ATHENS — Brent Key said Georgia Tech will use the 44-42, 8-overtime loss to Georgia as fuel after his Yellow Jackets ran out of gas on Friday night.

The No. 7-ranked Bulldogs (10-2) turned back the Yellow Jackets (7-5) upset effort at Sanford Stadium, tying an SEC record with their 31st straight home win while likely securing a College Football Playoff bid.

“It’s tough, I love that team in there, fought their asses off,” said Key, whose team held a 17-0 halftime lead and 27-13 advantage before UGA scored with 3:39 left to cut the gap to a touchdown.

“There’s no moral victories, but I’m proud of those guys, and we’ll use this to continue to fuel us and continue to improve in all areas of the program because George Tech is special, these kids are special.”

Indeed, and the Yellow Jackets got an extra special performance from Haynes King, who was questionable after dealing with an upper-body injury.

King was 26-of-36 passing for 303 yards and 2 touchdowns, also rushing for 110 yards and 3 touchdowns on 24 carries.

“He’s a warrior, he’s one of the toughest kids I’ve ever been around in my life,” Key said “(King) wills others around him, I’m proud of him, proud of all of them.”

Key, emotional during the press conference, did not attempt to hide his disappointment.

Georgia Tech opened as a 19 1/2-point underdog and seemingly had victory within their sights, on the verge of preventing a seventh-straight George win in the 117-year-old rivalry game.

“It sucks, losing stinks, losing like this, I told them there’s no moral victories,” Key said. “I’m proud as heck of them, proud of the seniors and what they’ve done for this program.

“Proud of everyone that was on that sideline and the work they put in since January, they never wavered, they hit obstacles and overcome them. They cemented what our vision is of the ‘Tech Way.’ "

The Yellow Jackets provided a preview of just how dangerous of an opponent they could be when they beat then-No. 4 Miami, 28-23, on Nov. 9 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The win over the Hurricanes was Tech’s first win over a Top-5 ranked team in its past 14 games against them.

Smart told his Georgia players to prepare for a “street fight,” knowing Georgia Tech would come loaded with upset hopes.

The Bulldogs took the Yellow Jackets’ best punches, and as the game wore saw Georgia Tech’s players wear down after giving their all.

“We had a couple guys go down and that was some of the instances at the plays at the end,” Key said, “They kept fighting, scrapping and battling to try to find a way

“There’s about 160 people that look like me in that locker room right now. I apologize guys, it’s tough right now, it’s tough. It’s mentally exhausting, it takes a lot, just came up a little short.”

Key doubled down on his confidence on Georgia Tech’s direction as he ended his press conference.

“What I know about these kids, this team, this school,” Key said, “this emotion will turn into fuel, and we’ll use that fuel.”