Synjyn Days didn’t waste his second consecutive start at B-back in Georgia Tech’s 35-10 victory against Virginia on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Days rushed for a career-high 147 yards and a touchdown and caught his first pass this season for 17 yards and another touchdown, the first in his career. The Yellow Jackets (7-2, 4-2 ACC) posted 409 yards in offense against a Cavaliers defense that was allowing just 100.4 rushing yards per game, third-fewest in the ACC.
“At B-back, the only way you will get better is to get more reps,” said Days, a senior who has played quarterback and A-back in his career. “Going against live bullets like today, carry after carry, you start to feel better.”
Days, playing most of the snaps because Zach Laskey missed his second consecutive game with an injury, surpassed 100 yards for the second consecutive week.
Days’ 31-yard run in the second quarter and 33-yard run in the third were the two longest by a Tech B-back this year, adding a big-play element that the offense hadn’t seen from the position this year. The previous longest run was 26 yards by Laskey against Virginia Tech.
Days thought he was going to score on the first run, until he realized he didn’t have the needed extra gear to escape the last tackler.
“I was kind of old and didn’t have much get-up,” Days said.
His most important run may have been one of his shortest.
Leading 21-10 in the third and facing fourth-and-1 at the 6-yard line, Johnson asked Days if he could get the needed yard.
“Yes sir,” Days responded. “It’s like breathing, it’s easy.”
Johnson called a straight handoff with the instructions to run behind Shaq Mason. Days got the carry and picked it up by the length of a raised pebble on the football. He followed it two plays later with a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Yellow Jackets a 28-10 lead with 8:28 left in the third quarter.
Johnson implied that when Laskey returns, he and Days will split carries as they were doing until last week’s win against Pittsburgh.
“Next week hopefully I’ll get it to next gear,” Days said.
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