Countdown to Kickoff: No. 17

Lance Austin

The countdown to kickoff is officially on as Georgia Tech‘s season-opening matchup at Colorado on Aug. 29 is less than 100 days away.

Until then JOL will be counting it down with one Jackets’ player daily that wore the corresponding number of days remaining until toe meets leather in Boulder.

With it now 17 days until kickoff in Boulder, today’s focus is on the legendary No. 17 Lance Austin, who played a ton of productive snaps at defensive back during his four years on The Flats, but the most significant play of his college career (and one of the most memorable in Georgia Tech program history) came on special teams in 2015 when he returned a blocked field goal 78 yards for a touchdown in an upset win over Florida State. The play is now known to Tech fans as “The Miracle on Techwood Drive.”

Austin came to Tech after a stellar prep career at Lamar County High (Ga.) in Barnesville, where he was a key player as a defensive back and quarterback for the Trojans. In fact as a senior he ran for 1,097 yards and 19 touchdowns while also throwing for 827 yards and 12 touchdowns at quarterback in addition to his defensive totals that included 44 tackles, eight pass breakups, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He joined the Jackets’ 2014 recruiting class along with his twin brother Lawrence Austin and Qua Searcy, which proved to be a pretty dynamic trio of teammates when it was all said and done for their careers on The Flats.

Lance Austin immediately worked his way onto the field as a freshman during Tech’s 11-3 season in 2014 that included an ACC Coastal Division title and an Orange Bowl victory over Mississippi State as he played in all 14 games and had 11 tackles (seven solo) and one pass breakup.

Lance followed that up by playing in 10 games as a sophomore in 2015 as he had five tackles, two pass breakups and the famous special teams touchdown mentioned above on the blocked field goal return vs. Florida State.

Austin’s most productive season from a defensive back standpoint came in 2016 as a junior when he started all 13 games at cornerback and was a two-time ACC Defensive Back of the Week award winner. He led the ACC in passes defended with 15 and was tied for the ACC lead in pass breakups with 12. He also picked off three passes that season to tie for the team lead with his brother Lawrence and added a fumble recovery to give him four takeaways for the season to go with 50 total tackles.

One of those ACC Defensive Back of the Week honors in 2016 came after his interception of Georgia QB Jacob Eason to set up Tech’s eventual game-winning drive, which his former high school teammate Searcy finished off with the dive into the East end zone at Sanford Stadium in the Jackets’ 28-27 win over the rival Bulldogs in Athens.

Austin finished his Jackets’ career in 2017 with a senior season that included 11 starts at cornerback to extend is starting streak to 24 games. He had 39 total tackles (35 solo), five pass breakups and five passed defended.