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DUBLIN — Aidan Birr made a 44-yard field goal as time expired and Georgia Tech upset No. 10 Florida State 24-21 on Saturday in the first major college football game of the season.

Coming off an undefeated regular season, but with a remade roster, the Seminoles tied the score at 21 with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter on a 15-play touchdown drive that included two fourth-down conversions by DJ Uiagalelei.

Florida State (0-1, 0-1 ACC) never touched the ball again, and Birr came on with five seconds left on the clock to drill the winner.

Jamal Haynes ran for 75 yards and two touchdowns for Georgia Tech, and Haynes King threw for 146 yards and ran for 54 as the Yellow Jackets (1-0, 1-0) were able to control the line of scrimmage and accumulate 190 rushing yards and 5.3 yards per carry.

Uiagalelei completed 19 of 27 passes for 193 yards in his Florida State debut.

Ryan Fitzgerald made a 59-yard field goal, a career long and the second longest in school history, just before halftime to tie the score at 14. Fitzgerald had a 52-yarder earlier in the game.

The teams had just seven drives apiece. Georgia Tech’s final two drives were among the best, an 11-play, 89-yard touchdown drive and then the 12-play, 49-yard drive to set up Birr’s kick.

Florida State fans packed Aviva Stadium for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, the third straight Week 0 opener in Dublin.

TAKEAWAYS

Florida State: The Seminoles’ defensive line was viewed as one of the ACC’s best but did not record a sack and allowed Tech to run at will.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets averaged 203 rushing yards per game (13th in the FBS) in 2023 and picked up right where they left off.

UP NEXT

Florida State hosts Boston College on Sept. 2.

Georgia Tech hosts Georgia State next Saturday.

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.

Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.

O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.

Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.

In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”

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Gators’ Lagway ‘ready to play,’ will start vs. LSU

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Gators' Lagway 'ready to play,' will start vs. LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.

Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.

The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

No. 12 Georgia will be without leading rusher Trevor Etienne for Saturday’s showdown against No. 7 Tennessee.

Etienne was downgraded from questionable to out on Thursday night’s SEC availability report.

Etienne left Georgia’s win over Florida with an upper-body injury on Nov. 2 and did not return. He played limited snaps in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, carrying the ball six times for 24 yards.

Etienne leads the Bulldogs with 477 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season.

The loss is another blow to Georgia’s banged-up backfield. Cash Jones is also listed as questionable while Branson Robinson remains out after missing the past three games with a knee injury.

That leaves true freshman Nate Frazier as the only healthy Bulldogs running back who has played meaningful snaps this year. Frazier is second on the team with 333 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

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