Author: Boaz Roebuck
This past Saturday, we were in to see the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets invade the Virginia Tech Hokies’ home of Lane stadium. The inter-conference bout was one for the ages, as the final was 28-27 in favor of the Yellow Jackets. Even though the Hokies could not come away with the win, there was still a lot to take away from the match. Virginia Tech’s defense and special teams played particularly well; as they had an interception, which was taken to the house by Keli Lawson, and a 90 yard punt return fielded by Tucker Holloway. But in the end, it was Georgia Tech's consistent offensive output that won them the game. They did not have a scoreless quarter, and iced the game by their defense shutting the Hokies out in the fourth quarter.
Georgia Tech started the match-up off hot, scoring 10 unanswered in the first 14 minutes of the game. The Yellow Jackets half-back Dontae Smith got in the endzone first for six, followed by the extra-point and field goal by Georgia Tech’s kicker Gavin Stewart. Grant Wells finally got things going for the Hokies by getting in the endzone for a rushing touchdown with 10:15 to play in the second quarter. The Hokies cashed in on their next drive as well, this time it was Keshawn King on the ground for six. William Ross went 1/2 on the extra-point tries following the two scores, making the score 13-10 Hokies. Virginia Tech was the story of the second quarter, as Tucker Hollow returned a punt 90 yards and left only 50 seconds on the clock. Ross’ extra-point was good, putting the Hokies up 20-10. However that was not the end of the first half, as the Yellow Jacket offense drove 65 yards in the final 50 seconds before half, which resulted in a 27 yard field goal made by Gavin Stewart. The key play that set that up was a 28 yard rush for Dontae Smith. The score at half was 20-13 with the Hokies still leading.
Virginia Tech got the ball out of the half, but could not get anything going. They managed to lose three yards in their three play drive, before an ensuing punt. On Georgia Tech’s resulting possession, they drove 57 yards in 5:38, and capped it off with three from a statistically perfect Gavin Stewart. The Yellow Jackets were battling back, the score 20-16 Hokies. On Virginia Tech’s next drive, they were shut down once again by the swarm of Yellow Jackets, and forced to cough the ball back up. On Georgia Tech’s first play of their next drive, Zach Pyron threw a pick to Keli Lawson who housed it. That with a resulting William Ross extra-point, made the score 27-16, the Hokies extending their lead. The next score did not come until there was 9:02 left in the 4th, with a 56 yard touchdown pass for the Yellow Jackets. Zach Pyron connected with Nate McCollum for six, Georgia Tech went for two, but their attempt failed. The score was 27-22 Hokies, with 9:02 left in the fourth. On the Hokies next drive, Grant Wells threw a heart-breaking interception to Clayton Powell-Lee with just under seven minutes yet to play. Zach Pyron showed off his clutch gene, as he powered his way into the endzone, finally putting the Yellow Jackets up 28-27. They attempted another two-point conversion, however it failed as well. The story of the final 3:30 of the game was Georgia Tech’s defense, as they sealed the win with a score of 28-27 Yellow Jackets.
Key takeaways for both programs are apparent in this bout. The Hokies had trouble holding on to the ball, fumbling the ball four times; only getting back on one of them, and an interception thrown in a key point of the fourth quarter. The Yellow Jackets defense had no answer for the Virginia Tech offense in the second quarter, but out of half they were able to put the breaks on the Hokies offense. Georgia Tech had a consistent offense all throughout the victory, with Zach Pyron coming in clutch on the final two drives of the game. Once again, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets took the win back to Atlanta with them on Saturday.