No. 13 Georgia Tech easily handles Virginia Tech, moves to 6-0

There was nothing hokey about this win.

No. 13 Georgia Tech handled Virginia Tech 35-20 on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium, a victory which moved the Yellow Jackets to 6-0 for the first time since 2011. Georgia Tech is also 3-0 for the first time since that same season.

The Jackets had leads of 18-0 and 21-7 and never allowed the Hokies (2-5, 1-2 ACC) to sustain any sort of momentum despite drawing within a touchdown early in the third quarter.

“They trust in the plan and trust in the other way we’re going to play the game to play as long as we possibly can,” Tech coach Brent Key said of his team being undefeated. “So now from my standpoint, yes, it’s good to start out fast like that. But our goal here is to play a complete 60-minute football game. And I get it, football is an imperfect game that we all want perfection in.

“But we also got to continue to improve. And if we can take things we didn’t do well today and improve on them next week and continue to climb that mountain, I think we’ll be in a good position as the season moves along.”

Quarterback Haynes King threw for 213 yards on 20-of-24 passing and completed a touchdown pass. He also ran for 60 yards and two scores, his 14th career game with at least one passing and one rushing touchdown.

Running back Malachi Hosley ran for 129 yards and a score on 11 carries, and the Jackets racked up 268 yards on the ground.

“Gotta always thank the big boys up front for getting the job done,” Hosley said. “I know they had a big task at hand and they handled it.”

The Jackets, who next travel to Duke (4-2, 3-0 ACC), won for the ninth consecutive time at Bobby Dodd Stadium and are bowl-eligible for the third season in a row. A season-high crowd of 50,878 was there to witness it.

Georgia Tech took the opening kickoff Saturday and asserted its will early.

King capped a nine-play drive that covered 80 yards by faking a pitch right and running over right guard for an easy, 3-yard touchdown. Wide receiver Malik Rutherford took a handoff from King and scored on the ensuing two-point conversion, making the score 8-0.

A 42-yard punt return by Eric Rivers set up the Jackets in prime position for their next series. Five plays later, on third down at the 9, King whipped a pass in the middle of the field to Rutherford who caught it, turned and crossed the goal line to give Tech a 15-0 lead.

“Had an option route on the touchdown,” Rutherford explained the play. “I’d seen, I think it was the Will or the Sam (linebacker), I’d seen him bump out, just sat in the open zone. Me and (King) locked eyes, I’m like, ‘Yeah, this is a touchdown right here.’”

Aidan Birr kicked a 25-yard field goal six minutes into the second quarter, making the score 18-0.

A Nick Veltsistas punt that was downed at the 1 by Marcellous Hawkins flipped field position for Virginia Tech and proved to be crucial later in the second quarter. Georgia Tech went three-and-out and punted the ball back out to its own 46.

One play later, Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones ran straight through the teeth of the Jackets defense for a 32-yard touchdown to get the Hokies on the board.

The Jackets countered, putting themselves in scoring position after a 31-yard completion on fourth down from King to tight end Josh Beetham. King faked a pitch left, spun and rolled right and found the senior in the flat who turned and rumbled to the 1.

That set up a Birr 30-yard field goal making it 21-7 going into the half.

Georgia Tech had 271 yards of offense through 30 minutes, averaged 7.3 yards per play, gained 16 first downs and went 4-for-5 in the red zone, yet only led by 14 points.

Virginia Tech got the ball to start the second half and marched right down the field to cut the score to 21-14. Drones, on a fourth-down call, threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Ja’Ricous Hairston running free down the left seam.

The Jackets came back with a 15-yard touchdown run up the middle from Hosley that capped a six-play, 75-yard drive and put Tech back up two touchdowns. They took that lead into the final period.

King scored on a 26-yard run around right end, breaking an ankle tackle at the 12, to put the Jackets up 35-14 three minutes into the fourth quarter. Key said he heard the call from offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and replied into the headset, “We’re going to score. That was a heck of a run, wasn’t it?”