But after giving up the lead with under two minutes to go, the Orediggers put together a game-winning drive, culminating with a 31-yard touchdown connection from Blake Thelen to Wyatt Alexander with 12 seconds remaining.

Tech followed it up with a two-point conversion and a defensive stop to claim a 29-22 victory over Georgetown, a team that reached the NAIA FCS semifinals a season ago.

“It’s hard to put into words. That last drive, we all told each other that we are the best offense in the country. That’s what we tell ourselves every day, so we just had to go down and make it happen,” Thelen said.

Prior to the game-winning drive, Tech was looking to run out the clock as it held a 21-14 lead. A Landers Smith fumble inside Georgetown’s five-yard line was returned for a touchdown, and with a two-point conversion on the next play, the Tigers suddenly had the lead with 1:42 remaining.

Tech fans — decked out in copper — were stunned and silent as the game was flipped on its head.

But the Diggers remained composed. Smith had rumbled for 201 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries, and the team didn’t want the game to come down to his fumble.

“We almost had it won, but that’s football. We all rallied around Landers, we know we wouldn’t even have been in the game if it wasn’t for him. He was rolling all day,” Thelen said.

“I had every offensive guy come up to me and say ‘hey, next play. We’re going to go down and win this,” Smith said.

Only needing a field goal for the win, Thelen took a shot to the end zone when he saw his roommate, Alexander, beat his defender down the sideline.

Tech’s leading receiver from last season had been covered tightly all game, but in the biggest moment, he hauled in his first catch of the night to give the Diggers a statement victory.

“I know Wyatt is just kind of the guy that’s going to go up and make a play,” Thelen said.

“Obviously I’m trusting him to come down with it. Just throw it up there — that’s my roommate — so let him go up and make a play. He’s got to be one of the best wide receivers in the country.”

After nearly losing in heartbreaking fashion, the Diggers flipped the script in front of a packed crowd at Alumni Coliseum. They managed to get the job done to earn a confidence-building win against the No. 3 team in the nation.

“I just thought our guys fought through adversity the whole night, they didn’t flinch,” Tech head coach Kyle Samson said.

“We had multiple times with our backs against the wall, tough things happened, some uncharacteristic turnovers that we had. But you know what? They never quit and they fought through it. When the game was on the line, we made the plays to win. That’s a sign of a really good football team.”

Lost in the craziness of the final two minutes was the performance of Tech’s defense. The Diggers made two fourth down stops on the goal line in the first half and forced four interceptions.

Senior defensive back Jadyn Downs had three of those interceptions and returned one of them for a touchdown.

“I can’t speak enough on how proud I am of our defense tonight. They were tremendous,” Samson said.

The jaw-dropping final minutes ended in jubilation on Bob Green Field as friends and family swarmed the Tech players.

Once the celebrations subside, the Diggers will turn their attention to Frontier Conference rival Carroll. Tech travels to Helena to take on the Saints next Saturday at 6 p.m.