Georgia Tech scores in final minute, Duke misses late FG in Jackets win

Georgia Tech football answered their coach’s challenge with a victory Saturday against Duke.

And Alberto Mendoza had his first signature moment as the Yellow Jackets quarterback.

After a dreadful 1-3 start to the season, coach Brent Key talked about accountability, standards and said his team needed to “shut up and get better.”

The Yellow Jackets responded with a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute on a short run by Trelain Maddox, winning 28-25 after Duke missed a short field goal in the final seconds.

“That’s what I’ve been waiting to see,” Key said after the game. “That’s Georgia Tech football. We’ve got a lot of work to do in a lot of ways, but I thought we played closer to the standard that I have and these guys have for themselves.”

The comeback erased what looked to be another deflating finish.

Duke scored 15 straight points in the second half and took the lead with 2:40 to play on a run by Nate Sheppard.

In response, Mendoza completed passes to Dalen Penson for 13 yards and Jordan Allen for 20 and 14 to set up the final score by Maddox with 54 seconds to play.

The winning drive, for Mendoza, was a step forward after a late-game interception helped doom the Jackets two weeks ago in a loss at Stanford.

“I’ve learned from my past,” Mendoza said. “I’ve had a couple ones we could have maybe had a chance to win the game, maybe not, who knows. We’ll never know. I kind of put the ball in jeopardy, and I told myself I was going to be efficient and it’s going to come to me.”

The Blue Devils (4-1, 1-1) answered Tech’s score by quickly driving down the field. But kicker Gavin Strange’s 33-yard attempt missed wide left.

“That was the first time this year we’ve played as a football team,” Key said. “Thought we played as a complete team, played together. Offense, defense and special teams, the whole game they were going back and forth on the sideline encouraging each other.”

Tech (2-3, 1-1) was in control for much of the contest before the late-game dramatics.

Tech scored on the opening drive of the game with a 5-yard pass by Mendoza to Allen and led at halftime 14-10. It took an 11-point lead early in the third quarter with a 60-yard run by Maddox, the Jackets’ longest offensive play of the season.

Tech’s defense initially kept Duke’s nation-leading rusher, Sheppard, in check. After averaging just 3.6 yards per carry in the first half, Sheppard came to life, especially as a receiver. He finished with 99 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns and 91 yards receiving.