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1985 Georgia Tech

9–⁠2–⁠1 (5–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bill Curry, finished No. 19 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Georgia Tech in 1985, game by game: won at NC State 28–18; lost vs. Virginia 13–24; won at Clemson 14–3; won vs. North Carolina 31–0; won vs. Western Carolina 24–17; lost vs. No. 8 Auburn 14–17; tied at No. 16 Tennessee 6–6; won at Duke 9–0; won vs. Chattanooga 35–7; won vs. Wake Forest 41–10; won vs. No. 20 Georgia 20–16; won vs. Michigan State 17–14+31−11Won 28–18 at NC State+10NC StateLost 13–24 vs. Virginia-11VirginiaWon 14–3 at Clemson+11ClemsonWon 31–0 vs. North Carolina+31North CarolinaWon 24–17 vs. Western Carolina+7Western CarolinaLost 14–17 vs. No. 8 Auburn-3No. 8 AuburnTied 6–6 at No. 16 Tennessee0No. 16 TennesseeWon 9–0 at Duke+9DukeWon 35–7 vs. Chattanooga+28ChattanoogaWon 41–10 vs. Wake Forest+31Wake ForestWon 20–16 vs. No. 20 Georgia+4No. 20 GeorgiaWon 17–14 vs. Michigan State+3Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14atNC StateW 28–⁠1864%
Sep 21vsVirginiaL 13–⁠2456%
Sep 28atClemsonW 14–⁠335%
Oct 5vsNorth CarolinaW 31–⁠065%
Oct 12vsWestern CarolinaW 24–⁠1788%
Oct 19vs8AuburnL 14–⁠1745%
Oct 26at16TennesseeT 6–⁠637%
Nov 2atDukeW 9–⁠071%
Nov 9vsChattanoogaW 35–⁠784%
Nov 16vsWake ForestW 41–⁠1080%
Nov 30vs20GeorgiaW 20–⁠1650%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsMichigan StateAll-American BowlW 17–⁠1460%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan State 17–⁠14 in the All-American Bowl; No. 19 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 28th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Final: 19
Record
9–⁠2–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠1 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 19 peak No. 19
Points
252–⁠132
Coach
Bill Curry
Elo
1648 +101 this season
SP+ rating
16.2 No. 23 of 106; offense No. 66, defense No. 3
SRS
14.0 No. 18 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Dwain Painter
Defensive coordinator
Don Lindsey
Captains
John Ivemeyer, Ted Roof and Mike Snow

Drafted in 1986

The 1986 draft
Rd 3Pat Swilling LBNew Orleans Saints
Rd 7Mark Pike LBBuffalo Bills

All-ACC

3 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1985 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1985 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Maryland6–⁠09–⁠318
Georgia Tech5–⁠19–⁠2–⁠119
Virginia4–⁠36–⁠5
Clemson4–⁠36–⁠6
North Carolina3–⁠45–⁠6
Duke2–⁠54–⁠7
NC State2–⁠53–⁠8
Wake Forest1–⁠64–⁠7

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.