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[figcap]Georgia Tech B-back Synjyn Days #10 finds a running lane for a touchdown[/figcap][/float_left]ATLANTA, GA - The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7-2, 4-2) combined an early offensive surge with a dominating defensive effort to win its final ACC Coastal match-up of the year against the Virginia Cavaliers (4-5, 2-3). The Jackets sprinted out to a 21-7 lead in barely more than one quarter of play, which was more than enough to coast to a 35-10 win Saturday afternoon at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Tech opened in commanding fashion by scoring touchdowns on each of its first three possessions. On the Jackets' first series the ground game repeatedly took advantage of space on the edge and capitalized with a 14-yard touchdown run from running back Deon Hill. The drive marked the seventh time in nine games that Tech has scored on its first drive of the game.
The Jackets' offense continued rolling on their next two drives with touchdowns through the air, the first on a deep 18-yard comeback route by wide receiver DeAndre Smelter and the second on an 11-yard jump ball to wide receiver Darren Waller. When asked Smelter acknowledged it was the first time Tech ran his touchdown-scoring play this year. "We saw some things that we could do against their cornerbacks. We were working on it all week at practice and executed it well today."
Despite the early dominance on offense, it was Tech's surprisingly stingy defense that became the story of the game. The early 21-7 lead was more than enough as the Jackets' defense mixed in a number of new formations and blitz packages to confuse and stymie the Cavaliers. Tech held Virginia to a season low 22 yards rushing and limited the Cavaliers to 284 yards of offense for the game.
"I thought we got contributions out of all three phases today," said head coach Paul Johnson. "Certainly we played better defensively than we have the past couple of weeks. I was proud of them and encouraged by that."
Among the new defensive wrinkles was reassigning new starter Pat Gamble from defensive tackle to defensive end. The Jackets also showed a 3-3-5 alignment several times with Adam Gotsis, normally on the inside, moving out to the end with true freshman KeShun Freeman on the other side. Those moves along constant substitutions among the linebackers and secondary kept the Cavaliers to just 3 for 12 on third down conversions.
The Jackets win was almost certainly their most complete game of the year. "Happy to get out of here 35-10," said Johnson. "I don't think anybody has beaten them like that all year. We have things we can work on moving forward, but just happy the game turned out the way it did."
Other news and notes:
Tech opened in commanding fashion by scoring touchdowns on each of its first three possessions. On the Jackets' first series the ground game repeatedly took advantage of space on the edge and capitalized with a 14-yard touchdown run from running back Deon Hill. The drive marked the seventh time in nine games that Tech has scored on its first drive of the game.
The Jackets' offense continued rolling on their next two drives with touchdowns through the air, the first on a deep 18-yard comeback route by wide receiver DeAndre Smelter and the second on an 11-yard jump ball to wide receiver Darren Waller. When asked Smelter acknowledged it was the first time Tech ran his touchdown-scoring play this year. "We saw some things that we could do against their cornerbacks. We were working on it all week at practice and executed it well today."
Despite the early dominance on offense, it was Tech's surprisingly stingy defense that became the story of the game. The early 21-7 lead was more than enough as the Jackets' defense mixed in a number of new formations and blitz packages to confuse and stymie the Cavaliers. Tech held Virginia to a season low 22 yards rushing and limited the Cavaliers to 284 yards of offense for the game.
"I thought we got contributions out of all three phases today," said head coach Paul Johnson. "Certainly we played better defensively than we have the past couple of weeks. I was proud of them and encouraged by that."
Among the new defensive wrinkles was reassigning new starter Pat Gamble from defensive tackle to defensive end. The Jackets also showed a 3-3-5 alignment several times with Adam Gotsis, normally on the inside, moving out to the end with true freshman KeShun Freeman on the other side. Those moves along constant substitutions among the linebackers and secondary kept the Cavaliers to just 3 for 12 on third down conversions.
The Jackets win was almost certainly their most complete game of the year. "Happy to get out of here 35-10," said Johnson. "I don't think anybody has beaten them like that all year. We have things we can work on moving forward, but just happy the game turned out the way it did."
Other news and notes:
- Today's win was Paul Johnson's 100th FBS victory
- With today's win Georgia Tech ensured its 20th consecutive season of finishing .500 or better in ACC play
- UVA's 22 yards rushing is the fewest allowed by Tech since holding Pittsburgh to -5 yards rushing in 2013
- Safety Jamal Golden leads the team in interceptions after grabbing his third of the season today
- The offensive player of the game may have been Synjyn Days who had a career-high 147 yards rushing along with 1 TD on the ground and 1 TD receiving. It was his second consecutive 100-yard game since replacing the injured Zach Laskey.
- DeAndre Smelter continued the tradition of big games from Georgia Tech wide receivers with his 4th 100+ yard receiving game of the season. His touchdown catch today gives him 6 total for the year.
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