Georgia Tech edges NC State on Aaron Philo’s late TD run

Aaron Philo scrambled for a go-ahead 18-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left, helping Georgia Tech beat North Carolina State 30-29 in Atlantic Coast Conference play on Thursday in Atlanta.Trailing 29-23 with 1:30 remaining, Philo orchestrated a seven-play, 75-yard drive that included two 18-yard rushes, the latter being the game-winner. NC State’s Collin Smith lined up for a potential game-winning 58-yard field-goal attempt with six seconds left but missed wide left.Philo’s heroics came soon after Hollywood Smothers put the Wolfpack ahead 29-23 on a 53-yard touchdown run with 1:30 left.Philo completed 19 of 33 passes for 265 yards and an interception, adding 57 rushing yards as Georgia Tech (7-4, 5-3) won its second straight. Eric Singleton Jr. caught five passes for 106 yards.CJ Bailey completed 17 of 30 passes for 147 yards for NC State (5-6, 2-5) and was picked off three times. Bailey rushed for 83 yards and three scores, while Smothers finished with 79 yards on the ground as the Wolfpack fell for a second straight game.Holding a 13-7 halftime lead, Philo’s 49-yard pass to Singleton set up Aidan Birr’s 45-yard field goal at the 3:55 mark of the third. NC State cut its deficit to 16-14 with Bailey’s 28-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter.Later in the third, Philo’s 38-yard pass to Singleton advanced the Yellow Jackets to NC State’s 12-yard line. Philo was then intercepted in the end zone by Bishop Fitzgerald, who returned it to the Wolfpack’s 18-yard line.Trailing by two with 6:53 left, Bailey gave it right back to the Yellow Jackets, as Romello Height returned the third Georgia Tech takeaway to NC State’s 3-yard line. Haynes King extended the Yellow Jackets’ lead to 23-14 on the next play with a scoring rush at the 6:40 mark.

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