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Football Blasts South Carolina State, 48-13

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Final Stats Postgame Notes Multimedia Photo Gallery

THE FLATS – Behind 290 yards and four touchdowns passing from Haynes King and 114 yards rushing from Jamal Haynes, Georgia Tech scored points on eight of its 12 offensive possessions and cruised to a 48-13 victory over South Carolina State on Saturday afternoon at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field.

After kickoff was delayed by weather for nearly two-and-a-half hours, Georgia Tech (1-1) outgained South Carolina State (0-3) by a 578-291 margin and picked up the 750th win in school history, becoming the 21st NCAA Division I FBS program to reach the 750-win plateau.

King completed 21-of-29 passes and threw his four touchdown passes to four different receivers, coming up just one shy of the school record for TD passes in a single game. In only his second game as a running back after moving from wide receiver this fall. Haynes rushed for a career-high 114 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries. Trey Cooley added 93 yards rushing on 10 attempts as the Yellow Jackets rolled to its highest total yardage output in five years with 310 yards through the air and 268 yards on the ground.

Defensively, Georgia Tech limited S.C. State to just two scores in 12 possessions. The Bulldogs mustered just 145 yards on their 10 other offensive series.

The Jackets capitalized on an interception by Kyle Kennard at the Bulldog 15-yard line to score first on a 4-yard Haynes run just 2:32 into the ballgame. One possession later, Tech drove 60 yards to score on King’s 3-yard pass to Dominick Blaylock to open a 14-0 lead after the first quarter. Two possessions later, King threw a 40-yard strike to Eric Singleton, Jr. to make it 21-0 in the second period.

South Carolina State trimmed deficit to 21-6 with 34 seconds to play in the half in the opening half, but the Jackets were able to answer the score in just 16 seconds later, with Haynes ripping off a 67-yard run to set up King’s 8-yard scoring toss to Brett Seither that have Tech a commanding 28-6 halftime lead.

Tech and S.C. State each scored touchdowns the first time they had the ball in the second half to make it 35-13, but it was all Jackets from there, as they scored on four of their six possessions after the break to cruise to their largest win since a 66-31 rout at Louisville in 2018.

Kennard led the Yellow Jackets defensively with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery to go along with his first-quarter interception. Fellow defensive end Eddie Kelly led all players with nine tackles.

After scoring on just 3-of-5 red-zone opportunities in last week’s heartbreaking season-opening loss to Louisville, Georgia Tech got points on 5-of-6 trips into the red zone on Saturday. The Jackets also held a 14-0 edge in points off turnovers, after being outscored 10-0 in the department in last week’s defeat.

Georgia Tech hits the road for the first time this season next Saturday when it travels to Oxford, Miss., for a 7:30 p.m. ET kick against No. 20 Ole Miss. The game will be televised nationally on SEC Network.

Haynes King threw for four touchdowns, one shy of the school record, in Saturday’s’ 48-13 win over South Carolina State (Danny Karnik photo).

Postgame Notes

Team Notes

  • With the win, Georgia Tech evened its record at 1-1.
  • Georgia Tech has won at least one of their first two games in each of the last 34 seasons. Tech has not started 0-2 since 1989.
  • South Carolina State fell to 0-3.
  • The game began with a 2-hour and 21-minute delay due to severe weather. Kickoff was at 3:23 p.m. instead of 1:02 p.m. as originally scheduled.
  • The win was the 750th in Georgia Tech football history (131st season – first season: 1892). Georgia Tech is the 21st program in NCAA Division I FBS history to win 750 games and the fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference, joining Clemson, Virginia Tech and Pitt.
  • With its first win over an opponent from the state of South Carolina since a 28-6 win over Clemson on Nov. 15, 2014, Georgia Tech snapped a nine-game losing streak against opponents from the Palmetto State.
  • Georgia Tech’s 48 points were its most in a game since a 56-33 win against Duke on Nov. 28, 2020.
  • Georgia Tech’s 578 yards of offense were its most in a game since 602 yards at USF on Sept. 8, 2018.
  • Georgia Tech outgained S.C. State, 578-291, marking the first time that Tech has outgained an opponent by 200 yards since a 41-0 win over Alcorn State on Sept. 1, 2018 (543-146).
  • The 35-point margin of victory was Georgia Tech’s largest since a 66-31 victory over Louisville on Oct. 5, 2018.

Individual Notes

  • Georgia Tech r-So. QB Haynes King threw four touchdown passes (3, 40, 8 and 55 yards). It marks only the 17th time in school history that a Yellow Jacket has thrown four or more touchdown passes in a game and the first time since Jordan Yates threw for four TD vs. Kennesaw State on Sept. 11, 2021.
  • Georgia Tech Jr. DE Kyle Kennard had an interception, forced fumble and fumble recovery.
  • The interception, forced fumble and fumble recovery were all career firsts for Kennard (32 career games).
  • Kennard is the fourth Yellow Jacket in the last 10 games with an interception and a fumble recovery in the same game (joining Charlie Thomas – Oct. 1, 2022 vs. Pitt, LaMiles Brooks – Oct. 20, 2022 vs. Virginia and Clayton Powell-Lee Virginia Tech – Nov. 5, 2022). Only two other Yellow Jackets have accomplished the feat since 2000 (Quayshawn Nealy – Oct. 19, 2013 vs. Syracuse and Nov. 8, 2014 vs. NC State and Bruce Jordan-Swilling – Nov. 4, 2017 vs. Virginia).
  • Georgia Tech r-So. RB Jamal Haynes, who moved to running back from wide receiver this fall, ran for 113 yards on 9 carries (12.6 avg.). It was the first 100-yard rushing game of his career (prev. high: 51 vs. Louisville last Friday) and the first 100-yard rushing game by a Yellow Jacket since Hassan Hall ran for 157 yards at Pitt on Oct. 1, 2022.
  • RB Trey Cooley scored two touchdowns (55-yard reception, 15-yard rush), giving him four touchdowns in two games as a Yellow Jacket. He scored six touchdowns in two seasons at Louisville.
  • Haynes’ 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was the first touchdown of his career.
  • Georgia Tech r-Jr. WR Dominick Blaylock’s 3-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was his first touchdown as a Yellow Jacket. Blaylock scored six touchdowns in four seasons at Georgia (five in 2019, one in 2022).
  • Georgia Tech r-Jr. TE Brett Seither had his second touchdown reception in as many games as a Yellow Jacket, an 8-yard catch in the second quarter. He had only one touchdown reception in four seasons at Georgia (2021 vs. Charleston Southern).
  • Haynes’ 67-yard run that set up Seither’s touchdown with less than a minute to go in the second quarter was the longest rush by a Yellow Jacket since current San Francisco 49er Jordan Mason’s 71-yard touchdown run at Miami (Fla.) on Nov. 6, 2021.
Eric Singleton, Jr. hauled in his second touchdown reception in as many games to help lift the Yellow Jackets over S.C. State (Danny Karnik photo).

Multimedia

Head Coach Brent Key Postgame Press Conference (Audio)

Postgame Press Conference (Coach Key, Haynes King, Trey Cooley, Jaylon King)

Game Highlights (ACC Digital Network)

Condensed Game (ACC Digital Network)

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