Tech Comes Back To Whip Wake Forest
Georgia Tech came alive in the 2nd half and ran away from Wake Forest to win 38-24. An enthusiastic Homecoming night crowd at Bobby Dodd Stadium saw the Jackets overcome a 21-13 halftime deficit to claim their 3rd ACC win in 4 tries on the 2017 season.
Tech came into the contest still smarting from a last-minute one-point road loss to #8 Miami last week. For the first 30 minutes, the Yellow Jackets looked to be in hangover mode. They mustered only 13 first-half points, and the last 3 of those came on a 42-yard field goal by Brendan King as time expired in the 2nd quarter.
Prior to that, the game had been a seesaw battle. Wake’s QB John Swofford had an efficient first half with two TD passes helping build that 21-13 lead. Tech’s attack sputtered somewhat in the first half with several key penalties halting drives. Tech Coach Paul Johnson cited those difficulties in his postgame remarks, saying “We couldn’t get lined up. We talked about it at halftime.”
That talk brought quick results in the 2nd half. Tech QB TaQuon Marshall circled the right end and with the help of good blocking from his line and from WR Ricky Jeune, he blazed in from 49 yards to narrow the score to 21-19. Tech’s attempt at a two-point conversion failed. Wake mounted a short drive ending with a field goal from Weaver, but just a few minutes later, Tech was right back in the end zone courtesy of Qua Searcy ‘ s 42-yard TD jaunt. Again the 2 point try failed, leaving Tech on top at 25-24.
The Demon Deacons again were unable to drive and Tech’s next possession ended with a KirVonte Benson touchdown. On this occasion, Johnson elected to kick the PAT, but it was blocked after an errant snap.
And so, the home team was left with a 7 point lead, and the specter of last week’s loss at Miami weighed on everyone’s mind. Sure enough, the Deacs moved the ball down inside the Tech 30 before the Yellow Jacket defense stuffed Wake running back Cade Carney on a 4th and 1 to give the ball back to the Yellow Jackets.
Here, Marshall struck again on a counter play, scoring on a 70-yard sprint around the right side to ice the game for Tech.
The Yellow Jackets travel to South Carolina next week to face Clemson in a nationally televised Saturday night match.