Tech falls short in an upset big at #17 Ole Miss 48-23

OXFORD, Miss- The scoreboard may show a bit of a lopsided result, but Georgia Tech gave #17 Ole Miss all they could handle pulling within seven in the fourth quarter 24-17 before the Rebels 17 straight points quickly to pull away 48-23.

Tech head coach Brent Key was disappointed with the outcome after the game.

"We had a good plan going in and the opportunity to make some plays. When I say make plays, I mean everyone. Whether that is making a block, make a tackle, make a catch or make a call," Key said. "We have to be able to sustain and play for four quarters regardless of what the scoreboard says... It was a disappointing loss."

The Jackets' defense came up short in the second half giving up 341 yards in the second half and 38 points while the Jackets managed 20 points on a solid outing from the Tech offense.

Haynes King led the way for the Jackets with his second 300-yard performance of the year finishing the night with 307 yards on 28/41 passing with two touchdowns in the air and another on the ground. He ended the day with 42 yards rushing on 14 carries.

King said he tried to keep the team on an even keel even after various setbacks in the game.

"There are no excuses and you can't flinch," King said. "You just have to go to the next play even when bad stuff happens or good stuff happens, you've got to go to the next play. As soon as teams start blaming you separate, and you've got to keep everybody together move on to the next play and rock and roll."

Tech was 11 for 20 on third down and just 2 for 5 on fourth downs.

"We've got execute and we have to find a way to convert on third and fourth downs and just score in the red zone," King said.

Jamal Haynes led the team in rushing with 72 yards but he had to carry the ball 19 times to get there. Haynes finished the day with 116 yards of total offense with 16 on a kickoff return and three catches for 28 yards.

Freshman receiver Eric Singleton Jr. shined again in his first career start with five catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. He started in place of the injured Chase Lane.

Tech finally got the tight ends more involved offensively with Dylan Leonard hauling in a pair of first down catches for 27 yards including a 23-yard catch and Brett Seither hauled in a 16-yard pass.

Slot receivers Christian Leary and Malik Rutherford combined for nine catches for 98 yards.

One oddity of the game came on a serious of plays after Tech hit a chunk play, the chains malfunctioned three times giving each team a timeout essentially killing the Jackets' momentum. Key said he has never seen that as a coach in his career.

"I've never seen that," Key said.

A blocked field goal early in the game and a turnover on downs in the red zone created a big whole the Tech offense couldn’t easily climb out of as they trailed 10-3 at the half despite being even statistically with the Rebs.

The defense struggled to slow down the Ole Miss offense and quarterback Jaxson Dart. Dart threw for 251 yards and a touchdown while added 136 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

"It was a combination of everything and I'm not going to single out one person and say this person has to do this, it is a collective effort when you win and lose," Key said of the defensive shortcomings in the game. "Does an explosive happen if you effect the quarterback earlier? It goes hand-in-hand. Does an explosive happen if you keep the ball on offense and you don't turn it back over on downs? It is the whole thing that is involved and we look at it that way.

Doak Walker Award candidate Quinshon Judkins was held in check rushing for just 37 yards on 13 carries, but Uyless Bentley IV his understudy ran six times for 61 yards including a key touchdown to make it 17-3 in the third quarter.

Jordan Watkins torched the Tech secondary for 119 yards on four catches with a touchdown and Dayton Wade added 86 yards on three catches.

Tech did block a field goal to end the first half, but Aidan Birr had a field goal blocked early in the game that would’ve tied the game and Ole Miss turned into an easy touchdown on the short field to go up 10-0.

Punter David Shanahan was injured on the blocked field goal and he was eventually replaced as the punter by Joshua Taylor a true freshman walk-on in his first action.

Georgia Tech lost the toss and Ole Miss opted to take the ball. The return went out to the OM21. Dart hit Ayden Williams for 19 yards on first down. Three plays later Dart converted on an option play left for 19 yards and another first down to the GT35. Judkins was stopped on second down for no gain by Makius Scott and Paul Moala pressured Dart on third down to force an errant throw and a 47-yard field goal by Caden Davis to make it 3-0 Ole Miss.

After a touchback, Jamal Haynes carried the ball two times sandwiched by a screen pass to move the sticks. Cooley moved the sticks for the Jackets with a third down catch for seven yards and a pair of runs for 20 yards total to the OM30. The Jackets run game got bottled up and Aidan Birr attempted a 43-yard field goal that was blocked by Zxavian Harris and recovered by Daijahn Anthony at the GT34. David Shanahan was injured on the play.

Judkins picked up a first down on three straight rushes. Dart picked up another first down at the GT11 on a 10-yard run. Dart converted a third down run to make it first and goal at the 1. Dart scored on the second attempt just sneaking the ball past Ahmari Harvey to make it 10-0 Ole Miss.

Ole Miss had the kickoff go out of bounds and GT started at the 35. Haynes converted on third down with a 12-yard catch to midfield. Cooley fumbled out of bounds on the next play to make it 2nd and 15 at the GT45. Rutherford hauled in a seven-yard pass to the OM48. King hit Rutherford for a 17-yard gain on third and long and then Brett Seither for 16 yards to the OM15 to end the first quarter. Haynes picked up six yards on first down and Dylan Leonard caught his first pass of the year to set up first and goal at the OM5. After getting stuffed on first and second down, Key burned his first timeout on third and goal from the five. Haynes picked up three yards on third down and the Jackets. Blaylock failed to haul in the fourth down pass as Daijhan Anthony broke it up.

Ole Miss took over on down at their own 2. Jordan Watkins picked up a first down spinning out of a Jaylon King tackle for 15 yards and Dart ran for 68 yards on the next play to the GT7. Kyle Efford popped Dart on second down to force an errant throw. Myles Sims broke up the fourth-down pass to turn it over on downs.

Taking over at their 5, Haynes ran twice for nine yards and King converted on a QB keeper on third down. King hit Leary on second down for 11 yards to GT28. King picked up first down on the QB keeper on the next play with a 10-yard run. Leonard hauled in a second down pass for 23 yards to the OM37. King couldn’t connect with Avery Boyd on an end zone shot. Haynes was stopped for a loss on second down to bring up 3rd and 12. Haynes picked up 15 yards on third down. Haynes ran for nine yards on the next play. Cooley was bottled up on first down, Singleton couldn’t haul in a fade in the end zone and Rutherford was stopped short of the sticks forcing a short Birr field goal from 22, to make it 10-3 with 1:09 left in the half. The drive was 17 plays long for 90 yards and an 8:22 TOP.

Bentley returned a short kickoff 26 yards to the OM32. Dart hit Judkins for a short gain, Moala broke up the second down pass, but Watkins picked up 13 on third down to the OM47. Myles Sims broke up a first down pass for Dayton Wade. Dart ran for eight yards on a scramble to the GT45 and the Rebs burned the final timeout of the half with 15 seconds left. Dart could not connect on third down and line up to go for it with 10 seconds left. Dart ran for a first down and clocked it, Davis’ field goal was blocked by Ahmari Harvey and rolled into the end zone to end the half.

Coming out of the half the Jackets started at their own 25. King picked up six yards on first down and nine yards on third down. Haynes lost four yards on the next play on an option pitch. King was forced to throw the ball away on second down and then forced out of bounds on third down under pressure to force the first punt of the day.

Dart avoided a tackle for a loss and pitched it to Judkins for a 25-yard gain to the GT46. Douse tackled Judkins for a loss on first down. Watkins hauled in a 23-yard pass from Dart to the GT23. Bentley scored on a run from 21 yards out two plays later to put Ole Miss up 17-3 with 9:45 left in the third quarter.

After a touchback on the kickoff, Tech lost five yards on first down on a pass to Cooley and then Akelo Stone stood up Cooley on second down. King ran for seven yards on third down and Avery Boyd on a fake punt tried to throw it to Seither who as held but the refs did not call it for a turnover on downs.

Bentley ran for 16 yards on second down to the GT1. The Rebs offense had a false start on first and goal to set up 1st and goal at the 6. Dart scored on the next play to make it 24-3 Ole Miss.

After a short return by Haynes, the Jackets started out at the GT22. Leary picked up three yards on a pop pass, Cooley picked up one yard on a run and King hit Singleton for a first down at the GT35 on a 10-yard pass. Haynes picked up six yards on first down and two on second down. King hit Singleton for 51 yards to the OM6 to set up first and goal. Haynes scored a play later on an eight-yard run down the sideline but the touchdown was overturned on replay and marked down at the OM1. King punched it in on the next play to make it 24-10 Ole Miss with 2:07 left in the third quarter.

On first down the Rebs picked up a holding call on first down to set up 1st and 20 at the OM15. That was followed by a false start. Kelly picked up the first sack of the season for Tech in the 11th quarter of play.

Blaylock fair caught the ball at the GT32. King hit Singleton for 14 yards on second down and a first down and then Cooley for nine yards on first down. Cooley ran the ball 13 yards to the OM30. Cooley ran for six yards on first down and King shook a Rebs defender to move the ball to the OM17 on an eight yard run. King couldn’t connect on two passing plays to bring up fourth and 8 at the OM15. Singleton hauled in a 15-yard touchdown to make it a one-score game 24-17.

After a Wade rush of nine yards on first down a Judkins run was wiped out by a hold but Wade hauled in a 40-yard play to the GT34. Paul Moala had a TFL on first down on Dart to set up second and 12 at the GT36. The drive stalled out and Davis hit a 44-yard field goal to make it 27-17 Ole Miss with 7:45 left.

Haynes ran for five yards on first down after the touchback, King was sacked on second down and then couldn’t connect with Boyd on third down as Walton broke it up. Joshua Taylor had his first career punt go 40 yards where it was downed at the OM32.

Judkins was stopped at the LOS on first down, but Dart hit a wide-open Watkins for a 68-yard touchdown to make it 34-17 with 5:59 left in the game.

King hit Blaylock for an eight-yard gain on first down on a screen pass. Tech could not convert on three times to get two yards resulting in a turnover in downs.

After a holding call on first down, Dart hit Wade for a 43-yard pass and Judkins punched it in from the GT1 to make it 41-17 Ole Miss with 3:40 remaining.

King misfired on first and second down throwing the ball short of his receivers. Blaylock hauled in a third-down pass for nine yards on third down to set up fourth and short. Haynes picked up the first down barely. King hit Leary for 14 yards to midfield and then Haynes for 14 across midfield and Leary again for 23 yards to the OM14. King hit Avery Boyd for a 14-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed looking for Seither to make it 41-23.

Spencer Sanders entered the game after a failed onside kick and ran for a first down. Matt Jones scored from 36 yards out to make it 48-23 Ole Miss.

Dickens ran for two yards on first down and Singleton hauled in a seven-yard pass. King hit Leary for 13 yards and another first down and Dickens caught a pass for five yards to end the game.