What an incredible day for Georgia Tech fans in attendance and watching from other locations on Saturday as the Jackets delivered one of the huge moments of the Brent Key era so far with a thrilling 28-23 victory over No. 4 Miami at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Here are the Big Plays and Takeaways from the victory that puts the Jackets at 6-4 overall and 4-3 in ACC play and more importantly sends them bowling for the 2024 season.
Big Plays
-Jamal Haynes' run on opening drive: We'll start all the way back on the opening possession as the Jackets got a much-needed explosive run to really shake off three full weeks of frustration after the running game was stymied in losses against Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. Haynes went 65 yards on the second play from scrimmage to set the tone for what would be a huge effort on the ground by the Jackets (271 yards on 48 carries), even after Jamal Haynes and backup Chad Alexander went out during the contest due to injury. The Georgia Tech offense showed with that run and with the whole first touchdown drive (4 plays, 85 yards) that it was ready to play a physical, run-first, trenches type game and dare Miami to stop it (which they didn't).
-Touchdown drive for the history books: After Miami took its only lead of the game with a field goal with 7:47 left in the first quarter to make it 10-7, Georgia Tech answered with a 17-play drive that lasted 10 minutes, 45 seconds of game clock and ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass on a middle screen from Haynes King to Malik Rutherford. The drive finally ended with 12:02 left in the second quarter after starting with 7:47 on the clock in the first. That drive, which definitely made the 2014 Orange Bowl champion team in attendance and head coach Paul Johnson proud, was good enough for the second-longest scoring drive in program history.
-Fourth-down stop on Miami's first possession of the second half: Leading 14-10 at the half, Georgia Tech's defense did some bend but don't break technique on Miami's first drive of the second half. The Canes drove it all the way to the Tech 39 before the defense rose up for a huge fourth-down stop to not only maintain the lead and momentum but set up the offense with solid field position.
-Chase Lane catch on 15-yard TD from Aaron Philo: After Georgia Tech had driven the ball deep into Miami territory midway through the third quarter thanks in large part to more of the punishing running game, the Jackets faced a third and 8 from the 15. Rather than play conservative and for the potential short field goal, head coach Brent Key and the offensive staff chose to let their player try to make a play as Philo lofted up a ball toward the end zone and Lane came down with a tremendous 15-yard touchdown catch to push the lead to two possessions and really put some game pressure on Miami as the score was then 21-10 with 6:46 left in the third quarter.
-Philo third-down connection to Bailey Stockton on answer drive: After Miami had cut the deficit to 21-16 late in the third quarter, Georgia Tech went right back to it on offense and got a huge conversion on third and long as Philo rolled and found former Prince Avenue Christian teammate Bailey Stockton for a 27-yard catch for a first down and deep into Miami territory. The Jackets went on to score early in the fourth quarter on a King 5-yard TD run to go back up two possessions at 28-16. What a gutsy play by a freshman on a gut-check third down.
-Tech defense gets fourth-down stop at own 28: Once again after the Tech score to go up 28-16, the Jackets' defense played some bend but don't break and came through with a huge fourth-down stop to keep the score right where it was with 10:04 left on the clock. Cam Ward scrambled and was put under pressure by Sylvain Yondjouen who narrowly missed a sack but forced Ward into a wild throw that fell incomplete and turned the ball over on downs back to the Jackets' offense.
-Philo completion to Malik Rutherford for third-down conversion: Philo again came through clutch as the Jackets faced a third and 8 after Miami had gotten the deficit to within a possession at 28-23. The freshman dropped back and found Mr. Reliable Malik Rutherford for a first down to the Tech 33 which allowed the Jackets to chew up more clock late in the game with less than five minutes to play.
-Strip-sack by Romello Height, fumble recovery by Jordan van den Berg on Miami's final offensive chance: The Georgia Tech defensive line, which has been put under scrutiny this season at times due to lack of pass rush, came through when it needed to multiple times on Saturday, but the biggest play came with Miami backed up on what proved to be its final offensive possession. Cam Ward was forced to scramble due to great coverage downfield by the Tech secondary and Height caught him from behind to jar the ball loose on the sack as van den Berg was their waiting to fall on the ball for the fumble recovery to give the ball back to the Jackets at the Miami 17 with less than two minutes remaining and the Canes only having two timeouts.
-Eric Singleton first down and slide to end the game: Facing a third and short with a little more than a minute left and deep in Miami territory, receiver Eric Singleton came in motion, took the pop pass from QB Haynes King, found space around the edge and ran for the first down. The sophomore could've easily sprinted all the way into the end zone, but made the high-IQ, football-savvy play to slide down inbounds and seal the game as Miami was all out of timeouts and couldn't stop the clock. How's that for a sophomore to know that is the right play at the right time?
Takeaways
Run game is back: It's been such an up and down year for the running game, but it announced itself back in a big way on Saturday. The Jackets ran for 271 yards on 48 carries even with a banged up offense that got even more banged up when Jamal Haynes and Chad Alexander were lost to injury during Saturday's win. The offensive line went to work against Miami's defense, and the Canes simply couldn't stop it.
Good time for a great win: As I've mentioned on JOL and on social media, Georgia Tech hosted a huge group of recruits that featured very high-profile targets for the 2025 class and beyond. So that was a great time for Georgia Tech and head coach Brent Key to show that the program and the atmosphere is for real, and it's something that should be enticing to come join and make it even better. I'll have recruit reactions over the next couple days so stay tuned for that.
Haynes King is a tough son of a gun: It was apparent that King was still not 100 percent and gutting things out on Saturday, but he showed just how important this team is to him by simply refusing to come out of the game despite still dealing with his shoulder issues. Even further, he was a huge part of the big rushing day with 93 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Guy will go down as an all-time fan favorite for Georgia Tech, no matter if he comes back next year or not. He's so fun to watch and a true hard-nosed, tough football player that you can tell cares so much about winning football games.
Credit to Key and staff: It's easy to criticize coaches when things aren't going well but folks seem to forget to give them credit when things go well sometimes. So shout-out to Brent Key and his staff for taking a team that is absolutely battered and bruised and got even more that way during Saturday's game and figuring out a gameplan to beat No. 4 Miami. Not only beat them, but physically won the game in all areas. The Jackets were operating with a less than 100 percent Haynes King (I would estimate closer to 70 percent), without starting corner Warren Burrell, a less than 100 percent Kyle Efford, without Jamal Haynes and Chad Alexander for the full game on Saturday after in-game injuries and with so many other guys banged up. That's the mark of a good coaching staff is getting the most out of their guys even in the worst circumstances.
Jackets are bowl eligible: After falling to 5-4 with the loss at Virginia Tech, the schedule in front looked daunting especially factoring in the Jackets' injury issues. But Georgia Tech won't have to wait until the final two games to get that bowl-clinching win. They went ahead and took care of it on Saturday against No. 4 Miami. Now a lot of the pressure is off, the Jackets have another off week to try to heal up a little bit more and see if they can add on some gravy with a win over NC State or maybe even those hated Georgia Bulldogs.
Jackets fans brought it: I was a little worried when the student section and a lot of seats were still empty as kickoff was approaching, but the student section arrived shortly after and were great all game. Georgia Tech fans streamed in as well to help cancel out some of the awful orange that was in the building. And the home crowd was loud an engaged the whole way through. They were rewarded with a chance to storm the field for a second straight year. There were still way too many Miami fans in the building so that is a discussion for another day about too easily giving up tickets to visitors, but kudos to the Tech faithful for a great day in the stands as they were able to make an impact in the game.
