MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Nine days after drumming an overmatched opponent, Georgia Tech resumed its bludgeoning.
The Yellow Jackets ruined Middle Tennessee State’s 100th anniversary celebration by pummeling its football team 49-21 on Saturday night. Two games into the season, the Tech offense is averaging 9.1 yards per play.
"They had a hard time stopping us running the ball," said Tech coach Paul Johnson, whose team ended the night with 382 rushing yards and 596 altogether.
After dispatching FCS (formerly Division I-AA) Western Carolina in the season opener, Tech’s execution improved against Middle Tennessee, which nearly upended Purdue in its opener and was hungry to avenge its blowout loss to the Jackets last October.
On a day when non-BCS conference teams Wofford and Toledo threw scares into Clemson and Ohio State, respectively, upset fever stirred in Murfreesboro. A record crowd of 30,502, boosted by a few thousand Tech fans, hoped to see the Blue Raiders invoke the magic that led to an upset of Maryland at Floyd Stadium three years ago nearly to the day.
Those aspirations did not last long.
In the Jackets’ 93rd visit to the state of Bobby Dodd’s childhood, Tech (2-0) bolted from the opening kickoff, much as it did against Western Carolina in its opener. Quarterback Tevin Washington connected with A-back Tony Zenon, who was improbably alone streaking down the left sideline for a 73- yard score, on the first play from scrimmage.
On the play, Zenon lined up at the B-back spot. Johnson anticipated it would leave him matched on a linebacker on a pass play, and the sleek Zenon sped by him for the score. The Jackets practiced it about 10 times during the week.
The Jackets followed the Zenon score with an impressive display of their offensive breadth. On their next possession, they ran 17 consecutive times on a 98-yard touchdown drive in which linemen and A-backs repeatedly opened running lanes by felling defenders with cut blocks. That was followed by another one-play drive, a 71-yard strike to wide receiver Stephen Hill followed by a seven-play, 90-yard touchdown drive that included a 43-yard heave from Washington to Hill.
"We're just telling each other, ‘Keep our foot on the gas,' and make sure we don't let up and make sure doing everything we can," Washington said.
Hill finished with three catches for 126 yards and already has more receiving yards in two games (307) than he did all of last season (291). B-back David Sims tied for the lead in rushing with 91 punishing yards on 12 carries.
After six fumbles against Western Carolina, Tech fumbled twice, losing one.
Tech’s defense again had problems registering consistent pass-rush pressure, but held the Blue Raiders (0-2) to one score in their first eight possessions and collected three turnovers in that span. The Jackets tackled well and largely prevented Middle Tennessee from big plays.
Special teams was a mixed bag, with Tech’s first two kickoffs going out of bounds, but the punt team doing standout work.
If the game indeed was more informative of Tech’s prospects for the season, the prognosis continues to be promising as the Jackets work their way through three non-conference games to start the season. They’ll be back at home against Kansas on Saturday.
Perhaps the most notable development is the play of Washington, who has run Johnson’s option-spread offense with efficiency and has been surprisingly dangerous in the passing game. In two games, Washington has completed 13 of 21 passes for 473 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. A year ago, the Jackets passed for 83.9 yards per game.
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