At the People’s National Championship a.k.a the Pop-Tarts Bowl, Georgia Tech fell to BYU 25-21 after going scoreless in the second half, allowing 15 points, and horrid clock management and overall decision
making in the final two minutes with a chance at a game-winning drive.
Tech scored 14 quick points at the end of the second half to go up 21-10, but with multiple chances in the third quarter to pull even further ahead, a turnover and blocked field goal denied Tech scoring opportunities until the last minute of the game.
The game was the final for many seniors, most notably quarterback Haynes King. As we tear up on the other side of your computer screen, arguably no one has made a bigger impact to the growth and impact of Georgia Tech than King. King confirmed after the game he is going to continue training to try and make the NFL.
Tech finishes the season at 9-4 with heartbreaking losses in every loss after starting the season 8-0. They will have to go again to try and get their first 10-win season since 2014.
How it Happened
After the Pop-Tarts emerged from their boxes and the Reck drove through a Pop-Tarts tin foil wrapper onto the field, something that has only happened once all year occurred: Georgia Tech won the coin toss. Their final coin toss statline, which we’ll remind all is a literally 50/50 chance occurrence, was 2/11. The odds of that are very small.
BYU sliced and diced Tech’s defense to open the game, getting multiple easy first down completions to Chase Roberts. From first and goal at the 5 yard line, BYU was stopped short on their first three plays before a 4th & two inches was stopped by Kyle Efford to force a turnover on downs.
Tech did nothing with their first drive with Dean Patterson called for an illegal touching penalty on 2nd down and Haynes King nearly throwing a pick six on third down before punting.
BYU wasted no time on their second drive, easily getting chunck plays to the seven yard line before Bear Bachmeier completed a touchdown pass to Chase Roberts for the first score.
Tech’s next drive was much more like them powered by some great Malachi Hosley runs and two first down completions by Malik Rutherford, his second getting Tech to goal to go. On 2nd & goal, Tech ran a new multiple tight end pacakage where King flipped to Jamal Haynes who threw to Luke Harpring…except BYU’s head coach Kalani Sitake managed to call timeout just before the snap went off and scrapped the play.
After a dud of a pass play on 3rd down, Tech lined up Aidan Birr to kick a 2o yard field goal, but they motioned into a wildcat formation for Tre Maddox who barely got the ball over the line on a direct snap, tying the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter.
Heading into the 2nd quarter, BYU converted twice on third down to get to goal to go. On third down, Bear’s pass went incomplete against what probably should’ve been a defensive pass interference, but alas Tech was not held to account and BYU settled for a field goal to make it 10-7 with 9:49 left in the half.
In response, Tech had their best drive of the game so far with good King completions to Patterson and Eric Rivers to get into field goal range. Jamal Haynes saw his first real action in the next couple of plays, getting a very nice first down run before a 3rd & 8 was given after a defensive pass interference put Tech at the five yard line. Eric Rivers scored on the next play to make it 14-10.
The ensuing kickoff was then fumbled by BYU and recovered by Will Kiker on BYU’s 6 yard line. Tech only needed one play on a King to J.T. Byrne touchdown pass quickly making it 21-10 in Tech’s favor with 5:15 left in the half.
BYU converted one first down on their next drive before a 3rd & 6 was tipped at the line by Akelo Stone, forcing. a punt that put Tech inside their five yard line. Tech managed to get a deep shot at the end zone to end the half but fell incomplete.
With a chance to grow a big lead, Tech got first downs by Haynes King and a late hit penalty on BYU to move into field goal range before Hosley put Tech at goal to go from the 9. Faced with 3rd & 11, King threw a mid screen to Jordan Allen who fumbled after a BYU defender kicked the ball out of his hands and recovered by the Cougars.
BYU immediately got chunk yardage on two straight plays to enter Tech territory. The third play should’ve been an interception by Ahmari Harvey in the endzone, but was called back on an incredibly soft defensive pass interference call. BYU got to 3rd & goal at the four yard line where Bachmeier threw a very ill-advised pass which was intercepted by Rodney Shelley, who instead of just kneeing it tried to take it out and was tackled at the two yard line.
Nonetheless, Tech moved the ball extremely well on their next drive with two first down conversions by Rivers and a third down conversion to Josh Beetham getting to BYU’s 20 yard line. After Haynes King couldn’t convert a rush on 3rd & 7, setting up a 35 yard Aidan Birr field goal that was blocked.
Entering the fourth quarter, BYU again marched down the field to goal to go with a chance to make it a one score game. They did so on a 2-yard Enoch Nawahine rush and followed it with a 2 point conversion run by Bachmeier to make it 21-18.
Needing any points to keep BYU at bay, Tech did nothing and punted in 4 plays, nearly giving up a punt return TD if not for a full tackle by Marshall Nichols.
Also needing points, BYU also did nothing and punted in 4 plays with 8 minutes left in the game.
Still needing the same points, Tech overcame an illegal snap penalty to create 3rd & 2, but then were called on another illegal snap penalty and couldn’t get the yards, forcing another punt.
BYU got back in form when they needed it making Tech’s pass defense look awful once again leading to a four yard touchdown run by Enoch Nawahine to put the Cougars up 25-21 with 2:00 left.
Tech’s first three plays were total disaster: an incompletion, a fumbled snap that King barely recovered for a five yard loss and spent the entire play clock just to have an illegal touching on 3rd down by Rivers. With 4th & 15 to go, King hit Rivers on a go route for 66 yards to the BYU 18 yard line.
King’s next two passes went incomplete but on plays he could’ve run for a few yards with all of our timeouts. On 3rd & 10 King missed an open Dean Patterson in the end zone just too high. Lining up five wide on 4th down, King threw to Jamal Haynes but was picked off in the end zone, ending Tech’s season and ending the Haynes King era at Georgia Tech with a 25-21 loss.
