ATLANTA – Florida State knew coming into this game that they couldn't afford to fall behind.
And they did.
Through the first three quarters, Florida State's run defense was gashed for a total of 286 rushing yards and fell behind 31-20.
"We simply could not stop the wishbone," Bowden said. "We could not stop it. They just get too far ahead."
Give the Seminoles credit though. Florida State rallied in the fourth quarter narrowing the gap to a 31-28 margin and had the ball inside of the Georgia Tech 10 yard line. With all of the momentum in their favor, Florida State looked certain to score.
Then disaster struck.
On second and goal, Marcus Sims took the carry up the middle, but a Georgia Tech helmet met the ball and jarred it loose in the end zone creating a free-for-all. After the ball bounced around several times, it was a Yellow Jacket defender that came up with it for a Georgia Tech touchback and victory.
"You remember last week against Virginia Tech, Sims knocked it in there two times, or took it in there pretty good," Bowden said.
He was fighting hard to get in there, and they knocked it out," he continued. "You've got to hand that to them."
Down 31-20 in the fourth quarter, sophomore quarterback D'Vontrey Richardson took the snap, faked a run, and found Preston Parker deep for a 39-yard touchdown pass. Wanting to be able to at least tie with a field goal, FSU went for two and converted when Christian Ponder hooked up with Greg Carr in the corner of the end zone on a fade route to lower the deficit to three.
It looked like FSU got the break it needed when on the ensuing possession, back up quarterback Jaybo Shaw threw an interception to cornerback Patrick Robinson.
The Seminoles offense looked shaky coming back on the field and were unable to get a first down. But a Georgia Tech offsides penalty persuaded offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher and company to attempt a fourth down conversion.
"We were going to punt with 11 yards (to go)," Bowden said. "I felt like with their quarterback out, we could smother them. Surely, he wouldn't throw again. Then after the five-yard penalty, we said we'd go for it. We might not see the ball again."
On fourth down, Ponder found Bert Reed just beyond the first down marker and the drive was kept alive. FSU continued to find success marching the ball down deep in Tech territory.
But it just wasn't meant to be as that fateful gold helmet met pigskin.
With the loss, Florida State drops to 6-2 on the season and suffers their second ACC loss.
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