Haynes King heroics on display again in Georgia Tech win
Aidan Birr had the heroic play. Haynes King, once again, wore the cape.
Georgia Tech’s quarterback continued the storybook start to his final season of college football with another gritty performance for the ages, willing the Yellow Jackets to a 24-21 win.
“I don’t know if he’s my little brother? He’s closer than a cousin. I love this dude, man,” Tech coach Brent Key said on ESPN, wrapping his right arm around King’s shoulder while both were engulfed in a sea of Tech fans and students.
King threw for 211 yards on 20-of-28 passing and ran for 101 yards on 25 carries. Much like Tech’s season-opening win at Colorado, where King had the game-winning touchdown run in the fourth quarter, the Jackets leaned on their senior leader in the ground game, and King leaned on the opposing defense for yard after tough yard.
And on Tech’s game-winning drive, King ran for gains of 9, 4, 3 and 2 yards, respectively, and completed two passes for 9 yards each. Those plays got the Jackets to the Clemson 37 where Birr ran out and kicked a 55-yard field goal as time expired.
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes, whatever it takes for the team,” King said. “If me running the ball helps the team and gets us a win, I’m gonna do it. I don’t care what it is. Whether I have to hand it off, throw it or run it, I’m down for whatever.”
King took another beating Saturday, often slow to get up after hits from a large and talented Clemson defense littered with professional prospects salivating at the chance to ding and dent the third-year starter. Yet King could rarely be stopped, averaging four yards a carry.
His performance came adjacent to running back Jamal Haynes being held to 26 yards on 12 carries. Tech running back Malachi Hosley had only 13 yards on three attempts.
Yet King and the offense did just enough to be in a 21-21 game with 3:26 on the clock and the ball resting on the Tech 25. Key said King came to the sideline after a timeout a minute later and told Key that he wanted the ball in his hands.
Seven players later, Birr’s kick was true, and pandemonium set in at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
“It means a lot, just knowing that he trusts me that much to put the ball in my hands. Especially in moments like that,” King said. “It’s not just a one-man show, though. This is a team, this is a whole building. The guys up front, they did their job and allowed me to do that. And the guys around me on the edge, they played fast today. The defense, they did a hell of a job holding them to 21 points. That’s a great Clemson team. Everybody knows they were 12th ranked, so we knew it was gonna be a dogfight.
“This is just who we are. We’ve prepared for this moment throughout the offseason, fall camp, summer. It’s just who we are.”
King now has 5,310 career passing yards, the fifth most in a Tech career. He has 25 rushing touchdowns and 6,891 yards of total offense. More important, he has led the Jackets to 16 wins.
Few have been bigger than Saturday.
“It’s weird to say, and probably won’t make sense to many people, it’s like an extension of me. I feel like I’m playing through him on the field,” Key added. “He’s been like that his whole life. That’s his character, that’s his DNA. When people play the game like that, there’s bigger reasons. There’s bigger reasons than just the game that day. He’s got bigger reasons behind him. I don’t know if I’ve ever met a tougher guy in my life.”
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