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ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Nick Novak gave his field-goal kicking woes the boot. The struggling Novak kicked a career-best 46-yard field goal on the final play of regulation and a 26-yarder in overtime, giving unbeaten Maryland a 20-17 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over No. 15 Georgia Tech. Novak, a freshman, had missed seven of his first 11 field goals and was the weak link of a 20th-ranked Maryland team that has been one of the biggest surprises of the college football season. His miss from 32 yards in the third quarter allowed Tech to stay in the game and rally in the second half. When Luke Manget made a 39-yarder with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets (4-2, 1-2 ACC) had a 17-14 lead. Maryland's Shaun Hill directed a desperation drive of 51 yards in 78 seconds. He completed passes of 18 yards to Guilian Gary and 17 to Rich Parson that moved the Terrapins (6-0, 4-0) to the Tech 29-yard line before Novak drilled the tying kick, forcing overtime. "I wanted to bring Nick Novak over before that kick because I was kind of surprised that George (Tech coach George O'Leary) left Manget out there in the first half when we iced him," said Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen. "I think it's better to get the kicker over there (on the sidelines) and not let him stand over the kick. "I told him that he kicked one just like this yesterday at the end of our workout, when he kicked about a 53-yarder. I told him to hit it just like he did yesterday and we would be just fine." Maryland had the first possession of the extra session and moved to the 9, where Novak again came through. After George Godsey completed a short pass, tailback Joe Burns fumbled and the Terps recovered, extending their best start since going 8-0 in 1978 under Jerry Claiborne. The architect of this squad is Friedgen, who spent nine years as Tech's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, including the last four under O'Leary. "I thought our defense played a great game," Friedgen said. "They were on the field too much because we kept stubbing our foot on offense. I told them that we got away with one tonight, because when you get six turnovers, you should win the game handily." "I congratulated Ralph after the game and said it was a good win," O'Leary said. "Like I said before, one of us would be happy after a game like that and one of us was going to be sad. But his kids made plays that ours didn't tonight." Hill completed 20-of-39 passes for 239 yards and a pair of interceptions. Jafar Williams caught seven passes for 73 yards and raced 11 yards for a touchdown on a reverse for Maryland, which snapped a four-game skid in the series. Both of Georgia Tech's losses have come in overtime. It was beaten by Clemson, 47-44, on September 29. Godsey was 26-of-45 for 320 yards and three interceptions and Kelly Campbell became Tech's all-time leader in receptions by hauling in nine for 108 yards. "On offense, we killed ourselves with mistakes," Godsey said. "We stumbled over too many opportunities. The way we played on offense, I really feel we were lucky to even get to overtime." The Yellow Jackets did a good job of slowing Bruce Perry, who came in as the nation's leading rusher with 164.2 yards per game. He was limited to 49 yards on 18 carries, the first time he was held under 100 yards this year. Burns had 57 yards on 20 carries. He had two costly fumbles but somewhat atoned with a fumble recovery in the end zone. Just over two minutes into the contest, Burns fumbled and E.J. Henderson returned it 36 yards for a score. Henderson was charged with DUI last week. Williams' run capped a 68-yard march that gave the Terps a 14-0 lead with 6:13 left in the first half. After Novak's miss, the Yellow Jackets drove 80 yards in 10 plays, with the last one a doozy. From the 13, Godsey threw a short pass to William Glover, who fumbled as he stretched for the end zone. But Burns pounced on the loose ball to put Tech on the board. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Godsey threw a 25-yard TD pass to Jonathan Smith, capping a 64-yard drive. Campbell has 173 career receptions, eight more than Harvey Middleton.
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