Tech dismantled Virginia 45-17 moving to 4-2 in ACC play

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- Georgia Tech snapped a three-game losing streak to Virginia with a 45-17 blowout win over the Cavilers to move over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2018 season when Paul Johnson retired at 5-4 on the year and 4-2 in league play while Virginia dropped to 2-7 on the season and 1-4 in ACC play. The win also snapped a pattern of a loss and then a win for the Jackets with the first back-to-back wins this season under first-year full-time coach Brent Key.

“It was a good team win, it really was. First off, to have a win like we did last week, and then to come out and prepare, to have the right mindset and to put the work in this week to put us in a position to come out here today and to have a good team win, I thought, was important. I thought it was important that we were able to put one game behind us and prepare the way you're supposed to prepare, but also have the mindset, the right way to be able to play for four quarters. I thought that's what the guys did. I thought we were playing a team (in Virginia) - they've been playing really good football. They have been improving, playing with a lot of confidence. They've been doing a good job against the run, we're able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides. I thought the defense really came out and played much better today and they played faster. You can see the culmination of a couple of weeks now. They're starting to come together and play in the same calls and doing the execution of those things and getting the signals. I thought it was much cleaner with the substitutions on the sideline today," Key said.

The Jackets did it behind a dominant performance by the offense and opportunistic play by the Tech defense.

Tech ran for 305 yards on 44 carries and five rushing touchdowns in the win while holding Virginia to 134 yards on the ground on 29 carries.

"I'm happy for the kids and I'm happy for those guys up front that are that are playing together," Key said of the run game. "We knew coming in this game there were going to be some minus-one, minus-two runs. We knew there was going to be some zero-to-one-yard gains, and we had to stay with it. With the running game comes the perimeter games - the perimeter screens, the passing game, some of the shot plays. All in all, it opens up everything and I think it allows the quarterback to sit back and really do what he does best - be the coach on the field, manage the game, put the ball where it needs to be and run the offense.”

It was the first win for Tech in Charlottesville since 2013. This was just the fourth win in Scott Stadium since the 1990 season.

"All in all, I thought it was a good win. A really good win for us to come up here to Charlottesville. This place has been, historically, a tough place for us to play. My first career win here, so I thought that was pretty cool too, but a lot of years of trying, a lot of years. I thought coming into the game they were playing as good of football as anybody in the conference, and for our guys to come out in that second half after getting a lead and then continue to put the pedal down. So, give credit to the coaching staff for putting together a good plan and credit to the players for executing. All around, just a good team win," Key said.

The 28-point margin of victory was Georgia Tech’s largest win margin in an ACC game since a 66-31 win at Louisville on Oct. 5, 2018.

Tech quarterback Haynes King was very efficient passing for 208 yards and a touchdown on 23 of 30 passing while adding 83 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just seven carries.

"When you have balance it keeps the defense guessing. We have dudes everywhere and I just have to get the ball to them," Haynes King said. "That's my job, just get the ball to them and distribute the ball."

Jamal Haynes eclipsed the 100-yard marked the second time of his career and this season with 119 yards on the ground on 17 carries with a touchdown.

His running mate, senior Dontae Smith added 78 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns including a key touchdown right before the half of 33 yards on a play where Brent Key was just trying to burn the clock and set up a long field goal facing 3rd and 14 with just 35 seconds left. That put the Jackets up 24-7 and the Cavs did not pull within two scores again despite getting a field goal thanks to a key penalty on the final drive before the half.

"We wanted to get points there. When you are in the middle eight of the game and we knew we were getting the ball to start the second half, we wanted to get points and we were at the (33) yard line on the fringe of our field goal bar which was the 34. We wanted to run the ball there and then burn the clock, call a timeout and kick it. He ends up breaking it and scoring," Key said of Smith's touchdown run.

The Jackets outscored Virginia 21-3 in the second quarter to pull ahead for good.

Freshman receiver Eric Singleton Jr. had a pair of uncharacteristic drops in the game, but he atoned for those mistakes with a five-catch 80 yard performance including a 58-yard touchdown where he simply outran the coverage and King connected with him.

Smith added 35 yards in the receiving game out of the backfield while three other Jackets, senior receiver Dominick Blaylock, senior tight end Dylan Leonard, and slot receiver Malik Rutherford added three catches each.

Tech's offensive line played well again allowing just one sack in the game as they continue to be among the leaders in pass protection.

Defensively it took the Jackets a bit to get going, but the defense made plays at key times to change momentum. The Jackets held Virginia to five three-and-outs and only gave up points on one of seven straight drives from the end of the first quarter when Virginia missed a field goal until the fourth quarter.

“We talked at halftime about it. Our M.O. has been playing four quarters. We're playing four independent quarters every football game. You own quarters over, we play another. We see we played for 15 minutes and see who comes out on top. That's the way we're going about it. So really, the first half had nothing to do with the second half. I challenged the guys at half to stay in the moment, to play together, to lay it on the line. All that mattered was that moment. It wasn’t the outcome of the game; it wasn’t the outcome of those plays. We just stayed in the moment. I thought they did that,” Key said of the overall performance.

Georgia Tech knocked out Virginia starting quarterback Tony Muskett on the opening drive of the game on a hit by Eddie Kelly that reinjured his ankle forcing Anthony Colandrea into the game thus burning his redshirt Tony Elliott was aiming to save.

Colandrea threw for 200 yards but it took him 37 attempts to get that yardage. He also led the Cavs with 33 yards rushing on seven carries while being sacked twice.

“We’ll discuss that as a staff," Elliott said of his quarterback situation as he had to burn Colandrea's shirt in the game. "I don't know what the severity is with (Tony) Muskett. The preliminary is saying high ankle sprain, and so I don't know the timetable on that. I know that he got taped up and tried to go, and that's why you saw us go with Grady (Brosterhous) because they said “hey, we might be five minutes” and so let’s play Grady and until we knew for sure. Once he got taped up and put his shoe back on and tried to put pressure on it, he wasn't able to go. That's been the plan all along, and we articulated that to (Anthony) Colandrea and he was good with it and he understood. Going forward, we'll see what the health of Tony is and then make that determination.”

Tech had six tackles for a loss in the game. Kyle Kennard and D'Quan Douse each had a sack on Colandrea.

Virginia was only 3 for 12 on third downs in the game.

Kyle Efford led all Jackets with 10 total tackles followed by Jaylon King who added 7 total tackles and an interception in the red zone just outside of the goal line.

"Our main focus was being able to play a complete game for 60 minutes on both sides of the ball and special teams. And I felt like we were able to, to successfully do that. The offense put up points when we needed them to and the defense was able to get stops when we needed to. I feel like we're able to do a complete game on both sides of the ball."

Senior corner Myles Sims also added an interception on a great play downfield early in the game on the play where Muskett was knocked out.

"Today it was just all a matter of execution and staying consistent. I know over the season we've been on and off today we just really focus on the main thing is sticking to our keys what we had to get accomplished," Sims said.

The one bright note for Virginia was Malik Washington's 11 catch and 109 yard-performance pushed him over 1,000 yards receiving on the season faster than any Virginia player in school history.

"“I've tried my best to deliver. I think I still haven't played my best and I’ve gotta be able to put together my best game. Whether that's catching the ball, blocking or whatever the case may be,” Washington said.

Tech also won the special teams battle with Aidan Birr hitting a 41-yard field goal and hitting all of his PATs while Virginia kicker Will Bettridge was 1 for 2 with a miss from 48 yards. Jackets' punter David Shanahan pinned three of his five punts inside the UVA 20 as well. Those three inside the 20 yielded no points for the Cavs. Gavin Stewart had four touchbacks on his five kickoffs and Birr had three additional kickoffs that were each returned for short yardage.

Georgia Tech won the toss and deferred to the second half. Aidan Birr kicked off. Malik Washington picked up 11 yards on first down on a pop pass. Two runs moved the ball to the UVA46. Eddie Kelly hit Tony Muskett and Myles Sims intercepted a deep pass at the GT11.

Haynes King hit Eric Singleton Jr. for seven yards on first down, Dominick Blaylock lost a yard on a screen on the next play and Jamal Haynes picked up just one yard in the air on the next play to force a punt. David Shanahan hit a 58-yard punt returned six yards to the UVA30.

Grady Brosterhous took over at quarterback for the Cavs on the next series. Mike Hollins picked up 11 yards on first down, a play later Malik Washington picked up 20 yards on a pass on Brosterhous’ first career pass attempted to the GT37. Hollins picked up another first down to the GT26 on two rushes. Anthony Colandrea entered the game at quarterback at that point. JR Wilson caught a pass down to the GT10 to set up first and goal. Colandrea hit backup tight end Josh Rawlings for a 10-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead on the Jackets with 8:30 left in the first quarter.

A good kickoff return by Christian Leary and a penalty on the kickoff on Virginia put the ball at the GT43 to start the drive. Jamal Haynes picked up 18 yards on first down to the UVA39. Haynes picked up five yard on the next play, but a screen to Rutherford was sniffed out and King misfired on third down. Key opted to go for it and King hit Dominick Blaylock for 8-yards to the UVA27. After losing a yard on first down, Dontae Smith ran to the UVA24 to set up third and seven.

After a short Birr kickoff that Perris Jones returned to the UVA31, the Cavs opened up the next drive with Colandrea at QB again. Jaylon King nearly intercepted the first pass of the drive. Trenilyas Tatum tackled Jones for a two-yard loss on second down. Tatum picked off a third-down pass, but a facemask on Makius Scott wiped out the interception moving the ball to the UVA44. Biggers tackled a Virginia running back for a loss on second down to force third and long at the UVA44. Colandrea spun away from a free blitzing Tatum to pick up 15 yards. King broke up a pass on first down and Eddie Kelly batted down a screen attempt on the next play. Colandrea hit Wilson for six yards to set up a fourth and four attempt at the GT35. Colandrea picked up the first down on the next play on a keeper for seven yards. LaMiles Brooks broke up a second down pass to force third and six at the GT25. Kennard sacked Colandrea on third down to force a field goal attempt that UVA missed.

Tech start at their own 37 and Haynes picked up six yards on first down and three yards on second down to set up third and one. Singleton caught a screen for a first down at the GT41. King couldn’t connect on a deep shot for Leary on the next play. King ran for seven yards on the next play to the GT48. Smith picked up the first down with a run to the UVA43. King hit Seither just short of the sticks and Haynes picked up the first down on a quick snap. Haynes picked up 11 yards on first down to the UVA20. Dylan Leonard caught a short pass for five yards to the UVA15 on first down. Smith ran two times for the first down to set up first and goal at the UVA10. Leonard caught a short pass and a facemask put the ball on the UVA2 and set up first and goal again. King punched it in to give GT a 10-7 lead with 8:42 left.

After a short kickoff returned by the upback to the UVA33, the Cavs started the next drive. Two runs set up third and inches for UVA at the 43. Kenan Johnson stripped Colandrea on the first down run and Jaylon King recovered the ball at the UVA48.

King lost a yard on first down but hit Rutherford for a first down on the next play at the UVA39 for 11 yards. The Jackets got off schedule on the next sequence with a Smith run for no yards then a screen for one yard and a blitz on King produced a misfire to Leonard on third down. David Shanahan’s punt was downed at the UVA6 by Evan Dickens.

Perris Jones ran for three yards on first down. Eddie Kelly stopped Washington for a TFL on second down and LaMiles Brooks broke up the third-down pass to force a Virginia punt. Blaylock returned the punt 23 yards to the UVA48.

Singleton dropped the first down screen pass. King ran for a first down on a QB keeper to the UVA38 on the next play. King hit Luke Benson for six yards to set up third and 6 at the UVA34. King broke through the UVA defense for a 34-yard touchdown to make it 17-7 Georgia Tech with 2:24 left in the half.

Gavin Stewart took back over on the kickoff and hit it into the end zone. Makius Scott broke up the first down pass. Malachi Fields picked up seven on second down and Zeek Biggers batted down the third down pass to force a punt.

Starting at their own 30, Haynes picked up 12 yards on first down. King ran for 29 yards on the next play to the UVA29. A hold on the next play backed Tech up to the UVA39. Smith caught a screen for no yards on first down and Key burned his second timeout with 48 seconds left. Haynes ran for five yards on the next play forcing Key to burn his final timeout with 35 seconds left. Smith ran a 33-yard touchdown to give Tech a 24-7 lead over Virginia.

Stewart’s kickoff sailed through the end zone and UVA took over with 28 seconds left. Kobe Pace picked up 13 yards on first down and called a timeout with 19 seconds left. A sack on Colandrea was wiped out by a facemask penalty and then Colandrea hit Malik Washington for 25 yards to set up a 39-yard field goal that cut the Tech lead to 14, 24-10 at the half.

After a touchback to start the second half, King hit Leonard for eight yards on a rollout and Haynes picked up the first down at the GT39 on the next play. King ran for two yards on first down and hit Singleton for 11 yards at the UVA48 on the next play. A hold on the next play backed up 10 yards, but King hit Eric Singleton Jr. for a 58-yard touchdown to put the Jackets up 31-10.

Tech’s defense forced a three-and-out after the touchdown drive allowing eight yards, but Kevin Harris saved a first down with a tackle to force the punt. The punt rolled out of bounds at the GT28.

Dontae Smith picked up six yards on first down. King hit Blaylock for 17 yards on the next play to the UVA49. After losing one yard on two plays, King hit Smith for a 12-yard pass to the UVA38 for a first down. Smith lost four yards on first down and Haynes picked them back up to make it 3rd and 10, King couldn’t hit Singleton on a deep shot that was nearly picked and Tech elected to punt after burning a timeout.

K.J. Wallace nearly intercepted and sacked Colandrea on the same play to open the next drive after a touchback on the punt. A short pass to Washington picked up some yards, but the Cavs went three and out again.

After a fair catch on the punt, Tech started at their own 27 and Haynes ran for two yards on first down. Haynes picked up five yards on the next play and then caught a five-yard swing pass to pick up a first down at the GT39. Smith ran two times for a first down at the UVA49. Rutherford picked up six yards on a pop pass to the UVA43. Haynes picked up one yard to set up third and three at the UVA42. Haynes lost a yard on third down and Shanahan punted to the UVA8.

Colandrea hit Fields for the first down marking the first in the half Virginia converted one starting three straight plays that achieved first downs to the GT49. Jaylon King broke up a first down pass and Noah Collins dropped Colandrea after a short gain to end the third quarter. Pace picked up the first down after breaking a tackle to the GT42. Kennard and D’Quan Douse forced a throwaway on first down and then Makius Scott and Noah Collins forced another on third down. Kenan Johnson broke up the fourth pass to create a turnover on downs at the GT39.

Smith lost two yards on first down. Smith picked up 22 yards on a swing pass to the UVA41. Singleton hauled in a short pass and then King hit Abdul Janneh for 16 yards, he fumbled on the play but targeting called on UVA wiped that out. The targeting put the ball at the UVA10.

After the touchback, UVA started at their own 25. UVA picked up a first down on two plays to the UVA38. Kenan Johnson picked up a defensive hold to move the ball to the UVA48. Colandrea hit Fields for 24 yards to the GT24. Fields and Washington each caught short passes to set up an eight-yard touchdown pass to Pace to make it 38-17 with 8:47 left.

A failed onside kick recovered by Brett Seither gave Tech the ball at the UVA44. Zach Pyron entered the game at quarterback for the Jackets. Jamal Haynes picked up one yard on first down and then scored on a 43-yard touchdown run on the next play to make it 45-17.

Stewart’s kickoff was returned 40 yards to the UVA48. Suderian Harris caught a 14-yard pass on first down, but a hold on the next play backed UVA up to the GT48. Myles Sims hit Pace for a five-yard loss and Washington picked up 13 yards. D’Quan Douse sacked Colandrea to force 4th and 16. Kennard sacked Colandrea, but a facemask call moved the ball to the GT29. King broke up the first down pass. Washington picked up five yards on second down and then picked up the first down on a 10-yard pass at the GT15. King picked off Colandrea at the GT3 and returned the ball to the 15.

Pyron picked up five yards on first down to the GT20. Pyron picked up the first down on the next play. Evan Dickens picked up five yards. Dickens ran for a first down on the next play to the GT36. Dickens ran for four yards on first down and then Pyron missed on a pass to Avery Boyd to set up third down and Pyron overthrew Janneh and Tech had to punt. David Shanahan’s punt.

Jacob Cruz tackled Amaad Foston to end the game.