Ground game helps Tech down Miami

ATLANTA, Ga. - Georgia Tech had all the time in the world on Saturday and the Yellow Jackets used it wisely.

##Tech held possession of the ball more than twice the amount of visiting Miami and stayed unbeaten with a 28-17 victory at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

##Led by a punishing rushing attack (318 yards) and more than 40 minutes of possession, Tech (5-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a five-game losing streak to the Hurricanes.

##The game was tied at halftime, but the hosts used a nearly seven-minute drive to go ahead for the first time and for good. A pair of big third down conversions - Justin Thomas’ 10-yard toss to Tony Zenon on third-and-eight and after a timeout near midfield, Charles Perkins’ 25-yard scamper on third-and-four - helped get Tech to the Miami 20.

##On the final third down play of the drive, B.J. Bostic scored his first career touchdown from two yards and the Yellow Jackets led 21-14 with 8:10 to play in the third. Tech finished the game 9-of-14 on third-down conversions.

##Another drive that lasted nearly seven minutes included a 30-yard completion from Thomas to Zenon on third-and-16 and Tech went up 28-17 when on fourth and short Deon Hill scored from eight yards.

##“The way the game was going I thought we were moving the ball pretty well and that’s what we do,” Tech coach Paul Johnson said of the decision to go for it on fourth down. “We do it every day. It’s two yards, let’s go get it.”

##“We didn’t get off the field on third down on defense. We didn’t get a fourth down stop. We were just on the field too long (defensively),” said Miami coach Al Golden, who lost to Tech for the first time in four times as head coach. “We weren’t good enough.”

##Though he didn’t get into the end zone, Zach Laskey led the Yellow Jackets with 133 rushing yards, which not only tied his career high, but made the senior the 25th player in school history to rush for 1,500 yards.

##“Zach played hard. I thought he ran the ball really hard,” said Johnson.

##Miami (3-3, 1-2), which lost to Tech for the first time since November, 2008, had a pair of long touchdown drives in the opening quarter and led 14-7 after one.

##The Hurricanes started at their own eight late in the first, but used a pass interference penalty on Tech to get going. After a 37-yard pass play from Brad Kaaya to Phillip Dorsett and Duke Johnson’s 16-yard gain, Johnson had another carry and went untouched for a 24-yard touchdown.

##On the game’s opening possession, Miami went 75 yards in just six plays, also using a 15-yard Tech penalty on that drive and Kaaya hit Braxton Berrios on a perfect fade route in the corner of the end zone for a 21-yard score.

##In between, Tech got a one-yard touchdown run from Thomas. With 10 minutes to go on the second, Zenon tied things up when his six-yard scoring run made it 14-14.