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ATLANTA -- The last time Wake Forest beat a top 10-ranked football team, the campus wasn't in Winston-Salem, Peahead Walker was coach and Jim Grobe hadn't been born.

That's a long time ago, but the Demon Deacons almost broke their long streak of not having beaten someone ranked among college football's elite.

The key word is "almost," and that has been the story of Wake Forest's frustrating season.

The Deacons lost by three points or less for the fifth time Saturday, falling to No. 10-ranked Georgia Tech in overtime, 30-27, on a 3-yard run by quarterback Josh Nesbitt at Grant Field.

"I've never experienced anything like this," Wake quarterback Riley Skinner said. "It's frustrating. There is no way to explain it. We're there; we're just not finishing."

"I'm really sad for them," Grobe said of his players. "We've been playing really, really hard and playing really good teams to the end, but we're still not having any success."

The loss was the fourth straight for Wake, which is in danger of not reaching a bowl game. The Deacons (4-6, 2-4 ACC) lost 28-27 to nationally ranked Miami last week and let another upset opportunity slip away against Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets can win the ACC's Coastal Division with a victory at Duke next Saturday. Wake, meanwhile, needs to win its last two games to finish with a non-losing record and have a chance to play in the postseason for the fourth consecutive year.

"No one's faith is broken," linebacker Hunter Haynes said.

After so many close losses, a win over Georgia Tech would have meant so much, though.

The last time Wake Forest beat a team ranked among the elite such as the Yellow Jackets was in 1946, when the Deacons won 19-6 at No. 4 Tennessee. Wake has lost 43 consecutive games to top 10 teams.

The Deacons led at halftime and appeared to be driving to a winning score in the closing minutes after battling back to tie the Yellow Jackets. But Skinner was sacked to take his team out of field-goal range.

"I didn't want to go to overtime with them," said Groh, noting that a short field is perfect for Georgia Tech's triple option and not to the advantage of a passing team such as Wake.

The Deacons got the ball first, but had to settle for Jimmy Newman's 34-yard field goal. Then Georgia Tech (9-1, 6-1) took over and it looked as if Wake might be able to hold the Jackets.

Nesbitt came up just short of a first down at the 4 on a third-down run. Would Tech, which had failed on four early fourth-down tries, kick and go to a second OT? No chance.

"I play to win," coach Paul Johnson said. "If we can't make an inch there, we don't deserve to win the game."

Nesbitt got the first down on a sneak, then went off right tackle on a drag play for the winning score.

"We knew what was coming, but we couldn't stop it," linebacker Matt Woodlief said.

The game couldn't have started much worse for the Deacons. Starting defensive end Lee Malchow broke his right leg making the tackle on the opening kickoff, and Wake was down 10-0 by the time was the game was barely nine minutes old.

Tech gained 120 yards on its first two possessions, following a 45-yard field goal by Scott Blair with a 31-yard TD run by Preston Lyons. But from there, the first half was all Wake.

The Deacons scored on three consecutive possessions, taking a 17-10 lead. Kevin Harris scored on a 1-yard smash after a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a field goal had given Wake a second chance for a TD. Then Brown caught a 20-yard scoring pass from Skinner and Newman kicked a 35-yard field goal.

In addition to Malchow's injury, Wake Forest lost starting tight end Cameron Ford with a sprained left ankle in the second quarter.

"I think there was a time with our football program when there would be moral victories in losses," Grobe said. "There certainly aren't any moral victories right now."

Wake Forest 0 17 0 7 3 -- 27

Georgia Tech 10 0 7 7 6 -- 30

GaTech--FG Blair 45

GaTech--Lyons 31 run (Blair kick)

Wake--K.Harris 1 run (Newman kick)

Wake--Brown 20 pass from Skinner (Newman kick)

Wake--FG Newman 35

GaTech--Dwyer 59 run (Blair kick)

GaTech--Nesbitt 12 run (Blair kick)

Wake--Brown 11 pass from Skinner (Newman kick)

Wake--FG Newman 34

GaTech--Nesbitt 3 run

A--51,415

Wake Forest Georgia Tech

First downs 17 24

Rushes-Yards 25-28 62-412

Passing 263 51

Comp-Att-Int 26-40-0 4-14-1

Return yards 28 32

Punts-Avg. 7-46.1 1-37.0

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-Yards 4-35 7-78

Time of possession 29:02 30:58

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Wake Forest, Pendergrass 11-30, Adams 5-12, Brown 1-2, K.Harris 2-1, Skinner 6-(minus 17). Georgia Tech, Dwyer 23-189, Jones 8-58, Nesbitt 21-54, Allen 3-43, Lyons 4-41, S.Hill 1-21, Wright 1-7, Peeples 1-(minus 1).

PASSING--Wake Forest, Skinner 26-40-0-263. Georgia Tech, Nesbitt 4-14-1-51.

RECEIVING--Wake Forest, Ma.Williams 8-111, Brown 7-62, Givens 4-52, Rinfrette 2-27, Adams 2-8, K.Harris 1-3, Pendergrass 1-2, Skinner 1-(minus 2). Georgia Tech, D.Thomas 3-38, Melton 1-13.