Coming off a much needed win against Duke last weekend, Georgia Tech re-entered the loss column with a 34-24 loss to Virginia Tech. The Jackets are now 2-4 (1-2 ACC) with Boston College upcoming for Homecoming next week.
Tech looked truly abysmal in the first half, allowing 180 receiving yards to Que’sean Brown on only five catches, gaining only 149 yards, and throwing an interception en route to a 24-3 deficit. For our money, it was one of the worst, if not the worst half of football played by Georgia
Tech under head coach Brent Key.
Somehow, Tech turned it around to make it worth a game in the second half. After recording only two sacks against FBS opponents all season, Tech recorded three over Virginia Tech’s first two offensive drives in the second half. The defense plus a jolt of offense resulted in touchdowns by Tre Maddox and Dalen Penson to make it 24-17 in the third quarter.
That was as close as Tech would come. The Hokies easily handled the rest of the game even as Georgia Tech opereated very efficiently on offense.
For quarterback Alberto Mendoza, it was a record setting day for him throwing for a career-high 335 yards on 29-38 passing. Jordan Allen caught ten balls for 120 yards on 13 targets.
The game could’ve been worse, as Tech fumbled on three separate occassions (two by Mendoza, one by Rahkeem Smith) but never turned the ball over on those fumbles.
On the whole, it was a true tale of two halves. If we got a full game of 2nd half Tech, who operated at an 0.67 EPA/play pace, Tech had a real chance at pulling this off. But, defensive woes and complete incompetency in the first half lost Tech the game before they had any real shot.
The game was the Jackets’ first without linebacker Kyle Efford, who medically retired earlier in the week. It certainly feels reasonable to believe the defense was lost at the start of the game without their captain on the field. Efford was on the sideline with a headset on.
How it Happened
1st Quarter
In three plays, the Hokies went up 7-0 courtesy of a 60 yard catch and run touchdown by Que’sean Brown.
Tech responded with a very good drive with Jordan Allen and Tre Maddox gaining plenty of yards, including a 25 yard completion to Allen on an Alberto Mendoza scramble to the left. On first & goal from the 10, Tre Maddox seemed to have a walk in touchdown, but had the ball punched out at the four yard line and the ball rolled out the back of the endzone for a turnover.
The Hokies again quickly found their way to the endzone with four chunk plays including two first down catches from Brown and a 28 yard run from Jeffrey Overton, Jr. that set up quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer’s 20 yard touchdown run, putting VT up 14-0 with 6:10 left in the quarter.
Tech followed up by moving the chains twice, the first on a 3rd down defensive pass interference call and the second on a Dalen Penson 15 yard reception. A fumble recovered by Mendoza and an incompletion on 3rd & 6 forced Tech to punt.
2nd Quarter
Tech forced a Hokie punt to begin their third drive of the game. On a 3rd & 10 pass to Chris Corbo, VT was called for defensive pass interference. On the next set of downs on 3rd & 2, backup quarterback Grady Adamson and today’s backup running back Chad Alexander subbed in and ran a badly executed zone read resulting in a six yard loss. The proceeding punt by Alex Bacchetta was a knuckler that Que’sean Brown couldn’t handle and fumbled. Tech recovered at VT’s 19 but couldn’t convert a first down, resulting in a 31 yard Aidan Birr field goal to make it 14-3.
And once again Ethan Grunkemeyer found Que’sean Brown for a massive gain, this time 68 yards to put the Hokies in the red zone to set up a five yard touchdown reception for Ja’Ricous Hairston to make it 21-3.
On Tech’s first play from scrimmage on their next drive, Alberto Mendoza threw an interception right at Quentin Reddish with seemingly no receiver in the area.
Tech forced a field goal after a Ta’je McCoy sack, but not after Que’sean Brown recorded his fifth catch that put him at his career high receiving yards with 180. The Hokies led 24-3 with 4:55 left in the half.
The Jackets finally managed to get some motion on offense, converting on 3rd & 9 on a Dalen Penson completion then gained another set of downs on a Chris Corbo completion. A deep completion to put Tech inside the 10 by Isaiah Fuhrmann was erased by a Malachi Carney illegal hands to the face penalty, putting Tech too far behind the sticks and resulting in a punt.
3rd Quarter
Needing a spark, Tech scored in three plays to open the half, the score coming on a 42 yard rushing touchdown by Tre Maddox to pull within two scores at 24-10.
Defensively, the same quality showed up with two sacks in three plays plus an offensive penalty forced the Hokies to punt from their endzone. Rahkeem Smith’s return put Tech at VT’s 38, setting up a 33 yard touchdown catch by Dalen Penson to make it 24-17 with 12:01 left. In the matter of minutes, a three score game became a one score game.
The excellent run of play continued with a third down sack of Ethan Grunkemeyer by Noah Carter to force another Hokie punt. VT nearly kept the ball as Smith fumbled the catch but luckily was recovered by Chris Elko. Tech went three and out due to a sack of Mendoza on first down.
The Hokies settled down back to their usual tempo with first down conversions by Marcellus Hawkins and Luke Reynolds before a 26 yard touchdown catch and run by Jeffrey Overton. VT led 31-17 with 5:41 left in the quarter.
Tech converted three first downs on their next drive from Tre Maddox, Isaiah Fuhrmann, and Dalen Penson before Mendoza was sacked on 3rd & 7 near the middle of the field to force a punt returned by Que’sean Brown all the way to Tech’s 17, but was placed at Tech’s 8 after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Jackets.
4th Quarter
Tech managed to hold the Hokies out of the endzone with goal to go, forcing a chip shot field goal to make it 34-17.
The Jackets’ ensuing possession started quite well with catches by Allen, Javien Plummer, and Chris Corbo to put Tech in the red zone. On the next play, Mendoza was sacked and recovered his own fumble. Tech couldn’t overcome the lost yardage and settled for a 37 yard field goal attempt that Aidan Birr pushed wide right.
After a Hokie punt, Tech got a much needed touchdown drive powered by a big Chad Alexander run to the Hokie 20. Jaiven Plummer scored from six yards out to make it 34-24 with 5:20 left.
Tech was not able to get a three and out defensively, allowing the Hokies to drain plenty of clock and eventually take knees to finish the game.
