Early in Tech’s second possession, Gary Lanier attempted a pass and was sacked by Ross Browner for an 8-yard loss.¹ Pepper Rodgers made a snap decision following this, committing to the option.² Tech never attempts another pass. Lanier clarified to the Technique that the attempt was a counter pass, and Browner sacked him before he could set up.³ According to Rodgers, he told one of his coaches while committing to the option: “I’ll tell you this. We may not win this game, but that’s the last time they’re going to strut on our field.”⁴

Georgia Tech are the second-to-last known major college team to have defeated a ranked opponent without attempting a pass, a week later the Sooners did the same to No. 11 Missouri⁵ and it hasn’t happened since according to our research.⁶

The Yellow Jackets were having a down year, their record was an awkward 3-4-1 and were licking their wounds from a 31-7 loss at Duke that involved 10 turnovers.⁷ Notre Dame was hot, they were 6-1, ranked No. 11, on a six-game win streak and were a year away from a national title.⁸ Tech had not faced up against the Irish and come away with a win since 1959⁹, but this middling Tech team ended the losing streak with one of the most unusual wins in program history.

Tech’s late coach Rodgers was the quarterback for Tech’s 1952 national-title winning team¹⁰, and he had been at his former school since 1974.¹¹ He was a character, arriving on a motorcycle with a fresh perm;¹² despite a middling reign that resulted in a sole bowl appearance, he only had two sub .500 seasons.¹³ Rodgers had been running the veer in 1976 to accommodate Maconite freshman Michael Jolly, who had gotten hurt in the Oct. 2 game against Virginia and his undersized classmate Gary Lanier was the next man up. Coach Rodgers said he’d never have left the wishbone if he knew Lanier was going to be his quarterback, so the Jackets reinstated it in practice during Notre Dame week.¹⁴

Fellow Independent program, The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, led by coach Dan Devine and captain Willie Fry¹⁵, were strong but wobbling by this point in the season. Their defense, featuring Outland Trophy winner Ross Browner,¹⁶ had just set a record of 21 straight quarters without a touchdown scored against them before allowing six over their next seven quarters, including in the Tech game.¹⁷ They were heading to Atlanta off of two narrow victories against South Carolina (13-6) and Navy (27-21),¹⁸ Chip Spina of The Observer asserted that Notre Dame had been sitting on leads since their Oregon game.¹⁹ Joe Montana was the No. 2 quarterback of the Irish prior to his injury, he had taken a medical redshirt after getting hurt in practice in September.²⁰

Perhaps a good omen for the Yellow Jackets, fellow Georgian Jimmy Carter had won the presidency earlier that week,²¹ who also had unexpectedly won the nomination.

The Irish were visiting for Tech’s homecoming, which would be the last home game for 24 seniors whose first varsity game was a loss against Notre Dame on national television.²² Despite the Yellow Jackets having an 17 game undefeated streak at homecoming²³, the Atlanta Constitution had them as an 18-point underdog²⁴ and the Irish Heisman winner Paul Hornung, who was announcing the game for the Notre Dame Network told the Technique that the Irish would get by Tech.²⁵

Grant Field, having a very period-appropriate AstroTurf field,²⁶ had a packed house of 50,079²⁷ on a cold fall afternoon²⁸ as the Yellow Jackets returned home. “Ramblin’ Wreck” blared from the marching band as the athletes took the field.

The game started as a defensive affair, with Georgia Tech drawing first blood with Danny Smith’s 31-yard field goal with 11:01 left in the second quarter.²⁹ The Irish started to heat up promptly after that with two steady drives that resulted in touchdowns by running back Al Hunter.³⁰ The first drive went 67 yards in eight plays, All-American tight end Ken MacAfee was a big contributor, racking up 48 yards in three catches³¹. The second was the result of the Irish tackled Harper Brown before he could get the punt out, giving Notre Dame the pill at the Tech 35.³²

At the end of the first half, Devine calls a timeout with about 40 seconds left, with Tech on their own 36 and looking down at a 3rd-and-7.³³ Drew Hill takes a pitch on an end-around and tears off 46 yards. Luther Bradley chases him out of bounds and into the Tech bench, getting flagged for unnecessary roughness.³⁴ This was followed by a protracted disagreement about the clock, it read 18 seconds but officials gave Tech 10 extra because it kept running after Hill went out of bounds. Lanier then ran it in for an 8-yard TD with 23 seconds left.³⁵ Rodgers called Hill’s run the key play of the game, turning the momentum around.³⁶ This was a brisk drive from Tech, they received at their own 16 and scored in five plays with under two minutes left in the half.³⁷ Lanier attributed his touchdown to a switch block on the defensive end: he saw an opportunity and took it.³⁸ Devine said he wouldn’t have called that timeout again.³⁹

Big plays were the theme of the day for the Yellow Jackets, banking 80 yards in five plays in the third.⁴⁰ Bo Thomas breaks a 45-yard counter; Sims runs for 20, and then 10 to score.⁴¹ Kicker Danny Smith missed the conversion, giving Tech a slim lead of 16-14⁴². Then in the 4th, a 15-play, 66-yard march eats about seven minutes, with Sims scoring again with 3:58 left.⁴³ Yardage was distributed mostly between Thomas and Eddie Lee Ivery. Encountering fourth-and-inches at the Irish 23 with 5:03 left, Lanier counted on Ivery, who got the first down with the help of Randy Pass and Leo Tierney.⁴⁴ Sims put the game away with a touchdown two plays later.

The reason this isn’t just a classic homecoming upset is because Tech did not attempt a single pass and still defeated a ranked opponent, only Oklahoma defeating Missouri 27-20 in Norman a week later have repeated the feat.⁴⁵ Zero attempts is unusual even for option teams, Air Force defeated Nevada in 2024 without a completion but still threw three times.⁴⁶ Tech also did it again versus an unranked Tennessee in 1977.⁴⁷ It was also Tech’s first win over Notre Dame since 1959.⁴⁸ Notre Dame leads the series 31-6-1 and Tech has won only twice since this game.⁴⁹ Rodgers credited the Notre Dame defense in his explanation for its success, they pursued so well they just ran under it with counters and options.⁵⁰ It also shortened the game, kept the ball from Notre Dame and that running the ball doesn’t create opportunities for interceptions.⁵¹ Pepper Rodgers told The Technique “If you don’t throw, you don’t suffer interceptions,” alluding to the ten turnovers in the dreadful defeat versus Duke.⁵²

The upset was a high of the Rodgers era rather than a new dawn, Tech went to Navy next week and lost 28-34.⁵³ They finished the year 4-6-1.⁵⁴ Tech kept the wishbone offense for another season and then switched to a conventional offense with Ivery as the focal point.⁵⁵ Rodgers was fired after 1979⁵⁶. Notre Dame went onto finish 9-3, ranked No. 12 in both polls and victors at the Gator Bowl.⁵⁷ The very next year, the two programs had a rematch, Notre Dame drubbed the Yellow Jackets 69-14 and won the national title led by Joe Montana.⁵⁸

“I’ve beaten a team without throwing the ball,” admitted Devine, to the Atlanta Journal and Constitution “but never lost to one that didn’t.”⁵⁹

1. “Beat Notre Dame Without Throwing a Pass? Georgia Tech Did It in 1976,” Associated Press, via ramblinwreck.com, Aug. 25, 2006, https://ramblinwreck.com/news/2006/08/25/beat-notre-dame-without-throwing-a-pass-georgia-tech-did-it-in-1976; David Davidson, “Tech’s Dream Wasn’t So Impossible,” Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Nov. 7, 1976, p. 8-D (Lanier “was caught for an eight-yard loss”). ↩

2. AP, “Beat Notre Dame Without Throwing a Pass?” (2006). ↩

3. Aaron Hirshberg, “Wishbone returns as Jackets sting Irish,” The Technique, Nov. 12, 1976, p. 28 (continued p. 27). ↩

4. AP, “Beat Notre Dame Without Throwing a Pass?” (2006). ↩

5. Bill Connors, “Backfield Trio Ends Missouri Hopes, 27-20,” Tulsa World, Nov. 14, 1976 (Oklahoma “did not attempt a pass”; passes 0-0-0); “Sooners’ Land Rush Shows Missouri,” Associated Press, The Sunday Constitution (Atlanta), Nov. 14, 1976, p. 1C (Oklahoma passing yards 0; passes 0-0-0). Hank Inman’s story in The Sunday Oklahoman, Nov. 14, 1976, p. 3C, says Oklahoma threw once; the official statistics in both other papers show no attempts. ↩

6. Author’s review of all 102 wins over AP-ranked opponents by Oklahoma, Alabama, Colorado, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Air Force and Navy, 1976-94, against box scores and school record books; Stathead College Football Team Game Finder, wins over ranked opponents with zero pass attempts, 1995-2003 (no results), https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/ZUURn; ESPN box scores, 2004 through Nov. 3, 2026. ↩

7. Davidson, “Tech’s Dream” (five fumbles, five interceptions at Duke). ↩

8. “Georgia Tech Stuns Irish,” Associated Press, The Lynchburg News, Nov. 7, 1976 (game story and box score) (“11th ranked”; beaten “after six consecutive victories”); Kelly Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish, 23-14,” Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Nov. 7, 1976, p. 1-D; continued as “Tech Turns Around Tradition,” p. 8-D; “Joe Montana: Perfect Timing,” Time, https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,925246-5,00.html. ↩

9. Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish” (p. 8-D: “Tech’s first over Notre Dame since 1959”); Fred Herbst, “Wreck rambles through Irish 23-14,” The Observer (Notre Dame), Nov. 8, 1976, p. 8. ↩

10. “Pepper Rodgers, former Kansas, Georgia Tech, UCLA coach, dies,” NBC Sports, May 2020, https://www.nbcsports.com/college-football/news/pepper-rodgers-former-kansas-georgia-tech-ucla-coach-dies. ↩

11. Ken Sugiura, “Larger than life: Pepper Rodgers led inimitable tenure at Georgia Tech,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 23, 2020, https://www.ajc.com/sports/college/larger-than-life-pepper-rodgers-led-inimitable-tenure-georgia-tech/1hSFyEGkgnETaek6ZZMxfN. ↩

12. Sugiura, “Larger than life”. ↩

13. “Legendary Georgia Tech football player, former head coach Pepper Rodgers dies at 88,” Albany Herald (Georgia Tech Athletics release), May 2020, https://albanyherald.com/sports/legendary-georgia-tech-football-player-former-head-coach-pepper-rogers-dies-at-88/ (“four winning seasons in six years,” Peach Bowl berth in 1978); “List of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football seasons,” Wikipedia (1976 and 1979 each 4-6-1). ↩

14. Davidson, “Tech’s Dream”; Furman Bisher, column, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Nov. 7, 1976, continued p. 8-D (Lanier “too short to see over a stooped center”); “Mike Jolly,” Sports-Reference College Football, https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/mike-jolly-1.html. ↩

15. Norman Bone’s Notre Dame Football Program Index: 1976, University of Notre Dame Archives, https://archives.nd.edu/nbi/NBI-1976.htm (co-captains Willie Fry and Mark McLane). ↩

16. “Ross Browner,” College Football Hall of Fame, https://cfbhall.com/inductees/ross-browner-1999. ↩

17. Herbst, “Wreck rambles” (record “for the 21st consecutive quarter”); Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish” (puts the streak at 20 quarters). ↩

18. Chip Spina, column, The Observer (Notre Dame), Nov. 8, 1976, p. 8. ↩

19. Spina, column. ↩

20. “Joe Montana: Perfect Timing,” Time; Lou Somogyi, “The Right Combination,” Blue & Gold Illustrated, via fightingirish.com. ↩

21. Paul Stevenson, “The Sting of Defeat,” The Observer (Notre Dame), Nov. 8, 1976, p. 8. ↩

22. Steve Krebs, “Tech triumphs in seniors’ last hurrah,” The Technique, Nov. 12, 1976, p. 28 (continued p. 24). ↩

23. The Technique, Nov. 12, 1976, sports section, pp. 22-28 (18 straight homecoming wins). ↩

24. Davidson, “Tech’s Dream”. ↩

25. Aaron Hirshberg, interview with Paul Hornung, The Technique, Nov. 12, 1976, p. 23; football picks column, p. 26. ↩

26. The Technique, Nov. 12, 1976. ↩

27. “Georgia Tech Stuns Irish,” AP; Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish”. ↩

28. Extreme Weather Watch, “Atlanta Weather in 1976,” https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/atlanta/year-1976 (Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport station), accessed Nov. 6, 2026: high 59 °F, low 24 °F, no precipitation on Nov. 6, 1976. The 24-degree low is the record low for the date (“Don’t forget to turn back time,” WSB Radio, https://www.wsbradio.com/weather/dont-forget-turn-back-time-daylight-saving-time-ends-sunday/DPELXO4B4VFX3AFEH42FA5KNAU). ↩

29. Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish”; Tom Kruczek, “Georgia Tech,” Scholastic 1976 Football Review, Feb. 7, 1977, p. 14, https://archives.nd.edu/Football/Football-1976s.pdf; “Georgia Tech Stuns Irish,” AP (scoring summary). ↩

30. “Georgia Tech Stuns Irish,” AP (scoring summary). ↩

31. Herbst, “Wreck rambles” (67-yard drive); Kruczek, “Georgia Tech,” Scholastic, p. 14 (“Slager completed three tosses to Ken MacAfee”). “Wishbone returns as Jackets sting Irish,” The Technique, November 12, 1976, p. 28. ↩

32. Kruczek, “Georgia Tech,” Scholastic, p. 14. ↩

33. Herbst, “Wreck rambles”; Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish”. ↩

34. Herbst, “Wreck rambles”; Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish”. ↩

35. Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish”; AP, “Beat Notre Dame Without Throwing a Pass?” (2006). ↩

36. Herbst, “Wreck rambles”. ↩

37. Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish” (1:52 left, own 16); Hirshberg, “Wishbone returns” (1:45). ↩

38. Hirshberg, “Wishbone returns”. ↩

39. Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish”, p. 8-D. ↩

40. Bisher, column (“80 yards in five sudden plays”). ↩

41. Kruczek, “Georgia Tech,” Scholastic, p. 14 (10-yard end sweep, 2:59 left in the third); “Georgia Tech Stuns Irish,” AP. ↩

42. The Technique, Nov. 12, 1976 (Smith’s first missed PAT of the season); “Georgia Tech Stuns Irish,” AP. ↩

43. Herbst, “Wreck rambles” (66 yards on 15 plays); “Georgia Tech Stuns Irish,” AP (16-yard run, 3:58 left). ↩

44. Bisher, column (fourth down at the Notre Dame 23, 5:03 left). ↩

45. See note 5. ↩

46. “Air Force grinds out 21-19 road win at Nevada,” Air Force Athletics, Nov. 24, 2024, https://goairforcefalcons.com/news/2024/11/24/football-air-force-grinds-out-21-19-road-win-at-nevada. ↩

47. University of Tennessee football guide, records section, https://utsports.com/documents/download/2017/6/24/18335__m_footbl__06fbguide-records.pdf (Georgia Tech 24, Tennessee 8, Oct. 8, 1977). ↩

48. Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish”, p. 8-D; Herbst, “Wreck rambles”. ↩

49. 2024 Notre Dame at Georgia Tech postgame notes, Notre Dame Athletics, https://fightingirish.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-NDFB-at-Georgia-Tech-Post-Game-Notes.pdf. ↩

50. Hirshberg, “Wishbone returns”. ↩

51. Herbst, “Wreck rambles” (Rodgers: running let Tech “use the clock, keep the ball away from Notre Dame and avoid turnovers”). ↩

52. Davidson, “Tech’s Dream”. ↩

53. “Football History vs Georgia Tech,” Navy Athletics, https://navysports.com/opponent-history/football/georgia-tech/2/308 (Navy 34, Georgia Tech 28, Nov. 13, 1976). ↩

54. “List of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football seasons,” Wikipedia; AP, “Beat Notre Dame Without Throwing a Pass?” (2006). ↩

55. AP, “Beat Notre Dame Without Throwing a Pass?” (2006). ↩

56. Sugiura, “Larger than life”. ↩

57. 1976 Notre Dame Football Statistics, Notre Dame Football Guide, p. 9; Somogyi, “The Right Combination”. ↩

58. “1977 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team,” Wikipedia (Notre Dame 69, Georgia Tech 14, Nov. 5, 1977); “Joe Montana: Perfect Timing,” Time. ↩

59. Dude, “Tech Shocks Irish”, p. 8-D. ↩