Georgia Tech gashes Gardner-Webb, moves to 2-0 with lopsided victory

Twenty years ago, Georgia Tech coach Brent Key interviewed to be the offensive line coach at Gardner-Webb. He didn’t get the job.

But Key got a tad bit of retribution Saturday while watching his Yellow Jackets easily pull away from the visiting Runnin’ Bulldogs in a 59-12 win inside Bobby Dodd Stadium in front of a crowd of 37,775.

Quarterback Aaron Philo, starting in place of Haynes King, who was held out with a lower body injury, threw for 373 yards (the fifth most in a Tech game in program history) on 21-of-28 passing. He recovered from two early turnovers to lead the Jackets (2-0) to a win in his first career start.

“It was a bad start. You just can’t start like that, so definitely have to clean that up,” Philo said. “It always a next-play mentality, so you can’t worry about the next play, just gotta move on to the next play, and you can’t let those two turnovers affect what’s gonna happen the rest of the game because then you’re putting yourself in trouble if you do that.”

Running back Jamal Haynes finished with 92 yards rushing on nine carries and scored twice, while backfield mate Malachi Hosley rushed for 100 yards on nine attempts and scored twice.

The Jackets finished with 680 yards of offense (the third most in program history) and averaged 11.9 yards per play after falling in a 6-0 hole. Tech’s defense registered 14 tackles for loss and six sacks.

“These games are won at the line of scrimmage,” Tech linebacker Kyle Efford said. “So when we’re putting pressure on the quarterback, getting them (tackles for loss), it’s gonna play out well for the defense.”

Tech is 2-0 for the second consecutive season and next hosts No. 8 Clemson at noon Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Tech has lost nine consecutive games to the Tigers and not beaten Clemson since 2014.

But before worrying about an ACC rival, the Jackets get to celebrate a blowout victory at home.

Philo’s day did not have a storybook beginning, however. On the second down of Tech’s opening offensive possession, Philo was spun around by linebacker Jackson Marshall and hit from behind by defensive linemen Antonio O’Berry, causing Philo to fumble. Robert Holtz recovered the ball for the Bulldogs at the Tech 42.

Five plays later, on third down at the 1, quarterback Nate Hampton threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Anthony Lowe to put Gardner-Webb up 6-0 (the extra-point attempt was missed) less than four minutes into the game.

“Whether you win or lose, you gotta be extremely critical of what you do and how you play and what you do to correct those things,” Key said. “(Philo) ended up starting the game, which was a game-time decision, and first drive ... second drive ... there it goes again. We didn’t (turn it over) on the third (possession) this week, though.”

The Jackets settled down and began to move the ball forward on the ensuing drive, but Philo, rolling to his right at midfield, launched an off-balance deep ball that was picked off by safety Wendell McClain at the Tech 12.

But Philo recovered and led the Jackets on a 53-yard scoring drive that included a 21-yard completion to tight end Brett Seither and 11-yard touchdown toss to Isiah Canion. On the score, Philo went play-action and dodged a defender before rolling right and throwing off his back foot into the corner of the end zone for Canion’s first career scoring reception.

Tech’s second score of the day came on the heels of a defensive stop. Linebacker Melvin Jordan IV came through the line untouched on fourth down to sack Hampton on Tech’s 39. Hosley scored a play later, bolting 55 yards to the house making the score 14-6 early in the second quarter.

Less than four minutes later, Haynes broke free on a 47-yard touchdown run through the teeth of the defense, making the score 21-6. Haynes scored from a yard out with 3:59 left in the half, making the score 28-6.

That would be the score at halftime. The Jackets totaled 356 yards of offense and overcame the two early turnovers, and six first-half penalties, to comfortably lead at the break. Tech’s defense held to force six punts and a turnover on downs on GWU’s final seven possessions of the half.

Tech got one of those two first-quarter turnovers back in the third quarter when Clayton Powell-Lee forced a fumble and Matthew Alexander recovered on the GWU 25. That led to a 5-yard run from Hosley, who had lined up as a fullback, putting the Jackets up 35-6.

The special-teams unit got into the fun at the end of the third quarter. Defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg squeezed up the middle of the line on Charlie Viorel’s 40-yard field-goal attempt and blocked it. Ahmari Harvey picked up the loose ball and went 65 yards the other way for a scoop and score.

Gardner-Webb got a touchdown back with Cole Pennington’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Borders in the fourth quarter.

Tech then got a 23-yard field goal from Aidan Birr, a 1-yard TD plunge from freshman running back J.P. Powell and an 84-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Dean Patterson on a short pass from quarterback Graham Knowles to provide the final margin.

“All in all, it was a good win,” Key added. “Excited for the team and the staff for being able to get a win, but at the same time, we got a lot of things we have to continue to work on, and that’s gonna be an every-week thing. We’ve gotta be critical about it and make sure we get those things adjusted and fixed.”