ATLANTA — Scott Blair had never thrown a touchdown pass.
Scratch that one off the list.
He’d never kicked a game-winner for Georgia Tech. Took care of that one too.
Blair threw a touchdown pass off a fake field goal, then booted a 36-yard kick with 57 seconds remaining as the 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets rallied to beat Clemson 30-27 after squandering a 24-point lead Thursday night.
“I was just trying to treat it like a normal kick, not psych myself out,” Blair said. “I wasn’t paying attention to the score at all. I didn’t want to think at the time that it was a game-winner. It was just another kick.”
Hardly. Georgia Tech (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) pulled itself back from the brink of a potentially devastating loss that looked like an easy victory early on. The Yellow Jackets raced to a 24-0 lead 4 1/2 minutes into the second quarter.
But Clemson (1-1, 0-1) scored 27 consecutive points, taking its first lead on Richard Jackson’s 53-yard field goal with 11:33 to go.
Georgia Tech, which did nothing offensively through most of the second and third quarters, finally regrouped for a 69-yard drive that set up Blair’s tying kick, a 34-yarder with 5:40 left. Then, after a holding penalty on Clemson’s Thomas Austin wiped out Kyle Parker’s 38-yard completion to Jacoby Ford, the Yellow Jackets got a chance to win it.
Josh Nesbitt hooked up with Demaryius Thomas for a 39-yard pass, making up for a miserable passing performance in which the Georgia Tech quarterback completed 3-of-14 for 83 yards with two interceptions. After Thomas’ catch, the Yellow Jackets moved into position for Blair’s winning kick.
“We’ll learn from this,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “This loss won’t beat us twice.”
Former Spartan found insane in murder case
WHEATON, Ill. — A former Michigan State player charged with murder for throwing a neighbor from a third-floor apartment balcony has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
An Illinois judge ruled Hubert D. Thompson was insane when he hurled 66-year-old James Malone to his death March 30, 2007. Thompson, 31, will be confined to a high-security state mental institution and receive treatment.
A psychologist testified Thompson was delusional and paranoid. Thompson had said he believed Malone was trying to kill him.
Thompson, once the nation’s top-rated defensive end prospect, was ejected from the 2000 Citrus Bowl for fighting with a Florida offensive lineman. He also spent two days at a New Orleans Saints minicamp, but was cut for starting a fight over use of an exercise bike.
Emerald Bowl, Pac-10 re-up
SAN FRANCISCO — The Emerald Bowl renewed its agreement with the Pac-10 Conference but will no longer have an ACC team in the game starting next season.
The bowl signed a four-year deal with the Pac-10 and will have the sixth pick in the conference. The other team in the game will come from either the Western Athletic Conference, Army or Navy.
