Maryland Gives Georgia Tech the Boot

Nick Novak kicked a 26-yard field goal in overtime and No. 22 Maryland remained unbeaten when Joe Burns fumbled for No. 15 Georgia Tech, giving the Terrapins a 20-17 victory in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Thursday night at Atlanta.

The victory assured Maryland (6-0, 4-0 in the ACC) only its third winning season since 1965.

Georgia Tech (4-2, 1-2) was probably knocked out of the ACC race after becoming the first ranked team to lose to the Terrapins since 1990.

Novak, a freshman, forced overtime with a career-long 46-yard field goal on the final play of regulation. He had earlier missed a 32-yarder and was only four for 11 before making the tying kick.

Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen, who was Georgia Tech’s offensive coordinator for nine years, called his kicker to the sideline after Georgia Tech called a timeout attempting to mess up his routine.

“I told him that he kicked one just like that yesterday at the end of our workout,” Friedgen said. “I told him to hit it like he did yesterday and we would be just fine.”

Georgia Tech, playing its second overtime game in 12 days, won the coin toss and elected to put Maryland on offense first. The Terrapins picked up a first down before settling for Novak’s short field goal.

The ball went to the Yellow Jackets at their 25. On second and seven, Burns took a handoff on a run up the middle but appeared to hit one of his linemen as he tried to cut. The ball popped loose, safety Randall Jones fell on it for the Terrapins and the game ended.

“I was coming up to make the tackle, and I saw the ball pop off him,” Jones said. “I just dove on it.”

Burns’ fumble was his second and the sixth turnover for the Yellow Jackets, who abandoned the running game in the second half to overcome a 14-0 deficit. Luke Manget kicked a 39-yard field goal with 6:33 remaining to put Georgia Tech ahead for the first time, 17-14.

“You can’t turn the ball over six times,” Georgia Tech Coach George O’Leary said. “I’m disappointed in the offense.”

The relationship between Friedgen and O’Leary goes beyond their time together at Georgia Tech. O’Leary is the godfather of Friedgen’s youngest daughter and the two have neighboring homes on Lake Oconee in east Georgia.

Georgia Tech, favored to win the ACC after Florida State lost to North Carolina, has lost twice in overtime. Clemson defeated the Yellow Jackets, 47-44, on Sept. 29.

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Washington State’s David Minnich, the Pacific 10 Conference’s leading rusher, tore cartilage in his right knee and will be out of action for up to a month. The Cougars (5-0), who play at No. 23 Stanford (3-0) on Saturday, are expected to start freshman Allen Thompson in Minnich’s spot. Minnich, a 27-year-old ex-Marine who has 598 yards, had arthroscopic surgery on Wednesday to repair the knee, injured in last Saturday’s game against Oregon State. ... Miami linebacker D.J. Williams, who sat out last week’s game against Troy State because of a high left ankle sprain, is likely to play against Florida State.