On a day when many of Georgia Tech’s rivals opened with heavyweights, the Yellow Jackets offered a convincing demonstration of why it’s not so bad to start with a creampuff.
After a month of preseason practices, Tech checked off pretty much everything off the list — a pile of smooth drives for the offense, a shutout for the defense, extensive playing time for the backups and apparently no injuries. The final result was a 70-0 defeat of Elon on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
“This went as well as you could ever hope,” coach Paul Johnson said.
Tech set an ACC record for widest margin of victory, breaking a 69-point margin in a Florida State game against Western Carolina in 2008. The Jackets reached 70 points for the first time since 2001, when they hung 70 on Navy — a game that helped lead to the Naval Academy’s hire of Johnson from Georgia Southern following the season.
Unfortunately for the Jackets, they’ll have to wait around two weeks for their next game, as they have an open date Saturday before their ACC opener at Duke on Sept. 14. But there’s plenty to build on.
Quarterback Vad Lee was crisp, leading Tech to seven touchdowns in as many possessions before retiring for the afternoon. The running game was dynamic. The defense zipped up the Phoenix, particularly on the ground. The anticipated debut of freshman kicker Harrison Butker perhaps even exceeded expectations — nine kickoffs, seven touchbacks.
The defense, executing the 4-3 defense of new defensive coordinator Ted Roof for the first time, got plenty of work.
“What I learned from my team (Saturday) is we’re pretty deep,” B-back David Sims said. “We had a lot of guys make a lot of plays.”
The first quarter alone was stuffed with big plays. Safety Jamal Golden forced a fumble on Elon’s opening possession to give the Jackets the ball on the Elon 30. A-back Deon Hill took a pitch 14 yards for the opening score.
Chris Milton deflected a punt on the next Elon possession that gave the Jackets another short field, which led to a touchdown by B-back David Sims and a 14-0 lead less than five minutes in. Linebacker Jabari Hunt-Days ended the Phoenix’ next series with an interception and a 24-yard return. Behind blocks from the veteran trio of offensive linemen Jay Finch, Will Jackson and Ray Beno, B-back Zach Laskey charged 33 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 advantage.
After a standard three-and-out, Lee drove the Jackets 66 yards for the fourth touchdown of the quarter, a 3-yard run by A-back Charles Perkins. It was 28-0 when the first quarter was over.
“It got out of hand so quickly,” Johnson said.
Lest Tech fans get too overheated, a bit of context might be valuable. Elon does not appear to be a very good football team. The Phoenix were picked to finish eighth in the Southern Conference in FCS. The Tech defense did hold Elon to 2.6 yards per carry, but last season the Phoenix averaged 2.7.
“The reps were very beneficial,” Hunt-Days said. “You get a chance to pretty much practice for the coming weeks and what you get to see and things like that.”
Making his starting debut, Lee threw with accuracy, including a 54-yard wobbler to wide receiver Micheal Summers in Lee’s last drive of the game, midway through the third quarter. He also largely made the correct reads on option plays, one of his big challenges in his first season as starter.
“I just love to put the ball in their hands so they can make plays,” Lee said. “Obviously, when (wide receiver) Darren (Waller, who was suspended for the game for breaking a team rule) comes back, he’s going to be an even bigger deep threat.”
Lee also set up Sims on a 59-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Sims used downfield blocks from A-back Dennis Andrews and wide receiver Corey Dennis to race for the score.
“David’s healthy, and I think you’re going to see a different guy,” Johnson said. “When he’s healthy, he can be a really good player, I think.”
On defense, Tech tied a school record with two interceptions returned for touchdowns, a 95-yard return by linebacker Tyler Marcordes and a 54-yard runback by Milton. Along with Hunt-Days’ return, the Jackets broke a rather obscure 47-year-old school record — most interception return yards in a game, with 173.
“That was great to see Tyler get that interception,” Johnson said. “He’s worked hard, had a good offseason.”
On a warm afternoon in front of 45,759, Tech got its season going in the right direction. For now, that will be enough.
“There was some good and some bad,” Johnson said. “You try to accentuate the good and limit the bad because the caliber of opponent is going this way.”
Johnson tilted his hand upward, perhaps also the direction of a largely disregarded team taking its first steps.
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