for nine yards to the UNC45. Paysour picked up ten yards to the GT45. Hampton ran for a first down to the GT35 on the next play. Hampton was tackled on a short pass for three yards to the GT32. Criswell scrambled for nine yards and another first down to the GT23. Shipp caught a pass to the GT1. Hampton was stuffed on first down, Criswell was stopped on second down and Hampton was stuffed again on third down. Criswell scored on a QB sneak under center on fourth down to make it 34-31 Georgia Tech with 3:27 left.

The kickoff was fair caught by Singleton. UNC had a delay of game on first down to make it first and give. Haynes ran for one yard on first down. Haynes ran for two yards to make third and one at the GT34 at the two-minute timeout. Tech got a substitution infraction out of the time out to make it 3rd and 6. Pyron ran for four yards and Key brought out the punt team. Shanahan mishandled the and it went only 32 yards to the UNC35.

Criswell scrambled for 20 yards on first down and then ran for 11 yards on the next play to the GT34. Hampton caught an eight yard pass to the GT26. Hampton picked up the first down on third and two and then Yondjouen was called for a late-hit on Hampton to set up first and goal at the GT9. Criswell had his pass tipped at the LOS and a fumble was overruled to an incomplete pass to make it third and goal at the nine with 52 seconds left. After Copenhaver couldn’t haul in the end zone shot, UNC settled for a short field goal to tie the game.

Pyron threw a quick pass to Rutherford and then Jamal Haynes took a handoff 68 yards for a touchdown with 16 seconds left in the game to put Tech up 41-34 (Birr PAT).

Birr’s squib kick was returned 24 yards by McCollum to the UNC40. Conner Harrell came in the game at QB for UNC and threw his first pass to Jones for 7 yards. The deep pass was batted down to end the game.