Georgia Tech’s Justin Thomas bounced back from throwing two interceptions to post a 60-yard touchdown run in Saturday’s 22-16 win against Florida State at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Thomas was intercepted on Tech’s first drive when he failed to throw a screen pass high enough to get the ball over linebacker Josh Sweat. He tipped the ball into the air, caught it at the 25-yard line and returned it to the 19-yard line. The Seminoles kicked a 20-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 7:14 left in the first quarter.
Thomas was picked off again two Tech series later. Facing third-and-5 at the 44-yard line, Thomas threw across his body into double coverage. Lamarcus Brutus intercepted the pass at the 40-yard line and returned it 58 yards to the 2-yard line.
Running back Dalvin Cook scored on the next play to give the Seminoles a 10-3 lead.
Thomas had been intercepted four times in Tech’s previous seven games and hadn’t been intercepted more than once in any of those games. He had thrown 10 touchdowns.
“Throwing that pick kind of charged me up,” Thomas said. “It was a bad play on my part. You know, I put the defense in some tough situations tonight. I pretty much gave up 10 points tonight on my own. So, they fought hard and they had my back tonight. From that point on, I just knew I had to do something to help this team win.”
Trailing 13-3, Thomas connected with Ricky Jeune for 33 yards on second-and-13 at the 3-yard line. Two plays later, Thomas ran an option play to the right, ran through a tackle by cornerback Jalen Ramsey and sprinted 60 yards for a touchdown. The score cut the Seminoles’ lead to 13-10 with 2:22 left in the first half. It was Thomas’ longest run this season, surpassing the 51-yard run against Pittsburgh last week, and also the longest allowed by Florida State. It was also the longest touchdown run of his career.
Though Tech’s passing game continued to struggle with just two completion through the first three quarters, Thomas hit Brad Stewart for a 36-yard pass on fourth-and-6 at the 41-yard line to set up Harrison Butker’s game-tying field goal with 54 seconds left.
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