For one game, Tevin Washington may have made Georgia Tech fans forget about the team's past, as well as its future.
From the time Joshua Nesbitt left last year's game against Virginia Tech with a broken arm, Washington has heard, "He's not Nesbitt." Since true freshman Vad Lee began showing glimpses of his potential during practices, fans have asked, "When will Lee play?"
After Washington and backup Synjyn Days combined to pass for a historic 365 yards, as part of 662 yards of total offense, in Thursday's 63-21 win against Western Carolina, the whispers are silenced, at least until next week's game at Middle Tennessee State.
It was a display never before seen in Paul Johnson's time at Georgia Tech. It was the first time the Jackets passed for more than 300 yards under Johnson and eclipsed the previous best of 266 yards, set by Nesbitt against Mississippi State in 2009. Washington totaled 271 passing yards by himself.
"Everything slowed down tonight," Washington said.
Wide receiver Stephen Hill, who knows something about unfair comparisons after living with, "Is he the next Demaryius Thomas?" last year, said Washington was very calm in the huddle. That serenity spread to the team.
"I tried to be cool, calm and collected in all situations," Washington said. "A couple of situations I got into last year late in the game I think I got rattled by the situation and kind of got beside myself."
Washington connected on scoring passes of 82 yards and 77 yards to Hill and 26 yards to Roddy Jones.
Days had a 66-yard pass in which he read the cornerback, who jumped a short pass, and lofted the ball over the corner to Tyler Melton, who sprinted down the sideline.
Washington and Days were so effective they combined to throw for more yards in the first quarter (148) than Tech totaled in any game last season.
Johnson credited Washington as well as the young offensive line for giving the quarterbacks time to throw.
"I thought he threw the ball pretty well," Johnson said. "Those kids made some nice catches for him."
He also pointed out that Western Carolina geared its defense toward slowing down the running game. On Hill's first touchdown, Washington simply hit him in place on the line of scrimmage, and Hill stiff-armed the defensive back and took off down the sideline. Washington thought his last touchdown pass to Hill, a seam pass with nice touch, was his best throw of the night. He went 8-of-13. Hill caught four passes for 181 yards.
"We had a lot of yardage after the catch," Johnson said. "Those guys out there were on the corners one on one and Western Carolina was overmatched with a couple of our receivers. I though we did OK."
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