Tech Prevails Over State In First- Ever Meeting
The Yellow Jackets Whupped Up On The Neighbors, 35-12
Mark it down. In their first ever meeting on the gridiron, Georgia Tech beat Georgia State on Saturday night at Bobby Dodd Stadium in a game that felt closer than the final score sounds.
For the second straight game, Tech gave up a long opening drive, but this time the Jackets' D stiffened at the goal line and turned the Panthers away with no points to show for their efforts.
Georgia State had come out with a no- huddle offense that quickly had them at first and goal on Tech's one yard line. From there, though, three run plays netted zero yards . A timeout was called by the downtowners, who came back out with a pass play that also failed, turning the ball over to Tech on their own one. For the visitors, that was a nine -play drive that covered 64 yards, using nearly five minutes– and yielded no points.
It's a discussion as old as the game of football– if you're an underdog and you are on the road ( admittedly , a short road in this case ) , do you kick the short field goal and get some points, or go for the touchdown and risk it all?
Georgia State chose the big prize and came up empty. But if Tech felt a big surge of momentum, it wasn't immediately apparent. They garnered a couple of first downs before coming up short on a third down pass from Haynes King to Avery Boyd. Following a David Shanahan net 45 yard punt, Georgia State took ownership on their own 20. From there the Panthers coughed the ball up on a second down run play. It was recovered by Zeek Biggers at the visitors' 20. From there Haynes King and company took six plays to punch it in, with Jamal Haynes doing the honors from a yard out. Following Aidan Birr's conversion of the PAT, it was Tech up 7- 0.
The Panthers connected on a short field goal following another long drive down inside Tech's five yard line to take it to 7-3.
Following a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, and with under four minutes in the half, King and crew took over at their 25. They methodically moved downfield to score another touchdown with only four seconds left in the half, this time on a short tun by Haynes King.
In some ways, this late-half possession exemplified the personality that has emerged for this team so far in 2024. It was unspectacular ( save for a long King run negated by a spurious holding call ). But it was productive. There was an air of confidence in the approach, including the decision to go for six on 4th down. Recall that same choice had backfired on Georgia State earlier in the game. Here, though, Tech produced a touchdown on a short run by their QB, sending them in with a 14-3 lead at the half, and with the knowledge that they were to receive the second half kickoff.
Still, the game was very much in play, and it felt much closer than 14-3 looks on the scoreboard. Statistically, the numbers were quite even, except for the one turnover by the GSU.
In the second half, Tech took quick control with two more touchdowns in their first two possessions. One came on a 25 -yard run by Eric Singleton. The next was a 52-yard completion from Haynes King to a wide open Malik Rutherford.
Tech's final tally came on a 22 yard td pass from Haynes King to Avery Boyd early in the final period.
For the Tech program, this 2-0 record represents a first since 2016. And while Key is pleased about that, he is not content. He called the game " a good win."
And then he added," Thought we did some good things. Thought we did some things we've go to work on,"
It would be a rare head coach who did not hone on on the problems, even with a win. That said, Key noted some specifics
He mentioned Tech's "..self- defeating errors", most notably the eight penalties . He noted that those mistakes can stop a drive by the offense, or prolong a drive by the opponents if they had the ball. The holding call that nullified King's long scoring run was the most obvious example.
By game's end, the Yellow Jackets had logged some impressive stats. They garnered 499 yards on the night, with Haynes King hitting 24 of 29 for 275 yards of that total. He threw for two scores and also threw his first interception of 2024.
Tech's run game was again potent, with Jamal Haynes leading the way with 84 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
Malik Rutherford led the receivers with seven catches for 131 yards and a score.
But perhaps the Yellow Jacket defense in aggregate was the star of the game. They surrendered 360 yards, but allowed only three of 12 third down conversions, and held on the goal line twice– plus the fumble recovery by Biggers. It was that clutch defense, led by LB Kyle Efford, that allowed Tech to steadily build the big second half lead.
That defense will be tested anew in a game at Syracuse next week. In the meantime– hey– the Jackets are 2-0.
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports.com