Tech cruises 48-13 after a long weather delay over SC State

ATLANTA- After a two-hour and 23-minute delay, Georgia Tech knocked off South Carolina State 48-13. Weather impacted games across the southeast and east coast on Saturday including the Jackets in the home opener. The delay didn’t do much to slow down the Tech offense. The Jackets did not punt on Saturday and racked up 578 yards of offense including going 6-10 on third downs and 1-1 on fourth downs in the game.

The win was number 750 for the Tech program. Jackets' head coach Brent Key wasn't thinking about that or anything other than finishing the week 1-0 and improving after the close loss to Louisville last week.

"I challenged our guys during the week in a lot of areas to play a complete game," Key said. "I didn't know (it was win 750) and it doesn't matter to these guys. We had a chance to go out and establish this team and compete and get better and improve this team each week."

The Tech defense gave up some run plays, but overall held South Carolina State’s option rushing attack in check only giving up 196 yards on the ground on 42 attempts.

Haynes King led the Jackets’ offense throwing for 290 yards with four touchdowns on 21-29 passing.

"We honed in and preached about execution," King said of the fast start. "Looking this past week with Louisville, what stopped us was our own execution. So we honed in onit and we preached it every day, every rep and showed out this week. We still left some stuff out there on the drives we didn't finish."

Jamal Haynes led the ground game with 113 yards on nine carries including a 67-yard run at the of the first half to set up a late touchdown for the Jackets. Before his long run ahead of the half, he said that he had one thing on his mind, protect the ball.

"As a running back, ball security is job security so the first thing was to take care of the ball. I had defensive end slamming I saw in my peripheral and made the move and did what do," Haynes said.

Trey Cooley ran for 93 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown, but he fumbled into the end zone on an early drive. Cooley had two catches for 61 yards and a touchdown.

Dontae Smith had 32 yards rushing on five carries and Evan Dickens added 29 yards on six carries later in the game.

The Tech offense racked 268 yards on 33 carries while the passing game added 310 yards and four touchdowns.

Eric Singleton Jr hauled in 3 passes for 69 yards including a 40-yard touchdown from King. Malik Rutherford added five catches for 60 yards and Dominick Blaylock added four catches for 46 yards and a touchdown.

Tight end Brett Seither played limited snaps but caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from King in the first half.

Defensively, Kyle Kennard had a huge game with an interception on the first drive of the game and a tackle, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery as well.

“It was a play we prepared for all week and we had a play designed for it and it opened it up and I saw the QB lift his head up and I thought is he really going to throw it,” Kennard said of his interception.

Kennard ended the day with five tackles as well.

Eddie Kelly led the team with nine total tackles before leaving in the fourth quarter with a lower-body injury. Kelly was subbing for injured defensive end Sylvain Yondjouen who will miss the 2023 season with an ACL injury.

Kyle Efford came off the bench and had seven tackles at linebacker behind Paul Moala at MAC linebacker.

“It was a blessing for me and those guys and especially seeing Kyle who has not seen much football. Seeing them fly around and seeing them as a top tackler and seeing them make plays is great,” Moala said of the backup linebackers.

On the defensive side of the ball, Key said the only downside was some missed tackles in space. He saw progress in that area after missed tackles were huge in the loss to Louisville the week prior.

"We definitely saw progress in all three phases on defense. There are still things we are working on and that is the beauty of the game of football. You can come back and enjoy the night and enjoy the win which we always do but when we come back our job is to correct mistakes and identify mistakes and things we have to continue getting better at," Key said.

After missing another field goal, Gavin Stewart was replaced by redshirt freshman Aidan Birr who connected on both of his field goals and two PATs. Stewart had missed three straight field goals to open the 2023 season after 12-13 last year on field goals and 13 of 14 on PATs.

"I told Aidan you're up. I just wanted Gavin to sit back and see it and calm stuff down. He was still booming it through the end zone on kickoffs which was really good for field position but we made a change to give Aidan a look and he has got a strong leg and a bright future," Key said. "It was a good opportunity for him to get out there."

The weather delay loomed large for the Jackets. Both teams hit the field 20 minutes late and after the coin toss as the Jackets went on the field, the officials delayed the game a second time and Key said that was a challenge for his team.

“After the first one, we came back in and kept our pads on and stayed in engaged. We didn’t know if it would be 20 minutes and 10 minutes before we go back in or what. We rode the clock out and we backed the clock up and gathered up in the locker room and did flex inside and headed outside to dynamic flexibility and did five minutes of Indy. The second one we didn’t know how long it would be and it was 20 plus 10 and the lightning increased more and more, when we learned it would be an hour or more, we got the pads off and ate food. Three or four hours before kickoff we eat so we had to eat again and refuel them. This is not the right recipe at all and we cranked the music up and got the guys engaged and they were ready to go,” Key said of the delay.

Injured Jackets Leo Blackburn and Sylvain Yondjouen both recovering from ACL injuries were not dressed. Receiver D.J. Moore was not dressed and he was in a sling. Jamie Felix was not dressed but was not injured either. True freshmen Steven Jones Jr., Nico Dowdell, Malcolm Pugh, Ezra Odinjor, Benjamin Galloway, Patrick Screws Jr., Elias Cloy, Zion Taylor and Bryston Dixon were not dressed.

South Carolina State had the ball first after Tech deferred. LaMiles Brooks had a PBU on second down and Kyle Kennard intercepted the ball and returned the ball to the GT15.

Tech tried to outside screen passes for minus two yards before Malik Rutherford converted on third and long with a 14-yard catch to set up first and goal. Jamal Haynes punched it in on the next play from four yards out to put GT up 7-0.

After a touchback, SC State picked up four yards on the ground on two run plays before an errant third-down throw led to a punt.

After a short punt, the Jackets started at their own 40. On second down, Trey Cooley broke off a 14-yard run on his second touch. King hit Malik Rutherford for a 19-yard gain on the next play to the SCST27. Cooley picked up 21 yards on the next play to the SCST6 to set up first and goal. After a pair of runs, Dominick Blaylock caught his first career pass at Georgia Tech for a three-yard touchdown from King.

South Carolina State switched quarterbacks from Corey Fields to Andre Washington for the next drive. The move worked as Washington used the option on two runs to pick up 14 yards and their initial first down of the game. After a false start, the Bulldogs picked up 10 yards on the next two plays and converted on third and five to cross midfield to the GT48 on a Washington run. A hold backed SCState up to their 45 to set up first and 17. Eddie Kelly snuffed out the option on second down to set up third and long. KJ Wallace deflected the third-down pass to force a punt.

Tech following a 30-yard punt took over at their own 22. Jamal Haynes picked up 11 yards on first down to the GT33. Haynes picked up seven on first down and then Cooley converted on third and short to the GT41. Singleton caught a nine-yard pass on first down. Cooley converted on second down to the SCST37. Chase Lane hauled in a 23-yard pass to the SCST14. Cooley was hit on a targeting call at the SCST6 on a swing pass. Aiden Webber from the Bulldogs was ejected from targeting, but Cooley fumbled on the next play into the end zone for a touchback.

Washington was back in at QB for the Bulldogs and ran for 17 yards on a broken play. Kevin Harris dropped Washington for a five-yard loss on first down. He pitched the ball into the GT bench on the next play and Clayton Powell-Lee chased him out of bounds on third down to force a punt. Bailey Stockton just missed blocking the punt and Dominick Blaylock picked up 13 yards on the short punt to the GT38.

King opened up with a rollout pass to an open Lane for 14-yards. Haynes picked up five yards on the next play and then ran for a first down to the SCST37 on a 7-yard run. King hit Eric Singleton Jr. for a 40-yard touchdown after a three-yard loss on a pass to Haynes. Tech opened up a 21-0 lead with 8:30 left in the half.

South Carolina State went three and out on the next drive thanks to Eddie Kelly coming up with a shoestring tackle on the QB to force a punt. The line drive punt was returned three yards by Blaylock to the GT36.

Dontae Smith made his first appearance of the day on the next series and ran for two yards. Blaylock picked up six on a comeback route to set up third and two at the GT44. Smith picked up 14 yards but was called for an offensive facemask to move the Jackets back to the GT43, making it third and three. Smith converted again to the GT48. On second down Christian Leary picked up 25 yards on a pass from King to the SCST27. Leary lost three yards on the next play and then King couldn’t hit his receivers on the next plays thanks to good coverage by the Bulldogs. Gavin Stewart missed a 47-yard field goal.

Taking over at their own 30, Myles Sims snuffed out a screen pass for just three yards. Fields converted on third down after Jaylon King slipped and lost his man in the middle of the field to the GT42. Tech failed to stop SC State on third and three after two broken tackles by Keshawn Toney. Sims was called for pass interference on a play where Makius Scott’s jersey was ripped off him on a hold. Fields hit Jordan Smith for a 13-yard gain to the GT1 and Kacy Fields scored from one yard out to make it 21-6 after Jaylon King blocked the PAT.

Haynes broke off a 67-yard run on first down to the SCST8 to set up first and goal. Key called his first timeout with 20 seconds left. King hit Seither for an eight-yard touchdown on the next play to make it 28-6.

The Bulldogs took a knee to end the half down 28-6 to Tech.

Haynes returned the second-half kickoff 31 yards to the GT45 and Cooley caught a short pass and went 55 yards for a touchdown to open up a 35-6 lead following the PAT by Aidan Birr in his first career action.

Following a touchback, State moved to their 45 on a Washington run and then Jawarn Howell took a pitch 47 yards to the GT10. Washington punched the ball in on third and goal at the one to make it 35-13 Georgia Tech with 11:39 left in the third quarter.

Leary returned the kickoff 24 yards to the GT32 on the next kickoff. Rutherford picked up 15 yards on the pop pass sweep to the GT45. Blaylock picked up 23 yards on the next play on a rollout pass to the 30. Haynes ran for 15 yards on the next play to the SCST15. Haynes gained two yards on the next two plays. King couldn’t connect with Avery Boyd on third down and Birr hit a 30-yard field goal to make it 38-13.

The Bulldogs started again at their own 25 and drove across midfield on five plays. After slowing down the SC State attack, Fields hit Toney for a first down at the GT33. Kyle Kennard forced and scooped up a fumble at the GT26.

Leary picked up three yards on a pop pass and then Malik Rutherford picked up 14 yards on a quick pass to the GT43. Cooley picked up 16 yards on the next carry to the SCST 41. King overshot Singleton in the end zone. Cooley ran for seven yards on second down. King threw away the next pass and Tech went for it on fourth down and Blaylock hauled in a pass for a 14-yard gain to the SCST20. After a misfire on first down to Cooley and an offsides penalty, Cooley ran in a 15-yard touchdown to make it 45-13 Georgia Tech.

Zeek Biggers stopped Washington on first down and the Jackets forced a loss of two on second down to set up third and long. Harris and Kennard forced Washington to throw the ball away and SC State to punt.

Blaylock returned the punt 19 yards to the GT 40. Zach Pyron entered the game at quarterback and ran for four yards on first down. Dontae Smith ran for 10 yards on second down to the SCST46. Pyron hit Singleton for a 20-yard gain on second down to the SCST25. The drive stalled out and Birr came on and hit a 42-yard field goal to make it 48-13.

Kyle Kennard had a TFL on second down but the Bulldogs converted on third down after picking up eight yards on first down to move to the SCST38. Eddie Kelly had to leave the game with an injury to his lower body on the play. Tech stopped the Bulldogs on the next three plays and forced a punt. Rodney Shelley returned the punt 18 yards to the GT43.

With decent field position, Evan Dickens was stuffed in the backfield with the backup offensive line in for a loss and Pyron’s first pass of the series was tipped and intercepted by defensive end Jablonski Green at the GT38.

Josh Shaw ran twice for four yards and couldn’t convert on two passing attempts to force a turnover on downs at the GT30.

Evan Dickens picked up a first down to the GT40 on second down with a 10-yard run. He ended the day with a 19-yard run on third down on the final play of the game.