Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas’ career as a Yellow Jacket is down to its final two games, including Saturday’s matchup with Georgia in Athens. Thomas’ yards, touchdowns and honors are many — he is the only Tech player ever to have been named captain three times, for instance — but don’t completely encapsulate the impact he has made, nor the memories he will leave in three seasons as a starter.
Over the course of 36 starts, Thomas has dazzled Tech fans with quickness and speed, playmaking flair and capacity for coming through in the clutch. He has been a better passer than expected, a deft practitioner of the option and has shown grit by playing through injuries.
As his time ends, Thomas shared his recollections of five of his more memorable plays.
Georgia Southern, 2014
With Tech down 38-35 with 4:12 remaining in the game, Thomas drove the Jackets from their 28-yard line to the Georgia Southern 13, where they faced a third-and-7 with 32 seconds remaining. Dropping back to pass, Thomas spun away from a blitzing linebacker coming up the middle, circled back right and found A-back Deon Hill for the go-ahead touchdown. Tech held on for a 42-38 win.
“I kind of saw it developing,” Thomas said. “I saw the (linebacker) popping, and we didn’t have anybody for him on the back side, so I knew I had to make him miss. And the way the play was set up, Deon was dragging, so I knew he was there and he made a good catch. It was a high ball, he made a great play on it, made a guy miss — missed tackle — and he got in the end zone.”
In his third start, it was the first big moment of his career. He didn’t see it that way.
“It was nothing special,” he said. “I was just trying to make a play and everybody else made a play around me, too.”
The rest of the story is available on myajc .
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