It looked like Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King's junior season might end after a shoulder injury in Chapel Hill in early October. The Jackets shut down their starting quarterback for the first time in his two seasons on the Flats. He returned in the Miami game almost a month later but could not throw the ball vertically or really beyond a few yards past the line of scrimmage. Instead, King became an option quarterback in a two-quarterback system with true freshman Aaron Philo using the freshman as the passer. Philo helped guide a comeback win over NC State last week.
JOL broke the news of the decision to redshirt Philo on Friday morning and that the staff planned to roll with King. That decision seemed to indicate that King was feeling better. The staff did the same routine with King from the last two games where he skipped some vertical throws in warmups and then came out for 7v7 drills and 11v11 drills before the game. Tech head coach Brent Key said that King had been building up toward being closer to his old self during practice after the NC State game leading into UGA week.
"This week, as soon as we knew he could throw, we didn't know it would be as good as it was until right before the game," Key said of King's performance. "He was throwing the ball better and better this week so we had high hopes."
King looked like the healthy version of himself in the near-upset win over #6 Georgia. He threw for 303 yards and hit on 26 of 36 passing attempts while rushing 24 times for 110 yards and accounted for five touchdowns and three 2-point conversions in overtime in the air.
"He was a warrior and he is one of the toughest kids I've ever been around in my life," Key said of King's performance against Georgia. "He wills others around him and I'm proud him of and all of them."
King to his credit took zero satisfaction in his performance and coming back from his injury, he just wanted to beat Georgia.
"It is definitely tough, but right now my emotional state is I'm tired of feeling like this and tired of playing your heart out and doing all of this until the last play and always coming up short. I'm tired of feeling that way right now," King said.
Despite his stellar performance, King blamed himself for a late fumble that set up a short 32-yard touchdown drive that allowed Georgia to tie the game in regulation at 40-40. On the play there was a borderline targeting play not called and King said the hit was perfect and dislodged the ball.
"Everybody says it is nobody's fault, but at the end of the day, with me being who I am, I can't let that fumble happen towards the end, I have to have six points of pressure on the ball and two hands. I know he made a really good hit on the ball with his helmet and the ball popped out, but I can't let that happen," King said.
King said there are no moral victories after a close loss like this.
"You either get it done or you don't," King said. "We didn't and that is just how it is."
