Tech bludgeons Virginia, 56-20
On the day it welcomed back some of its dearest legends, Georgia Tech chased year-old ghosts out of Bobby Dodd Stadium. Saturday afternoon, the Yellow Jackets summoned big-play pyrotechnics to batter Virginia 56-20 and even a painful score from the 2011 season.
Starting with a 70-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tevin Washington to B-back Zach Laskey on its first play from scrimmage, Tech fleeced the Cavaliers with eight plays of 20 yards or more, scored touchdowns on five of its six first-half possessions and moved one step forward in its pursuit of Virginia Tech to capture the ACC Coastal Division title.
“I challenged those guys, man to man,” coach Paul Johnson said. “Who’s going to back down? Who’s going to step up? And they answered the call.”
With the win, Tech improved to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. Only a Virginia touchdown on the last play of the game prevented the blowout from being the most lopsided victory in Tech’s 218-game ACC history. As it stood, it was the fifth biggest.
“I knew it was going to be a dogfight,” cornerback Louis Young said. “I wanted us to be the team this year to get a TKO punch.”
Said Virginia coach Mike London, “It’s a humbling experience when you come in and get beat like that.”
The Jackets overwhelmed the Cavaliers from the start. After forcing a three-and-out from Virginia on the opening series, Tech scored on its first play, recalling memories of the Jackets’ three-game streak of touchdowns on its first play from scrimmage last season. On the play, Laskey released up the middle and then ran an out-and-up route that freed himself from Virginia linebacker Henry Coley. Washington hit him in stride for the touchdown.
It’s a play Tech rehearsed four or five times this week in anticipation of springing it on the Cavaliers.
Johnson “knew that they would bite on the toss hard,” offensive tackle Will Jackson said. “Zach was able to get out in the flats and just run right up the sideline.”
After forcing another punt from Virginia, the Jackets needed only two plays on the next series. A-back Orwin Smith took a pitch from Washington and tore down the right sideline for a 77-yard score, his alley cleared up by blocks from A-back Robbie Godhigh and wide receiver Jeff Greene. Tech led 14-0 less than five minutes into the game.
“I told [Greene], ‘That’s your touchdown,’” said Johnson, who during the week had expressed his displeasure with the Jackets’ perimeter blocking. “’You’re the guy who just rolled the corner,’ and he rolled him, too. He almost had him out of bounds.”
The third series started with another shock to Virginia, a 60-yard run by Washington in which he faked a pitch to Godhigh and then cut upfield before being brought down at the Virginia 15-yard line. He finished the drive by running the ball in on a 4th-and-goal play from the 1, following blocks by right guard Omoregie Uzzi and right tackle Will Jackson.
By halftime, Tech had amassed 386 yards on just 38 plays. It was a convincing response to a mid-week assessment from Johnson.
“This is going to be a big challenge for them this week because we got out our butt handed to us up there a year ago inside the tackle boxes,” he said. “So we’ll see how we do this week.”
Last October, Tech went up to Charlottesville, Va., with a 6-0 record and a No. 12 ranking. The Cavaliers overpowered the Jackets with 272 rushing yards and extinguished their dreams of perfection in a 24-21 upset. It was the start of a dreadful close to the season, in which the Jackets lost five of their last seven games.
Jackson said his enduring memory of the afternoon was “walking off the field with my head in my hands and just being totally torn up about losing to them.”
Saturday’s performance was a worthy tribute to the roughly 30 members of the 1951 and 1952 Tech teams, the latter of which won a share of the national title. They were honored at halftime in conjunction with the unveiling of a statue of legendary coach Bobby Dodd outside the stadium.
Defensively, Tech put the screws on the Cavaliers. The Jackets were equal to the challenge of Virginia’s power running game. Tech limited Virginia to 98 rushing yards and 297 total. Most notably, the Jackets stood firm when the Cavaliers began a second-quarter possession on the Tech 20 after a 72-yard kickoff return.
Trailing 28-7, Virginia went for a first down on 4th-and-1 from the 11 and was stopped when nose tackle Shawn Green beat guard Conner Davis to wrestle running back Perry Jones to the ground for a one-yard loss.
“We really wanted to place an emphasis on getting downhill and being physical with the blocks,” inside linebacker Quayshawn Nealy, who led Tech with 10 tackles and also had an interception.
In a game that defensive coordinator Al Groh said would be “a big chapter” towards revealing the improvement of his defense in his third season, the Jackets forced Virginia quarterback Michael Rocco into one of the poorest days of his career. He was 15-for-25 for 143 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and was relieved by backup Phillip Sims.
Tech has another score to settle next Saturday. Miami has beaten the Jackets three years running.
Said Washington, “I think Monday, we go back to the drawing board and start over.”
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221 comments Add your comment
Joe buzz
September 16th, 2012
8:03 am
Did anyone else notice that the VA players pulled off TW’s helmet after he was tackled? Should be an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty instead of making him sit out a play.
UGA = Yawn
September 16th, 2012
8:31 am
Joe buzz, I agree. They need to revisit that new rule but they can’t until the season ends, I believe.
Buzzzzzzzz
September 16th, 2012
8:40 am
Go, Yellow Jackets!!!
brad
September 16th, 2012
8:49 am
Wow, you beat Virginia!!!! WOW!!! What an accomplishment!!!
LTGTF
September 16th, 2012
9:01 am
WOW, we did beat Virginia!!!!!! WOW!!! and beat the heck out of them. Our D is really good this year. I am really impressed with our D-Line, they were in the backfield the entire game.
Techman23
September 16th, 2012
9:09 am
Nice with for the Yellow Jackets! Glad Laskey is okay; thanks Ken.
Now, we need to bring it on and Focus on the Canes!
MORGANTECH
September 16th, 2012
9:16 am
V Lee seems to look the part and have all the tools , but u can tell hes not ready to make all the reads,lets all hope he works hard at it,if so we could be very good in a year or two
jeffjacket
September 16th, 2012
9:17 am
@ brad
wow! 2 of Ga’s wins against Div.2 opponets!!!! WOW.
Road Scholar
September 16th, 2012
9:24 am
Green’s block on the TD run was fabulous! He sustained the block and hemmed the defender away for what seemed many seconds. Congrats! Our receivers CAN block and CAN catch also!
georgia tech breakin neckz
September 16th, 2012
9:53 am
the team is looking good defense is a beast this year only sleeping for :43 seconds but we are powerful and offense is as good as it ever been can’t wait to see whats to come well we have at least 2 ranked teams left to play (byu got beat last night) happy with tech preformance. GO JACKETS!!!!!!!
uafuneman
September 16th, 2012
9:54 am
GTathleticdirector, just the fact that you come on our,(GT) blog tells me your worried about Tech more than any other team you play. Are you on the S.C. blog, TN blog, KY blog, how about the Ga. Southern blog. Didn’t think so.
DOC 51
September 16th, 2012
10:03 am
Q.NEALY is really showing some leadership on defense.
acc sucks
September 16th, 2012
10:14 am
just when you thought the acc could not get any worse.
va tech???? miami??? NC???? maryland???
tek should win 9 with their eyes closed for gods sake.
VA trotted out a high school defense saturday.
TomDawg
September 16th, 2012
10:15 am
Dawg fan here and Tech fan (most of the time). Congrats on your win against Virginia. The Cavaliers always seem to give Tech problems, so it was nice to see them blow them out for once. The Cavs looked like they had no clue half the time. Good luck on the rest of the season, well except for that one game in November,
.
Daytona Dawg
September 16th, 2012
10:21 am
Good game Tech.
Hope you beat the snot out of Miami this week.
melanie
September 16th, 2012
10:28 am
This is the team we have been waiting for!! This was the best game ever & it was not even on tv…..Way to go Jackets!!!
Puzzled
September 16th, 2012
10:32 am
Why is Days not playing. 40 point lead and he is playing a back position. Is Vad Lee that much better.
JustinSyder
September 16th, 2012
10:39 am
Puzzled: Yes. If I were CPJ, I’d look to find more playing time for Synjyn at A back. He’s a great athlete, but still doesn’t seem to know he can pitch the ball and fumbles way too much. Vad is our number 2 for sure.
TomDawg
September 16th, 2012
10:43 am
I watched it on TV Melanie….ESPNU
Dwayne C
September 16th, 2012
11:07 am
One marvelous win and all the GT fans are jumping on the bandwagon. Better get ready to jump off it when the GA Tech Yellowjackets stumble against the Miami Hurricanes, losing for the fourth year in a row to the Canes. lol
TomDawg
September 16th, 2012
11:09 am
Is it me or does that pic of the Jacket on top of the Cav just look wrong? Guess it kind of symbolizes what Tech did to UVA.
Ol'JacketFan
September 16th, 2012
11:14 am
LOL@TomDawg, I had the same thought but didn’t want to be the first to bring it up
JustinSyder
September 16th, 2012
11:41 am
Dwayne C: I’m seeing the same Tech fans on the post game board that I’ve seen all week long. I think the real question is where are all the UGA trolls that were predicting Tech to get crushed?
Nate
September 16th, 2012
11:48 am
Great win for the Jackets, but they had better maintain discipline and hard work this week in prep for the Hurricanes. Congrats to UGA as well, hopefully both teams can maintain the intensity throughout the season so we can see 2 ranked teams play in November.
FL Jacket
September 16th, 2012
12:00 pm
Justin…
They’ll be here tomorrow to tell us how UVA isn’t a good team and we shouldn’t celebrate bearing such a bad team.
Of course, they won’t explain themselves when they predicted that UVA would come in here and kick our tail…
Supersize that order, mutt
September 16th, 2012
12:02 pm
@ Duhhhwayne C……. all the trolls were saying there was no way we would beat UVA last week. Now you’re saying we won’t beat the U. No way in hell will Tech lose to Miami next week. It could be as overwhelming a win as this one was.
Gorilla Biscuit
September 16th, 2012
12:32 pm
Georgia Tech for Heisman!!!!
Vegas Tech alum
September 16th, 2012
12:59 pm
Great game. Fun to watch. So, you think we keep the gold helmets and white jerseys the rest of the year?
GT Fan
September 16th, 2012
1:00 pm
Best & most astute quote you’ve ever made Gorilla Biscuit. Thanks for the props!
GT Fan
September 16th, 2012
1:05 pm
Puzzled ….
You’ve gotta start reading more GT articles. I think you’re the only GT fan that doesn’t know that S.Days, per PJ, “is too good of an athlete to have standing on the sideline” (i.e. as the #2 QB). That is why it has been reported numerous times that SD is getting most of his practice reps at Aback.
And like the other poster who responded 2 u ….. SD keeps the ball way too much, and has earned the lable (by me) as “Mr. Fumble”
jacket3
September 16th, 2012
1:27 pm
Unbelievable game yesterday. The Tech D reminded me of the black watch days on the flats. Has Al’s Defense finally arrived? Miami should tell us for sure. I am convinced that PJ will have a few more plays to add to the game next Saturday. Can’t wait to see.
And can someone explain to me WHY ESPN always HATES the Jackets?
LimpStinger
September 16th, 2012
1:28 pm
The Drones lost to a team that lost to a horrendous Pitt team. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Ol'JacketFan
September 16th, 2012
1:32 pm
Oh my how witty Limp is! Did you stay up all night thinking of that gem of a “put down”????????????? LOL!!!!!!!!!!
1 4 GT
September 16th, 2012
1:35 pm
FYI….on Schultz’s live blog yesterday….which I read just now because I was at the game yesterday & got home @ 11:00 PM….butt sniffer calling himself Steve posted ratings from Sagarin that GT’s 2012 schedule ranked 145 & Georgie’s was quite a bit higher (forgot the actual rank for them)….it was a lie…. then later in the blog when someone commented on it….Steve posted a link that even proved he was lieing….Georgie’s strength of schedule for 2012 is listed @ 138….GT’s strength of schedule is listed @ 116….while an accompanying article explains that “all” college schedules are in the rankings….& neither school’s s o s is nothing to brag about….this dummy posted a lie & then posted a link to prove he told a lie….no joke….this kinda stuff can’t be made up….ROTFLMFAO….went back & found Steve posted the Georgie s o s @ 73….LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL
Ol'JacketFan
September 16th, 2012
1:44 pm
1 4 that must be the same Steve that’s on JS’s sheet now, what an idiot!
Supersize that order, mutt
September 16th, 2012
1:44 pm
@ 1 4 GT…….you should know by now that dwags don’t pay attention to facts. And Steve apparently not only proved that, but also proved that he can’t even understand the facts when they are right in front of his face.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 16th, 2012
1:51 pm
@ OJF…..yeah, Steve is on JS’s blog now. And would you believe he thought I was stupid for using the term “dwags.” He doesn’t even watch his own team on TV, or he would know that’s how at least one of his own fans spelled it at their bowl game last year. If anybody still has the link to that photo, I would love to post it for him to see.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 16th, 2012
1:52 pm
Nevermind, I found it. Here it is if anybody is interested who hasn’t seen it yet —
http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/p/30893609/Go-Dwags.aspx
Ol'JacketFan
September 16th, 2012
2:04 pm
SS you did a good job with the idiot Steve on Schultzie’s page
Supersize that order, mutt
September 16th, 2012
2:23 pm
@ OJF……thanks. And yet he is claiming that what he posted yesterday was correct in spite of the fact that you apparently called him on it right after he posted it. The boy is really stupid, isn’t he?
Ol'JacketFan
September 16th, 2012
2:27 pm
SS as we have been known to say down South, Bless his heart, he ain’t real bright is he?
Supersize that order, mutt
September 16th, 2012
2:31 pm
LOL @ OJF
DawgNole
September 16th, 2012
2:32 pm
JustinSyder
September 16th, 2012
11:41 am
Dwayne C: I’m seeing the same Tech fans on the post game board that I’ve seen all week long. I think the real question is where are all the UGA trolls that were predicting Tech to get crushed?
___________________
They’re huddling with the Tech trolls who predicted UGA wouldn’t be undefeated after 3 games.
yeller bug
September 16th, 2012
2:50 pm
Just like losing to VT wasn’t the end of the world and we need to fire everybody, beating the snot out of UVA doesn’t mean we’ve arrived and bonuses for everyone. UM will be tougher than UVA, then perhaps a step back for MTSU and then a big game for the scaredy cats of Clemson. For all you TO hecklers out there—you gotta admit that when it runs well, it is a thing of beauty to witness. When you run for over a quarter mile on a team, you’ve soundly kicked their D’s arse.
Ol'JacketFan
September 16th, 2012
3:01 pm
At the quarter pole of the season there are some things that are showing to be better that where the team was last year even after the explosive start. (1) Defense is much more active and looking to make plays rather than sitting back (nothwithstanding the end of the VT regulation) (2) Overall team speed in vastly improved (3) O line is gelling with the changes (Mason and Jackson starting) (4) WRs getting acclimated and improved blocking on the edge and (5) the emergence of Vad Lee behind TW as a viable option.
I am looking forward to continuing growth and improvement as the season goes along. If this team contiunes to be focused and matures it could be a right good season. Given that the starting 22 has only 5 seniors the future of the program continues to look very good!
Go Jackets! Humble the u!!!!
5150 UOAD
September 16th, 2012
3:09 pm
It looks like Schultz, Bradley & Ken have competition for the Live Tech game blogs
http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/091412aab.html#
Roddy Jones’ Live Blog Returns For Saturday’s Football Game
Join the former Yellow Jacket reunning back tomorrow
Sept. 14, 2012
Want in-game insight from one of the all-time favorite Yellow Jacket football players? Don’t miss Roddy Jones’ live blog on Saturday during Georgia Tech’s game versus Virginia.
Jones will be posted up in the press box, giving fans his views of the action and offering comments and answering your questions on the 2012 edition of the Yellow Jackets.
His live chat begins tomorrow at 3:15 p.m. as the Yellow Jackets host the Cavaliers at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Ol'JacketFan
September 16th, 2012
3:21 pm
5150 thanks for link, I’ll have to check it out.
5150 UOAD
September 16th, 2012
3:26 pm
OJF….figure it will be pretty much a Mutt Free Zone. LOL
Ol'JacketFan
September 16th, 2012
3:35 pm
5150, could be
But you know there will always be trolls trying to show us just how smart they are LOL!!!!!
DawgNole
September 16th, 2012
3:57 pm
5150 UOAD
September 16th, 2012
3:26 pm
OJF….figure it will be pretty much a Mutt Free Zone. LOL
____________________
C’mon now, 5150, what fun would it be w/o a few of us purebreds for you to U on?