Georgia Tech’s Top 25 Debut Lasted Longer Than 2015

Georgia Tech entered the AP poll at No. 18 on Sept. 14, 2025, after a 24-21 win over then-No. 12 Clemson. The coaches had the Yellow Jackets at No. 19, their first dual top-25 appearance since 2015.

The last time Tech sat in both polls at once, the ranking lasted one week and the season died at 3-9. This one did not vanish. It held, rose, then cracked in November, and the 2026 team has opened 1-3.

A 55-Yard Kick Put Tech in Both Polls

Clemson tied the game at 21-21 with 3:26 left on Adam Randall’s 2-yard run. Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King, back from a lower-body injury that sat him against Gardner-Webb, told coach Brent Key to put the ball in his hands. King then accounted for 36 of the 38 yards on a 10-play drive.

With no timeouts and the clock under 20 seconds, the field-goal unit sprinted on. Aidan Birr hit a school-record-tying 55-yard field goal as time expired, matching kicks by David Bell in 1986, Ron Rice in 1982, and E.O. Whealler in 1973. Students stormed the Bobby Dodd Stadium turf. It was Birr’s sixth walk-off make in program history, and his second in 13 months after a 44-yard kick against Florida State in Dublin on Aug. 24, 2024.

We worked that situation a lot throughout camp and practice. Seeing the offense and the defense play so well, I didn’t want to let them down.

Aidan Birr, Georgia Tech kicker, after the Clemson game

King went 20 of 28 for 211 yards and ran 25 times for 103 yards and the go-ahead sneak. Malik Rutherford threw a two-point pass to Dean Patterson on a reverse, Tech’s version of the Philly Special, for a 21-14 lead. Jamal Haynes had scored from 5 yards in the second quarter. Omar Daniels forced a fumble and intercepted Cade Klubnik at the Tech 7.

AIDAN BIRR CALLS GAME 🤯@GeorgiaTechFB WINS!!!

📺 @espn pic.twitter.com/XBX91a3foO

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) September 13, 2025

The win was Tech’s first over Clemson since 2014, snapping a nine-game slide, and the Jackets’ first 3-0 start since 2016. Key was 7-1 against ranked ACC teams in his first 37 games as head coach. Kirk Herbstreit, the ESPN analyst, wrote that he had seen enough and wanted Georgia Tech.

Sunday’s ballots caught up. Tech had been receiving votes all season, 78 AP points after week 2, then leapt 10 spots in the AP poll and 15 in the coaches poll, from unranked to No. 18 and No. 19, with 511 AP points and no first-place votes.

2015 Ranked Tech for One Week

Paul Johnson’s 2015 Jackets opened at No. 16 in the AP poll and No. 17 with the coaches. They beat Alcorn State 69-6 and Tulane 65-10, peaked at No. 14 after week 2, then lost 30-22 at No. 8 Notre Dame. Both polls still had them at No. 20 the next morning.

Duke beat them 34-20 the following Saturday. The AP dropped them entirely. North Carolina, Clemson, and Pitt followed. A 22-16 win over No. 9 Florida State was the only ACC victory. Georgia Tech finished 3-9 and 1-7 in the league, with six of those losses by seven points or fewer.

That is the ghost the 2025 debut invited. A dual-poll ranking in September had already been a peak, not a floor, the last time Tech lived there. Johnson’s team was falling when it hit No. 20. Key’s team was climbing when it hit No. 18. The question, on Sept. 14, 2025, was which pattern would hold.

Eight Wins Carried the Jackets to No. 7

Temple fell 45-24. Wake Forest went to overtime, 30-29. After a bye the Jackets beat Virginia Tech 35-20 and won 27-18 at Duke, and the AP moved them to No. 7 on Oct. 19 at 7-0, with 1,144 points. Syracuse was next, 41-16, for 8-0. The next ballot had them at No. 8 with 1,172 points, the season’s high in points even as the rank slipped one slot.

They stayed in the AP top 25 for 13 straight ballots, from Sept. 14 through Dec. 7, and climbed as high as No. 7 in both major polls.

2015 AND 2025 IN THE AP POLL

The 2015 ranking was a leftover from a preseason top-16 team that had already lost. The 2025 ranking was a door kicking open. For two months it stayed open.

HOW THE 2025 RANKING MOVED

1. Sept. 13, 2025: Beats No. 12 Clemson 24-21 on Birr’s 55-yard kick.
2. Sept. 14, 2025: Debuts at No. 18 AP, No. 19 coaches, 3-0.
3. Oct. 19, 2025: Hits No. 7 in both polls at 7-0 after Duke.
4. Nov. 1, 2025: Loses 48-36 at NC State and falls to No. 16.
5. Nov. 22, 2025: Loses 42-28 at Pittsburgh, slips to No. 23.
6. Nov. 28, 2025: Loses 16-9 to No. 4 Georgia in Atlanta.
7. Dec. 27, 2025: Loses the Pop-Tarts Bowl 25-21 to No. 12 BYU.
8. Jan. 20, 2026: Final AP ballot has Tech receiving 44 votes; coaches rank them 24th.

NC State ended the unbeaten run. Pitt and Georgia finished a 1-3 close to the regular season. The Jackets still finished the season 9-4 and 6-2 in the ACC, Key’s best year, with 418 points scored and 325 allowed. The coaches kept them in the final top 25. The AP did not.

Clemson Left the Poll With Six Votes

Clemson had opened the season at No. 4, lost at home to LSU, beaten Troy, and arrived in Atlanta at No. 12. The Tigers left with a 1-2 record and six AP votes, ending a 21-week stay in the top 25. It was their first 1-2 start since 2014.

WHAT THE CLEMSON NIGHT CHANGED

• The poll: Georgia Tech jumped from receiving votes to No. 18; Clemson fell out entirely.
• The series: Tech’s all-time edge moved to 51-36-2 and the nine-game losing streak ended.
• The résumé: A win over a then-No. 12 team became a win the playoff committee later weighed as a result against a club that did not stay ranked.
• The Tigers’ year: Clemson finished 7-6 with five regular-season losses, its most since 2010, and lost the Pinstripe Bowl to Penn State.

That third bullet is the part the Sunday celebration missed. The committee counts ranked wins against teams that are still ranked on its own board. Clemson was not, for long, so the kick that put Tech in the poll did less playoff work than the scoreboard suggested. Tech’s CFP number peaked at 16 in November and sat at 22 when the bracket was set. The Jackets went to Orlando, not the 12-team field.

A 10th-Place Heisman Finish for Haynes King

King missed the Gardner-Webb game and still started 12 times. He completed 252 of 361 passes for 2,951 yards, 14 touchdowns, and six interceptions, and he ran for 15 scores. He finished 10th in 2025 Heisman Trophy voting with two first-place votes, one second, and 10 thirds, 18 points in all.

KING’S 2025 LINE

• Passing: 252 of 361, 2,951 yards, 14 touchdowns, six interceptions in 12 games.
• Heisman: 10th place, first Georgia Tech top-10 finish since Calvin Johnson in 2006.
• Company: Seventh Yellow Jacket ever in the Heisman top 10, after Clint Castleberry, Eddie Prokop, Billy Lothridge, Eddie Lee Ivery, Joe Hamilton, and Johnson.
• Clemson night: 314 total yards, a career-high 25 carries, the drive that set up Birr.

He is the reason the 2025 ranking had a different engine than 2015. Johnson’s option teams peaked in 2014 at No. 8 in the final AP poll, then broke down. King, a Texas A&M transfer, kept Tech on offense after the poll arrived, including 408 passing yards in the NC State loss that ended the unbeaten run.

Georgia Tech Is 1-3 After That Nine-Win Year

The 2026 Jackets have lost 13-14 to Colorado at home, 24-45 to Tennessee at home, and 27-34 at Stanford, with a 44-11 win over Mercer in between. They sit 1-3 and 0-1 in the ACC, on a bye dated Oct. 3, 2026, and host Duke on Oct. 10 at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field.

Key’s 2025 club scored 32.2 points a game and posted a 9-4 record that looked, in October, like a program that could live in the top 10. The November losses to NC State, Pitt, and Georgia, then BYU, were the first reminder that the 2015 warning had not been fully retired. The 1-3 start is the second.

A ranking debut is a snapshot. 2015’s snapshot was a team already sliding. 2025’s was a team that then won five more and reached No. 7. Both seasons still ended with the same unsolved problem on the schedule’s hard end. Duke, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Clemson, and Georgia are still in front of this 2026 roster.

The kick that put Tech in both polls was real. The 13 weeks in the AP top 25 were real. So was the drop from No. 7 to receiving votes, and so is 1-3. The 2015 pattern did not repeat on a one-week timer. It waited until the games got heavier.

Frequently Asked Questions

When Did Georgia Tech Last Sit in Both Polls Before 2025?

Week 3 of 2015, at No. 20 in the AP poll and No. 20 in the coaches poll, after a 30-22 loss at Notre Dame. The Jackets had been No. 16 in the preseason AP poll and No. 14 after week 2. Duke knocked them out a week later, and they did not return that season.

How Far Did Georgia Tech Climb After the Clemson Win?

From No. 18 on Sept. 14 to No. 7 in both major polls on Oct. 19, at 7-0 after a 27-18 win at Duke. They were still unbeaten at 8-0 after Syracuse, listed at No. 8 in the AP poll with a season-high 1,172 points, before the Nov. 1 loss at NC State.

Did Haynes King Finish in the Heisman Trophy Voting?

Yes. King placed 10th with 18 points on two first-place votes, one second, and 10 thirds. He is the first Georgia Tech player in the Heisman top 10 since Calvin Johnson also finished 10th in 2006, and only the third in the last 47 years.

Did the Ranking Put Georgia Tech in the Playoff?

No. The College Football Playoff committee ranked the Jackets as high as No. 16 in November. After the losses to NC State, Pittsburgh, and Georgia they sat at No. 22 on the last CFP board and played BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, a 25-21 loss, instead of the 12-team field.

What Is Georgia Tech’s Record Against Clemson?

Georgia Tech leads the series 51-36-2 after the 2025 win, including 45-17-2 at home. The 24-21 result snapped a nine-game losing streak in the rivalry and was Tech’s first win over the Tigers since 2014.