ATLANTA - On Georgia Tech’s second series of the game, quarterback Gary Lanier faked a handoff to the fullback, as he usually did, and began running along the line of scrimmage, as he usually did. Then, he tried something he hardly ever did.

He dropped back to pass.

Before the 5-foot-8½, 170-pound Lanier even had a chance to look for a receiver, he was enveloped by Notre Dame’s massive defensive star, Ross Browner. On the sideline, Yellow Jackets coach Pepper Rodgers watched with disgust as Browner and teammate Willie Fry celebrated the 8-yard loss.

“They jumped up and started strutting around, like they always do when they sack somebody,” Rodgers recalled. “I turned to one of my coaches and said, ‘I’ll tell you this. We may not win this game, but that’s the last time they’re going to strut on our field. From this point on, they’re going to play against the option.’ ”

That’s just what the Yellow Jackets did. They never attempted another pass. On a memorable November afternoon in 1976, Georgia Tech and its wishbone offense won 23-14 over mighty Notre Dame — ranked No. 11 at the time and the team that would win it all the following season — without ever putting the ball in the air.

Three decades later, these two schools are preparing to open the season next Saturday night at the very same place (though it’s now known as Bobby Dodd Stadium rather than Grant Field) where the Yellow Jackets managed one of the most unusual upsets in college football history.

To this day, Lanier is remembered as the quarterback who beat the Fighting Irish with a statistical anomaly that went like this: zero passes attempted, zero passes completed, zero yards passing.

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As he travels around the country, speaking to alumni groups and raising money for Georgia Tech’s athletic scholarships, he always gets the same two questions: “Weren’t you the quarterback on the team that beat Notre Dame? Didn’t you go a whole game without throwing a pass?”

Yes and yes.

“I have a 13-year-old son, Mikey, who comes to a lot of Georgia Tech events with me,” said Lanier, who works for the Alexander-Tharpe Fund at his alma mater. “He told me once, ’Dad, it’s a good thing you beat Notre Dame. Because if you didn’t, no one would even know who you are.’ You know what? He’s absolutely right.”

As a whole, the 1976 season was one to forget for the Yellow Jackets.

They opened with two straight losses at home, including a 42-14 blowout at the hands (or, more accurately, the feet) of Heisman Trophy winner-to-be Tony Dorsett and the Pitt Panthers, who went on to capture the national championship. On the way to finishing 4-6-1, Georgia Tech had two more humiliating defeats: 42-7 to visiting Tennessee and 31-7 at lowly Duke.

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But it all came together on the first Saturday of November.

Notre Dame arrived at Grant Field with its usual powerhouse, having won six of seven games with a star-studded lineup. The defense featured Browner, Fry, Bob Golic and Luther Bradley. The offense had a quarterback named Joe Montana, though he was a little-known backup that season. Rick Slager was the starter.

The game started predictably enough. Bouncing back from an opening field goal by Georgia Tech, the Fighting Irish built a 14-3 lead by the second quarter on a pair of touchdown runs by Al Hunter.

Then came the turning point. Georgia Tech got the ball back late in the first half and drove 84 yards for its first touchdown. The biggest play was a 46-yard reverse by little-used receiver Drew Hill, who finally was knocked out of bounds by Bradley. In frustration, the star defensive back drove Hill into a fence surrounding the field, drawing a personal foul penalty that moved the ball to the Notre Dame 8. Lanier carried it in with 23 seconds remaining, and Georgia Tech went to the locker room trailing only 14-10.

“If you had told us before the game that we would go in at halftime down 14-10, we would have taken it,” Lanier said. “We felt good about our chances.”