ORLANDO, Fla. – Haynes King and Georgia Tech’s offense looked to be on their way to another comeback for the ages in the waning minutes of Saturday’s Pop-Tarts Bowl, but the 22nd-ranked Yellow Jackets’ valiant comeback came up just short in a 25-21 loss to No. 12 BYU at Camping World Stadium.
BYU capped its own comeback from a 21-10 fourth-quarter deficit when it scored on a 2-yard run with 2:00 to go to take a 25-21 lead.
However, as he’s done so many times in his historic Georgia Tech career, King engineered a spectacular drive in the final two minutes to put the Jackets in position to win. The series was highlighted by a perfect 66-yard throw-and-catch to wide receiver Eric Rivers on fourth-and-15 that moved Tech to the BYU 18 yard line with 35 seconds remaining.
Unfortunately for the Jackets, after three-straight incompletions, King was intercepted by BYU’s Evan Johnson on fourth down to end the rally and seal the victory for the Cougars.
Despite coming up just short of a final win at the helm of Georgia Tech’s offense, King accounted for 301 yards of offense (270 passing, 31 rushing), threw for two touchdowns and broke three school records in his 38th and final game as a Yellow Jacket.
In addition to becoming Tech’s all-time leader in career completions (674), career completion percentage (.676) and single-season total offense (3,920), King also became only the second player to ever amass 10,000 yards of total offense in a career at Georgia Tech. King finished with 10,200 total yards in his three seasons as a Yellow Jacket, behind only College Football Hall of Famer Joe Hamilton, who had 10,640 yards of offense in four seasons at Tech (1996-99).
Wide receiver Malik Rutherford also capped a historic Georgia Tech career with an impressive performance in his final game as a Yellow Jacket, finishing with eight catches for 105 yards. Rutherford passed another College Football Hall of Famer, Calvin Johnson, for second all-time at Tech with 178 career receptions and also became only the seventh Yellow Jacket to ever register 2,000 career receiving yards (2,014).
Rivers also had a 100-yard day for the Jackets, finishing with 102 yards on four catches.
Not to be overshadowed by the Jackets’ 401 yards of offense, Tech’s defense came up big in several situations against BYU’s high-powered offense. A goal line stand on the first series of the game, capped by defensive back Zachary Tobe and linebacker Kyle Efford making consecutive tackles at the 1 yard line on third- and fourth-and-goal, and an end-zone interception by Rodney Shelley on BYU’s first possession of the second half highlighted the defensive effort.
Despite the loss, Georgia Tech closed the 2025 season with a 9-4 overall record, its best in nine years and tied for the 10th-most wins in Tech’s 133-season football history.