Georgia Tech was in field-goal range and seemed on the verge of attempting a game-winning field goal against Virginia Tech on Thursday when a penalty ended the attempt to rally.
Trailing the Hokies 23-21, the Yellow Jackets drove to the 39-yard line on a 5-yard run by Marcus Allen with a few minutes remaining. Coach Paul Johnson said Allen was a step away from breaking a big run when he was tackled.
On the next play, quarterback Justin Thomas was stopped for no gain. After the play, offensive lineman Errin Joe was flagged for an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty after he pushed a Virginia Tech player.
“What’d he do?” coach Paul Johnson asked after the game.
When told, Johnson said, “good time to call that.”
Johnson declined to say anything else about the officiating, other than to say he assumed that Virginia Tech was also going to be penalized on the play because that situation usually results in penalties called against both teams.
“You have to hold your composure, I guess,” he said.
The penalty pushed Georgia Tech back 15 yards to its 46-yard line where it faced third-and-20. Thomas was sacked for a 7-yard loss on the next play and threw incomplete on fourth down.
The penalty against Joe brought to mind the personal foul called against Tech linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu after he punched Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas in the 2011 game. That penalty helped Virginia Tech escape a third-and-long situation. Trailing when the penalty was called, the Hokies eventually won 37-26.
That lack of discipline Thursday wasn’t the only reason that the Yellow Jackets lost to the Hokies.
“Penalties, third and short, and then when we are close to field-goal range, dropped balls; we aren’t good enough to overcome that stuff,” Johnson said.
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