Tech Whips Duke
The Yellow Jackets Used A Big 4th Quarter To Bounce The Blue Devils From The Ranks Of The Unbeaten, 24- 14
Ahhh....This was more like it. A superior run game. No turnovers. An efficient passing game. Solid place-kicking. And a stout defense.
For about 10-12 minutes of the fourth quarter, Georgia Tech looked a lot like the team that vanquished UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl last December. Self-aware. Self-assured. Purposeful. Confident. Smart. Efficient. Unselfish. Cohesive.
Mix it all together and you have a winning recipe for Georgia Tech. Brent Key and his charges used that recipe to beat Duke Saturday night in Atlanta.
Tech seemed in control for most of the game. They moved the ball against some pretty tough field position and they accumulated a big discrepancy in time of possession. But until the 4th stanza, they had not put Duke away. In fact, they trailed much of the second half until early in that 4th period.
Then the Tech offense came alive. An 85 yard drive used 14 plays, taking seven minutes and ending with with a three yard pass from Haynes King to Jamal Haynes in the right flat. Aidan Birr converted the PAT and Tech had the lead. They came right back with their next possession to cover 70 yards on seven plays. This time, King found Eric Singleton on an inside screen and he went nine yards against the grain of the defense for the score.
Now Tech was up by 10 and had the game in control. Any faint hope the Blue Devils had was snuffed out by an interception by Ahmari Harvey inside the final minute.
( photo courtesy Georgia Tech Athletics)
Georgia Tech QB Haynes King had an efficient game, throwing for 167 yards and the two scores, hitting on 23 of 31 passes. He also ran for 30 yards on 12 carries , with no fumbles or interceptions. Tech's RB Jamal Haynes ran with his old familiar flash, going for 128 yards on 19 carries.
On the flip side, the Jackets' defense did a good job of containing Duke's attack, allowing only 279 total yards and converting a puny three of 11 on third downs. Duke's runming game was squelched. They gained only 74 yards on the ground, leaving the offensive burden to QB Maalik Murphy who had a decent day but was stopped short repeatedly on third down.
A bright spot for Tech was sophomore RB Chad Alexander who had 10 carries for 59 yards. And super sub QB Zach Pyron scored again on a short run, hitting paydirt for the fourth time this season.
Tech next takes on North Carolina in Chapel Hill . The Tar Heels sit at 3-3 after a 3-0 start. The first of those three losses was to James Madison by a 70-50 score. In that game, UNC allowed over 600 yards to the James Madison offense. The following week the Tar Heels fell to Duke by a point after building a 20 point lead.
UNC's defensive coordinator is Geoff Collins. Collins was fired by Georgia Tech after a 1-3 start in 2022, his fourth year at the helm. Brent Key then took over as interim coach and led Tech to a 4-4 finish that year before being formally named as head coach at the Institute.
Especially given UNC's defensive struggles, Tech hopes to continue its improved offensive performance working against their former head coach and the Tsr Heel defense.
At 2-2 in the ACC, and with four league games remaining, Tech still has a shot at making the conference championship game . To stay in that position, the Jackets must take care of UNC next Saturday.
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports.com