If the 2024 ACC season goes anything like Saturday’s Week 0 opening game between Florida State and Georgia Tech in Dublin, college football fans are in for an incredible rollercoaster ride.

Aidan Birr kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Yellow Jackets a 24-21 victory over the No. 10 Seminoles. Brent Key begins his third season as Georgia Tech head coach with a big win over a top-10 team and the presumed favorite in the ACC.

Georgia Tech was in danger of being pushed out of field goal range when quarterback Haynes King botched a shotgun snap on the decisive drive that appeared to be covered by Eric Singleton Jr., who was running to the right when the ball was snapped. The mishap resulted in a 10-yard loss, forcing the Jackets back to the FSU 38-yard line.

But King and Singleton followed up and converted a 12-yard pass with 41 seconds left to increase the gap again and put Birr in position to kick the game-winning field goal.

The Yellow Jackets took a 21-14 lead early in the fourth quarter, capping an 11-play, 89-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run by Jamal Haynes. The Seminoles responded with their own long scoring drive, going 84 yards in 15 plays to tie the game.

The highlight of the drive was a fourth-down pass from DJ Uiagalelei to Malik Benson for a 19-yard gain to Georgia Tech’s 1-yard line, before Roydell Williams slotted the ball home.

Uiagalelei rushed for 193 yards on 19 of 27 passes with no touchdowns, while Williams led the Seminoles with 38 rushing yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Ja’Khi Douglas caught four passes for 55 yards.

For Georgia Tech, King rushed for 200 yards while Haynes rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Rutherford added 66 yards on four catches.

Saturday’s game started off excitingly: FSU’s Lawrance Toafili made a quick cut to the right and scored a 28-yard run for a touchdown. The Seminoles scored a two-point conversion with a swinging gate trick play and took an 8-0 lead.

Georgia Tech struck back immediately on its first drive, highlighted by a 42-yard catch-and-run by Malik Rutherford. Three running plays later, they scored their first touchdown.

The Yellow Jackets kept Florida State on its feet and took a 14-11 lead in the second quarter, capping a 75-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by King. But a 59-yard field goal by Ryan Fitzgerald – the second-longest in school history – tied the game at 14-14 as the clock expired heading into halftime.

For the Seminoles and coach Mike Norvell, the opening loss to a team that went 7-6 last season is a huge disappointment. Florida State was looking for revenge after being eliminated from the College Football Playoff last season despite a 13-0 record.

That revenge tour obviously took a hit with this loss, setting them back from the start in what could be a tough ACC race with Clemson and Miami. Perhaps Georgia Tech just showed the conference that it should be viewed as a threat as well.

Next up for Florida State is a game against Boston College on Labor Day at 7:30 p.m. ET. Georgia Tech hosts Georgia State next Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.