ATLANTA - Georgia Tech's Chan Gailey figured a short play-action pass over the middle from North Carolina State's 2-yard line with less than a minute to play wasn't a high-percentage play. He also thought he could afford the gamble.

After all, it was a first-down play. And the Yellow Jackets coach figured if star receiver Calvin Johnson didn't make the catch, no defender would have a chance at the ball.

Gailey was only half right.

Johnson couldn't make the catch, but N.C. State's Garland Heath caught the deflection off Johnson's hands for an end-zone interception with 26 seconds left that saved the Wolfpack's 17-14 victory over No. 24 Georgia Tech on Thursday night.

"If it's incomplete, which it is a majority of the time if it's not a touchdown, you've got two more downs because you've got time enough to do that," Gailey said.

Gailey said another reason to throw the ball in that situation is because the clock would have been more of a factor if a run play had failed.

Johnson, Tech's star sophomore, set a career high with 10 receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown, but N.C. State countered with touchdown passes of 80 and 40 yards from Jay Davis to Brian Clark.

The 40-yard pass on a flea-flicker play gave the Wolfpack a 7-0 first-quarter lead, and the 80-yarder with 7:39 left to play gave N.C. State a 17-14 lead.

Tech was in position to win with a first-and-goal at the 2 with 33 seconds left. Reggie Ball's pass hit the hands of Johnson, who was in the air as he was hit by Marcus Hudson. Heath grabbed the ball and got two feet down before going out the back of the end zone.

"It's just a heartbreaking loss for our football team," Gailey said.

North Carolina State (2-2, 1-2) snapped a six-game losing streak in the Atlantic Coast Conference and a four-game losing streak against the Yellow Jackets (3-2, 1-2). The Wolfpack won in Atlanta for the first time since 1988.

"It's about time we got one, and we almost didn't for the same reasons: penalties," N.C. State coach Chuck Amato said.

N.C. State was penalized 10 times for 98 yards.

"Penalties, penalties, penalties," Amato said. "But you know what? Nobody on that team ever gave up. Nobody on that team ever quit. Nobody thought we wouldn't hold them and go into overtime or do something big in the end zone."

Though Heath had the interception, Hudson's pressure on Johnson was not overlooked by his coach.

"No doubt," Amato said. "Those corners played their fannies off against the best wide receiver in the country."

Ball completed only six of 25 passes in the first half as Tech trailed 10-0.

"It was just execution," Ball said. "We had a couple dropped balls. We had a missed field goal. We just weren't executing like we were supposed to in the first half. In the second half, we got rolling a little bit we just came up a few yards short."

Clark, who had only three catches this season because of an ankle injury, had four receptions for 148 yards and the two touchdowns.

Georgia Tech's Travis Bell missed a 27-yard field goal attempt early in the game and then was wide right again from 24 yards in the fourth quarter - the two shortest misses of his career. Bell has missed five straight field goal attempts over three games after missing only two attempts as a freshman in 2004.

One play after Bell's second miss, Davis threw over the Tech defense to Clark, who outran the secondary for the 80-yard touchdown and a 17-14 lead with 7:39 to play.

Davis passed for 230 yards. Ball passed for 279 yards and rushed for 88, but threw two interceptions. Still, Ball led the drive that ended with the interception by Heath.

The Yellow Jackets' close loss to the Wolfpack followed a 51-7 defeat to No. 3 Virginia Tech.

"It's definitely different, this one hurts a lot worse," Tech cornerback Kenny Scott said.

Johnson's 10th catch, on a fourth-down play, moved Tech to the N.C. State 44 with about one minute left. A 14-yard pass from Ball to P.J. Daniels pushed the Yellow Jackets to the 17. On first down, Ball ran 15 yards to the 2.

Ball gained momentum on a 97-yard touchdown drive on his first possession of the second half and Scott's interception set up the Yellow Jackets' go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Daniels scored on a 12-yard run, charging through safety J.J. Jones' tackle attempt to give Tech a 14-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The only touchdown of the first half came on a trick play - a 40-yard flea-flicker.

A 20-yard pass from Davis to Clark set up a first down at Tech's 40. From there, Davis handed off to Toney Baker, who flipped the ball back to Davis, who passed to Clark for the touchdown.

John Deraney's 36-yard field goal in the second quarter made it 10-0.

Tech's first touchdown came on a 27-yard scoring pass from Ball to Johnson.