Tim Byerly played as Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson thought he could in Saturday’s 31-25 loss to Duke at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Appearing in his third game, Byerly rushed for two touchdowns on his only two drives, to end the second half.

“He didn’t surprise me,” Johnson said.

Byerly came in after the second of back-to-back interceptions thrown by starter Justin Thomas in the second half. Johnson said he pulled Thomas because he appeared to be suffering the effects of an ankle injury sustained late in the first half.

Johnson said he twice asked Thomas if was OK. After Thomas ran for 18 yards on the second play of the second half Johnson decided to let him continue.

Eventually, Johnson said he could tell that Thomas wasn’t right. Thomas could be seen limping to the locker room after the game with a thick amount of tape on his ankle.

“That’s why I took him out,” Johnson said.

Byerly’s first touchdown came on an 11-yard run with 5:04 left. His second came on a 1-yard run with 1:27 left. Duke recovered the onside kick to end Tech’s chances at completing the rally. They were the fourth and fifth touchdowns Byerly has rushed for this season.

Byerly finished with six carries for 30 yards and completed 7 of 10 passes for 125 yards. Those were his first attempts this season. He also caught one pass for 15 yards.

“Coach said it’s your series, go see what you can do,” Byerly said. “Play-calling was what I expected.”

Johnson said he has tried to play Byerly more, but too often he hasn’t wanted to interrupt the flow of the offense, especially considering Tech has played in so many close games. Byerly carried the ball 10 times for 21 yards and two touchdowns in the 38-21 win over Tulane and two carries for 1 yard and one touchdown in the 42-38 win over Georgia Southern.

“I thought he did some good things,” Johnson said. “He showed some strength and made some big plays.”