The start of Wednesday night’s Orange Bowl had a familiar look to it for Georgia Tech in its 49-34 victory over Mississippi State.
When the Yellow Jackets scored their first touchdown following cornerback Chris Milton’s interception off a deflected pass, it marked the 20th time this season they scored a touchdown following a takeaway.
The Jackets later made it 21 touchdowns following takeaways after putting together a 52-yard drive following defensive end Roderick Rook-Chungong’s fumble recovery early in the third quarter.
Add two field goals, and the Jackets had 23 scores after coming up with takeaways in 29 such opportunities for the season.
The Jackets also nearly had a third takeaway following their second touchdown, but officials ruled that running back Josh Robinson’s forward progress was stopped before his fumble, negating the turnover.
In their 11 victories, the Jackets recorded 28 takeaways for 137 points. In their three losses, they had only one takeaway (an interception) for no points.
Thomas goes over 1,000: With his 13-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter, Tech quarterback Justin Thomas went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season. He entered the game with 965, and his total was up to 1,012 by halftime.
He finished the game rushing 14 times for 121 yards, giving the sophomore 1,086 for the season and 1,320 for his career.
Big night for Waller: Tech senior wide receiver Darren Waller recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game in his final collegiate appearance. His 114 yards on five receptions all came in the first half and included a 41-yard catch for a touchdown.
Prescott sets school first: Mississippi State junior quarterback Dak Prescott became the first player in school history to top the 3,000-yard mark passing in a season.
Prescott came into the night with 2,996 yards passing, and he got the necessary yardage on his first attempt, a 5-yard completion to wide receiver Jameon Lewis on the second play of the game.
Prescott finished 23-of-51 passing for 453 yards to give him 3,449 for the season.
Record season for Tech offense: Tech ends the season with school season records for both rushing and total offense.
The Jackets ran for 452 against the Bulldogs, giving them 4,789 in 14 games. The former record was 4,357 set in 2012.
Adding in 125 yards passing, the Jackets ended the night with 577 yards of offense, giving them 6,671 for the season. The 2012 team also held the former mark of 6,175.
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