Countdown to Kickoff: No. 20

Robert Lavette

The countdown to kickoff is officially on as Georgia Tech‘s season-opening matchup at Colorado on Aug. 29 is less than 100 days away.

Until then JOL will be counting it down with one Jackets’ player daily that wore the corresponding number of days remaining until toe meets leather in Boulder.

With it now 20 days until kickoff in Boulder, today’s focus is on No. 20 Robert Lavette, a steady, talented running back in the early 1980s that still holds the Georgia Tech program records for career rushing yards and career rushing touchdowns.

Lavette starred at Cartersville High (Ga.) during his prep career that included him rushing for 5,870 yards and 49 touchdowns and a senior season in which he was named the Class AA running back of the year after putting up 2,103 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground. He chose to sign with Georgia Tech in the 1981 recruiting class over multiple other scholarship offers.

Lavette immediately made an impact on the college level as a freshman in 1981 with 866 yards on 188 carries and seven rushing TDs while also hauling in 45 receptions for 307 yards. He was also a stellar kick returner with 17 returns for 389 total yards (22.9 yards per return) as one of the top players in all-purpose yards in the country.

As a sophomore in 1982, Lavette had his most productive year on the ground in his college career with 1,208 rushing yards on 280 carries and 19 touchdowns (second-most rushing TDs in a single season in Tech history) on his way to being named First-Team All-ACC. He added 25 receptions for 286 yards that Fall.

In 10 games as a junior in 1983, Lavette rushed for 803 yards on 186 carries with five rushing touchdowns and contributed 21 catches for 123 yards and a TD reception, battling through injuries that cost him multiple games.

Lavette bounced back from that injury-filled, frustrating junior season with another great campaign as a senior in 1984 as he once again broke the 1,000-yard mark with 1,189 yards on 260 carries with 14 rushing touchdowns. He was named First-Team All-ACC once again and was also a Third-Team All-American according to Football News as he was fifth in the nation in rushing yards that season.

Lavette is still Tech’s all-time leader in rushing yards with 4,066 and rushing touchdowns with 45. He has the second and fifth (tied) highest totals of single-season rushing touchdowns (19 in 1982, 14 in 1984) and is tied for second in single-game rushing touchdowns with four vs. Virginia in 1982. Interestingly, Lavette is also tied with three others (John Sias, Stephen Harkey, Kelly Campbell) for the top mark for single-game receptions with 14, a feat he accomplished as a freshman against Notre Dame.

After his career on The Flats ended, Lavette was picked in the fourth round (103rd overall) by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1985 NFL Draft. He was also picked by the Jacksonville Bulls in the 1985 USFL Draft but chose to play for the Cowboys, where he spent three seasons, before also having short stints in 1987 with the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons.

Lavette finished his NFL career playing in 33 career games and returning 76 kickoffs for 1,490 yards (19.6 average), rushing for 40 yards and hauling in seven catches for 45 yards.

Lavette was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1990, was honored in the ACC Legends Class of 2013 and was inducted into the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame in 2024.

Honorable Mention

–Jerry Mays (Running back from 1985-1989; second all-time in career rushing yards at GT with 3,699; best season was as a senior in 1989 with 1,349 yards on 249 carries and 8 rushing TDs as well as 37 receptions for 275 yards and 4 receiving TDs; was the ACC Rookie of the Year in 1985 and First-Team All-ACC in 1989; Inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame in 2024)

–Roddy Jones (RB/A-back from 2008-2011; ran for 1,846 yards and 14 TDs in his career along with 23 catches for 413 yards and 5 receiving TDs; rushed for career high 214 yards in Tech’s win over rival Georgia in 2008 in Athens; currently works as a college football analyst/color commentator for ESPN and The ACC Network)