One Happy Return for Georgia Tech : ACC: Tisdel’s 87-yard kickoff return blunts Clemson comeback in 21-19 victory.

Kevin Tisdel, a sophomore walk-on for Georgia Tech, slowed Clemson’s momentum just when the Tigers appeared ready to strike.

Tisdel’s 87-yard, fourth-quarter kickoff return set up a five-yard touchdown run by T.J. Edwards and No. 18 Georgia Tech hung on for a 21-19 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over 15th-ranked Clemson, the Yellow Jackets’ ninth consecutive victory.

Georgia Tech, 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the ACC, also ran its home winning streak to 10 games.

“We were hurt on the long kickoff return,” Clemson Coach Ken Hatfield said. “We had the momentum on our side, and that one took a lot of wind out of our sails.”

The Tigers (5-2, 2-2) got within 14-12 12 seconds into the fourth quarter on Chris Gardocki’s 44-yard field goal, his fourth of the game.

But Tisdel, a 5-foot-11, 173-pound sophomore from Columbus, Ga., returned the kickoff 87 yards to Clemson’s 13. Three plays later, Edwards scored to make it 21-12 with 13:53 left.

“He’s a walk-on in our program,” Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Ross said of the youngster who played on the junior varsity squad last year and ran the ball only once last week for a yard gain.

In addition to his long return, he had 53 yards on two other kickoffs.

Clemson came back and got a three-yard scoring run from quarterback DeChane Cameron with 3:27 left to play, getting Clemson within 21-19, the first touchdown scored against Georgia Tech’s defense this season.

Clemson then had a chance to win it as Georgia Tech’s Scott Aldridge shanked an 11-yard punt, but Gardocki’s 60-yard field goal attempt with one minute remaining fell far short.

Georgia Tech managed only 218 yards in offense, 55 in the second half when the Yellow Jackets had the ball for only 6 minutes 17 seconds.

Clemson, meanwhile, gained only 98 yards in the opening half, all on the ground, but finished with 343 yards, 290 rushing. Ronald Williams, a Clemson freshman, had 108 yards in 17 carries and has 554 yards on the season.