4 quick takeaways from No. 18 Georgia Tech’s win over Temple

A quick review of Georgia Tech’s 45-24 win over Temple on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

First half marked by uneven play

Tech made it safely back down from Mount Everest, and then ... got lost in the parking lot?

The prevailing question this week surrounding the Yellow Jackets was if there would be a hangover effect from their walk-off win over Clemson the previous Saturday. The matter prompted coach Brent Key to recite a favorite coaching point learned from the legendary Nick Saban, “that more people die on the way down from Mount Everest than on the way up.”

At the start, the Jackets were on their game, taking a 21-0 first-quarter lead, rolling up 199 yards to 28 for Temple through both teams’ first three possessions.

Blocking, tackling and skill-position play were all were sharp, catalyzing a slew of big plays on offense and preventing the same on defense.

And then the Jackets derailed.

They were outgained 89-9 yards in the second quarter, making execution errors and committing unnecessary penalties. The half ended 21-7 in Tech’s favor, the momentum of the first quarter completely gone.

In an on-field interview with 680 the Fan coming off the field at halftime, it was suggested to Key that the Jackets had gone flat in the second quarter after the fast start.

Key’s terse response gave a glimpse into his humor: “Yeah.”

Things got even worse when Tech lost the ball on the second play of its opening drive, setting up a 28-yard touchdown pass that cut the lead to 21-14.

But, from there, the Jackets regained their focus, scoring the next 17 points en route to their 45-17 win over the Owls.

Near full game for King

Tech’s inability to put away the Owls early resulted in them having to play quarterback Haynes King more than it might have liked. King, who missed the Gardner-Webb game with a lower-body injury and then carried the ball a career-high 25 times in the win over Clemson, absorbed a number of hits from the Temple defense.

He appeared to suffer a minor bump to his right (throwing) hand early in the game on his 24-yard touchdown pass to Malik Rutherford midway through the first quarter, but returned without any apparent ill effect.

For the game, he ran the ball eight times, was sacked twice and took more shots on plays after he had gotten rid of the ball.

Ideally, Tech might have built on its 21-0 lead to the point that it could have subbed out its most important player for backup Aaron Philo. But the Jackets’ lapse meant that King played till midway into the fourth quarter. Philo played the rest of the way.

Two difference-making plays

Two of the game’s biggest plays for Tech were a penalty and a punt.

Play No. 1: After Temple cut the lead in the third quarter to 21-14, King was sacked on a second-and-7 play that would have put the Jackets in third-and-12 near midfield, a dicey conversion opportunity that could well have resulted Tech punting and giving Temple the opportunity to tie the score at 21-21 after having fallen behind 21-0.