Synjyn
Days rushed for a career-high 147 yards and a score and was one of
three receivers with a touchdown, and the Tech defense pitched a
second-half shut out in a 35-10 victory over Virginia at Bobby Dodd
Stadium.
Tech
(7-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which won for the third
consecutive time in the series by an average margin of more than 25
points, built its lead with an impressive first 15 minutes.
The
Yellow Jackets had six plays on their opening offensive possession and
three went for at least 10 yards, including a pitch-and-catch between
Justin Thomas and DeAndre Smelter for 10 yards, which preceded Deon
Hill’s 14-yard touchdown run.
On
Tech’s next possession, Thomas and Smelter hooked up on an 18-yard
touchdown - Smelter caught the ball at the 2 and dove backwards into the
end zone - with about four minutes to play in the first and it was
14-0.
Smelter,
who picked up his fourth 100-yard game of the year, but his first since
September 20 against Virginia Tech, had a 65-yard catch-and-run to the
Virginia 6 late in the first. Then on the first play of the second
quarter, Thomas found Darren Waller for an 11-yard score and it was
21-7.
In
between the big plays for the Yellow Jackets, Virginia quarterback
Greyson Lambert went 5-for-6 for 65 yards on a touchdown drive,
including a 28-yard toss to Canaan Severin and a scoring pass to Zachary
Swanson for 13 yards that made it a 14-7 game. The Cavaliers (4-5, 2-3)
struggled after that, scoring for the final time when Ian Frye booted a
22-yard field goal to make it a 21-10 game with 4:18 to play in the
first half.
Tech’s
defense, which coming into the game had allowed an average of more than
28 points, was excellent for most of the day. The Yellow Jackets forced
a fumble that was recovered by Virginia on the final play of the first
half (the visitors from Charlottesville recovered each of their four
fumbles), then over the final two quarters Adam Gotsis and Jamal Golden
had interceptions in Tech territory to help the hosts hold Virginia to
just 111 yards in the second half.
“I
think we tackled a little better (and) I think our defensive coaches
had a good plan,” said Tech coach Paul Johnson. “That’s the way I expect
(the defense) to play every week.”
Days,
who became the main weapon out of the backfield due in large part to
Zach Laskey (shoulder injury) and Charles Perkins (knee) not playing and
was the first 100-yard rusher against Virginia since Tech had three
such runners in a victory last October, scored from four yards out to
put Tech up 28-10 with 8:28 to go in the third. That capped a 12-play,
75-yard drive for the Yellow Jackets and Gotsis followed with his pick.
No comments:
Post a Comment