Nate Frazier’s two-point conversion in the eighth overtime gave No. 7 Georgia a 44-42 win over rival Georgia Tech in the second-longest game in FBS history in Athens, Ga., on Friday.
After forcing Haynes King’s incomplete pass to begin the eighth free period, Frazier staved off the massive upset for Georgia (10-2), which will play for the SEC Championship next week.
Carson Beck threw for 297 yards and five touchdowns in the win, while King threw for 303 yards and two scores, adding 110 yards on the ground and three rushing touchdowns for the Yellow Jackets (7-5), who led 17-0 at halftime and 27-13 with under four minutes left.
In the first overtime, Beck found London Humphreys for a 14-yard touchdown, before King’s game-tying 12-yard touchdown pass to Eric Singleton Jr. King’s 1-yard rush was answered with Beck’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Cash Jones in the second overtime. Both teams’ two-point conversions were unsuccessful.
Pass attempts by King and Beck were incomplete in the third overtime, followed by two more unsuccessful tries in the fourth. In the fifth, Beck’s conversion to Dillon Bell was matched with King’s pass to Malik Rutherford. King was sacked in the sixth, while Beck’s pass fell incomplete.
Trailing 17-0, Georgia scored on Beck’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Oscar Delp with 9:53 left in the third. Georgia’s two-point conversion attempt was stuffed. Georgia Tech responded with an 18-play, 90-yard drive that lasted 10:36, resulting in Aidan Birr’s 23-yard field goal with 14:17 left in the fourth quarter.
On Georgia’s ensuing drive, Omar Daniels was called for defensive pass interference on the fourth-and-goal, leading to Frazier’s 1-yard touchdown score with 8:18 remaining, trimming Georgia’s deficit to seven.
Georgia Tech answered with a scoring drive, which ended with King’s 11-yard rushing score with 5:37 remaining. Beck then capped Georgia’s drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Dominic Lovett. Three plays into Georgia Tech’s ensuing drive, Dan Jackson forced King’s fumble, which was recovered by Chaz Chambliss.
Beck then ran for 10 yards on third-and-9 from Georgia Tech’s 13-yard line, before finding Lovett for a game-tying 3-yard pass with 1:01 left, sending the game to overtime.
Georgia Tech began the scoring on its opening drive with Birr’s 31-yard field goal. Two drives later, Birr missed a 25-yard field goal attempt at the 10:13 mark of the second quarter. Georgia Tech pieced together an eight-play, 66-yard scoring drive, capped with King’s 2-yard rushing touchdown with 4:40 left in the first half.
King capped the first-half scoring with a 3-yard pass to Jamal Haynes with 30 seconds left, giving the Yellow Jackets a 17-0 lead.
