Jonathan Dwyer rushed for a career-best 189 yards to go over 1,000 for the season, but it was Nesbitt and the guys on the defensive side who bailed out the Yellow Jackets (8-1, 6-1) at the end.

After the defense stifled Wake Forest (4-6, 2-4) on the first possession of OT, forcing a field goal, Georgia Tech drove to the 5, needing less than a yard on fourth down. The Yellow Jackets initially tried to draw Wake offsides, but were forced to burn a timeout when that didn’t work.

Instead of sending on Scott Blair for a chip-shot field goal to extend the game, coach Paul Johnson decided to go for the win. Nesbitt powered up the middle for a 2-yard gain and scored on the next play, going in standing and then flipping the ball high into the air to celebrate. The entire team poured onto the field to celebrate underneath the goal posts.

Georgia Tech can clinch a spot in the ACC title game with a win at Duke next Saturday. The Yellow Jackets haven’t won an outright conference championship since 1990, the year they shared the national championship with Colorado.

It was another excruciating loss for the Demon Deacons, who must win their final two games to become bowl-eligible. Five of their defeats have been by a total of 13 points, two of them going to overtime.

Dwyer broke off a 59-yard TD run on Georgia Tech’s first offensive snap of the second half, tying the game at 17, and the defense took over from there. Wake Forest managed only one first down on its four possessions after the break, and Georgia Tech went ahead, 24-17, when Nesbitt scored on a 12-yard run with 8:19 left in regulation.

But Riley Skinner, who was cleared to play Friday after sustaining a concussion the previous week, finally cranked up the Deacons’ offense. Wake Forest drove 74 yards in seven plays, capped by Skinner’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Devon Brown with 4:27 remaining.

Clemson 40, Florida St. 24 - C.J. Spiller had a career-high 165 yards rushing among his school-record 312 all-purpose yards, and his second TD sealed a home win for the Tigers that kept them in control of the Atlantic Division.

Clemson (6-3, 4-2) has to beat N.C. State and Virginia to clinch a spot in the ACC title game, or have Boston College lose once.

Spiller’s 58-yard TD pass from Kyle Parker was his 20th career TD of more than 50 yards. His high-stepping, 5-yard scoring run capped a 19-point fourth quarter against the Seminoles (4-5, 2-4).

Miami 52, Virginia 17 - Graig Cooper rushed for a career-best 152 yards and a TD, Damien Berry ran for a pair of second-half scores, and the No. 16 Hurricanes (7-2, 4-2) rolled at home to their most lopsided win in ACC play since 2005.

Rashawn Jackson ran for a 34-yard TD for Virginia (3-6, 2-3), which has lost 10 of 13 starting with an overtime defeat to Miami last season. The Cavaliers were outgained, 515-149.

North Carolina 19, Duke 6 - Ryan Houston had career highs of 37 carries and 164 yards, and the Tar Heels (6-3, 2-3) put on a dominating defensive show at home to ground Duke’s prolific passing attack.

Charles Brown came up with a key interception late in the third quarter, setting up the third of Casey Barth’s four field goals. North Carolina held the Blue Devils (5-4, 3-2) to 125 total yards.

N.C. State 38, Maryland 31 - Russell Wilson threw for three TDs and ran for another, and the host Wolfpack (4-5, 1-4) snapped a four-game skid by holding off the Terrapins (2-7, 1-4) in a matchup of the Atlantic Division’s worst teams.

Wilson was 25 of 38 for 343 yards and three interceptions. Maryland’s starting quarterback, Chris Turner, injured a ligament in his left knee in the first half.