Georgia Tech prevails 35-20 in the Battle of the Techs

ATLANTA- Georgia Tech moved to 6-0 with a fairly drama-free 35-20 win over Virginia Tech. The Jackets jumped out to an 18-0 lead through the first 18 minutes of the game and cruised in the second half to the win. This is the first time since 2011 that the Jackets are 6-0 to start a season.

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key said his team, coming off the first bye week, followed the plan in the win over the Hokies, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

“We do preach no scoreboard and play every play regardless of what happened on the last,” Key said. “Our guys don’t see the scoreboard; they trust in the plan and the way we are going to play the game. Our goal is to play a complete 60-minute football game. That is impossible, but we can try, and we can continue to improve as the season goes along.”  

Jackets’ offense pounds the Hokies on the ground

Running back Malachi Hosley ran for 129 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown. The Jackets racked up 268 yards rushing on 42 carries in the win. It was his best game as a Jacket.

“He was a good player last year, and we knew it, and that is why we brought him in,” Key said of Hosley. “He really is improving, and we knew he was a good player when we brought him in here. He has great balance; guys can’t take his feet out from underneath him. It was good to see him be productive.

Quarterback Haynes King accounted for three touchdowns, two rushing and one passing. He had 60 rushing yards and 20-24 passing for 213 yards.

King was pleased with how the Jackets started offensively with three scoring drives on the first three offensive possessions. Tech had two punts in the game and a missed field goal and scored on every other possession, but King said that wasn’t good enough. He did feel like the bye helped them get started faster this week.

“A Little bit of everything,” King said of what got them going early. “You know that bye week definitely helped getting a lot of guys back about back healthy and their feet under them, and then also the execution aspect of it. At first, we executed at a high level, but we still have room for improvement, especially the way we ended the game; we got to do a lot better in that aspect of it.”

Senior slot receiver Malik Rutherford had six catches for 49 yards and a touchdown. Rutherford also scored on a two-point conversion on the opening scoring drive for the Jackets, taking a jetsweep into the end zone.

“I had an option route on the touchdown, and I saw the WILL or the SAM bump out, and Haynes and I locked eyes, and I knew it was a touchdown,” Rutherford said. “On the two-point conversion, I knew I was going to dive in there, and we worked on that all week.”

Three different tight ends caught passes in the game as well. Luke Harpring had three catches for 39 yards, Josh Beetham had one for 31 yards, and Brett Seither had a 29-yard catch. Beetham just missed scoring on his catch, and Seither just missed a scoring opportunity on a batted pass.

The Jackets were 5-5 in the red zone in the game, with three touchdowns and two short field goals.

“You guys see the catches and all that stuff, but it is the dirty work at that position. You have to run like a receiver and block like a lineman, and then all the alignments and positions before the snap,” Key said. “They had a good defensive line, and we wanted to get the ball to our sure-handed guys. We had one batted down that was for Seither in the seam that would’ve been a big play.”

Georgia Tech’s defense creates negative plays

Defensively, Georgia Tech held the Hokies to 367 yards of offense and 0-8 on third downs. Unfortunately, Virginia Tech converted 3 of 4 fourth downs.

Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones ran for 86 yards and a touchdown and threw two touchdowns as well. He was 13-21 passing for 181 yards.

The Jackets sacked him four times and pressured him multiple times with two other hurries. A.J. Hoffler had his first sack as a Yellow Jacket, and defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg and linebacker Kyle Efford each had a sack. Defensive tackle Matthew Alexander and defensive end Brayden Manley shared the other sack.

The Jackets had six TFLs in the game as well.

Efford led the Jackets with seven tackles.

“It was a solid day, there are a lot of things to clean up and we need to get back to work,” Efford said.

Cornerback Rodney Shelley had an interception as well in the secondary.

“In the moment, it felt great, first career interception, it was a big moment, it came my way and I’m thankful for that,” Shelley said.

Georgia Tech star cornerback Ahmari Harvey left the game in the fourth quarter with an apparent lower-body injury and did not leave the medical tent before the end of the game. He was unable to put any weight on his legs. Key did not offer an update on his status after the game.

Special Teams remain solid for the Jackets

Kicker Aidan Birr missed his first field goal on a 51-yard attempt that was blocked by the Hokies, but he hit his other two field goals.

Receiver Eric Rivers had a 42-yard punt return to set up the second touchdown of the game on the short field.

Punter Marshall Nichols had two punts in the game for a 54-yard average.

“Six-0 is a good accomplishment. We got some plays when we needed to, and we had a good plan of attack,” Key said. “We’d play good for two or three plays, and we’d have a bad play or a costly penalty. We had six penalties, and a few were very big, the two DPIs and the costly ones there.”

The Jackets head up to Durham next week to face 4-2 Duke at noon. The Blue Devils are on a bye this week. The Hokies fell to 2-5 and 1-2 in conference play with the loss.

DRIVE BY DRIVE

The Hokies won the toss and deferred. Shane Marshall took the opening kickoff 18 yards to the GT20. The Jackets moved the ball and picked up a chunk play on a personal foul call against defensive end Kemari Copeland to the VT38. After picking up a first down, Hosley broke off a 19-yard run to set up first and goal at the VT3. King punched it in on the next play. Malik Rutherford scored on a jet-sweep on the two-point conversion to put the Jackets up 8-0 early.

Virginia Tech got a penalty on an Aidan Birr touchback for a block in the back and started at their own 13. After picking up a first down, they moved backwards thanks to a TFL by Amontrae Bradford on first down and a sack by Kyle Efford on second down. A false start set up third and 20. The Jackets sacked Drones again on third down with the combo of Matthew Alexander and Brayden Manley to force a punt. Eric Rivers returned the punt 42 yards to the VT38.

After missing on a pass on first down, Jamal Haynes ran two times for 18 yards to the VT12. After picking up just four yards on the next two plays, King found Malik Rutherford for a 9-yard touchdown, and Birr hit the PAT to put the Jackets up 15-0.

After a Birr touchback, the Hokies start at their own 25. After two good plays by Ahmari Harvey, yielding just one yard, Zachary Tobe had a pass interference call against him that moved the ball to the VT41. Things stalled out at the GT41, and on 3rd and four after a timeout, the Hokies had a holding penalty back them up to midfield, and pressure by the GT defense forced an errant throw by Drones and a punt. The punt was downed at the GT3.

With bad field position, King picked up a first down on a run play on third and three, and Hosley broke off a 36-yard run to midfield. After a TFL on the next play, Luke Harpring caught a pass to the VT41 to set up third and manageable. King connected with Rivers on a 22-yard pass to the VT15 to put the Jackets in the red zone again. The Jackets got bottled up, and Birr came on to kick a 25-yard field goal.

After another touchback, a pass interference call on Rodney Shelley on first down gave the Hokies another 15 yards to their own 42. Drones scrambled across midfield two plays later. AJ Hoffler sacked him on the next play to back the Hokies up to their own 48. Andre Fuller caught a scrambling Drones to force third and long at the GT44. Fuller drilled Drones on third down, and his pass sailed out of bounds, leading to another punt that was downed at the GT1.

After picking up decent yardage on the first two plays, King was stuffed on third down, leading to Marshall Nichols’ first punt of the day. Nichols’ 53-yard punt didn’t give his coverage unit enough time to cover, and Isaiah Spencer returned the ball 14 yards to the GT46.

With good field position, Drones hit Takye Heath under pressure for 14 yards and on the next play scored on a 32-yard run on a QB read-option run to make it 18-7 with 3:13 left in the half.

Following a Hokies touchback, King couldn’t connect on a deep shot for Isiah Canion on first down, drawing boos from the crowd and a heated reaction from Brent Key. King hit Rutherford for 14 yards for a first down. King hit Harpring for 20 yards on the next play to take the game to the two-minute timeout. King connected with Harpring again for six yards. After Haynes was stuffed on second down, King found Rivers a yard short of the sticks, setting up fourth and one with 32 seconds left in the half. Key used his first timeout. Josh Beetham caught a rollout pass and rumbled to the VT1 32 yards. The Hokies were offsides on first down, moving the ball to the one-inch line with 17 seconds left. King lost two yards on the next play, and Tech burned their final timeout with 13 seconds left. King hit Canion in the end zone for a touchdown, but a hold on Keylan Rutledge wiped out the score, and Birr was forced to kick a short field goal to make it 21-7 Jackets with 4 seconds left.  

The Hokies put together a good drive to start the second half after the Birr touchback, driving to the GT34 on five plays. Tech’s defense stopped the Hokies on three straight plays, but a bust on 4th and 9 led to a 33-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ja’Ricous Harrison to make it 21-14 after the PAT with 11:34 left in the half.

Georgia Tech started the next drive at the GT25 following a touchback. King connected on two passes to Canion and Rivers for a first down and then hit tight end Brett Seither for 29 yards to the VT30. Haynes and Hosley ran for eight and seven yards each to the CT15. Hosley punched it in on the next play to make it 28-14 after the Birr PAT.

Following a touchback by Birr, the Hokies started the next drive at their own 25. The Hokies crossed midfield, but Rodney Shelley picked off Drones on second and 1, catching the ball at the GT31.

After two runs, on third and three, King hit Haynes out of the backfield for 12 yards, and a roughing the passer penalty moved the ball to the VT35. Malachi Carney was called for a hold on the next play to set up 1st and 20 at the VT45. The hold killed some momentum, and King had a pass batted down for Seither, and Stockton dropped a second down screen. Hosley picked up 11 yards to set up a field goal try for Birr from 51 yards out, and the Hokies’ Elhadji Fall blocked the field goal.  

The Hokies had a false start on first down, moving them back to their own 29. The Jackets held them to a three-and-out thanks to a QB pressure by Manley on third down. The Nick Veltsistas punt went 46 yards to the GT17, where Stockton fair caught it.

King ran for seven yards on first down, and Haynes picked up two on second down. King picked up the first down with a short run to the GT31. Haynes picked up eight yards on the next play, and after the third quarter break, Trelain Maddox broke off a nine-yard run to near midfield. King hit Rutherford for 16 yards to the VT36 on the next play. Harpring was flagged for a false start on the next play. Hosley erased that penalty with a 19-yard run to the VT22. After a negative play to Rivers, King scored on a 26-yard touchdown run to make it 35-14 Georgia Tech.

The Hokies picked up good yards on first down following the Birr touchback, picking up 28 yards on a Hawkins run to the GT47. A holding call moved the Hokies back to their own 43. After a four-yard gain, another hold moved the Hokies back to the 37. Hawkins ran for 10 yards, but Drones was stuffed on third down on a QB draw by van den Berg and Bradford. Drones hit Heath in the soft zone at the GT22 to convert. The Hokies drove down to the GT11. Tech stopped three rushes for eight yards to set up a fourth and two at the GT3 with five minutes left in the game. Drones hit Hairston for his second touchdown of the game. The two-point conversion failed thanks to a Harvey PBU, making it 35-20 with 4:58 left in the game.

Isiah Canion recovered the Hokies’ onside kick at the VT48. A short screen to Dean Patterson yielded one yard, but an unnecessary roughness penalty on Harrison Moore backed the Jackets up to the GT38. Haynes lost two yards on the next play and the Hokies used a timeout. King was stuffed on the QB power on third down and Montgomery burned his second timeout with 4:37. Nichols boomed a 55-yard punt that Spencer returned 14 yards to the VT25 with 4:24 left in the game.

Drones connected with Heath for 20 yards on first down and then hit connected with Ayden Greene to the GT20 on a 36-yard pass. On the next play van den Berg sacked Drones for a 12 yard loss with an intentional grounding penalty. Drones ran out of bounds on third down just short of the sticks and a host of Jackets led by Ronald Triplette stuffed him for a turnover on downs.

Haynes ran for 10 yards on first down to the GT23 at the two-minute timeout. Haynes ran for three yards on first down and King added six on the next play to set up third and one with just over a minute left. He converted on a run to win seal the victory for the Jackets.