For a school that churns out astronauts and engineers with numbing efficiency, spontaneous moments of joy are easily traced to meticulous preparation.<br /><br />And that's why the bruising hugs, violent fist pumps and relentless excitement that Georgia Tech unleashed on Aviva Stadium after upsetting No. 10 Florida State 24-21 on Saturday night in Ireland represented both a celebration and a culmination.<br /><br />In beating a Top 10 team for the first time since 2015, Georgia Tech rang in the 2024 season with a rollicking upset -- capped by a 44-yard walk-off field goal from Aidan Birr. It also provided the empirical tipping point of Tech's burgeoning ambitions.<br /><br />For Yellow Jackets coach Brent Key, a proud alum and defiant believer in Tech's bruising identity, all those giddy moments of spontaneity were byproducts of an exacting plan, for both a game and a program, concisely executed.<br /><br />"More than anything, to see or to know that so many people now see Georgia Tech and the brand of football that we play, and it's not a gimmicky brand of football," Key told ESPN in a quiet moment after the game. "It's real. It's hard-nosed. We're going to build at the line of scrimmage. That's where games are won."<br />#football #footballnews #georgiatech #final #floridastate
