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Jackets Roll Up 680 Yards in Home-Opening Rout

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Final Stats Postgame Notes Multimedia Photo Gallery 2025 Georgia Tech Football Tickets TICKETS: Whiteout vs. No. 8 Clemson (Saturday at Noon)

THE FLATS – Making his first-career start, redshirt freshman quarterback Aaron Philo led Georgia Tech to one of the most prolific offensive outbursts in school history in the Yellow Jackets’ 59-12 win over Gardner-Webb on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field.

Behind Philo and his career-high 373 passing yards, Georgia Tech (2-0) amassed a whopping 680 yards of offense, including 457 through the air. The Yellow Jackets’ 680 total yards are the third-most in the program history, while the 457 passing yards and 11.9 yards per play both rank second in the school’s all-time annals.

The Jackets also rushed for 223 yards, including 100 yards and two touchdowns from Malachi Hosley and 92 yards and a pair of scores from Jamal Haynes. All eight of Georgia Tech’s touchdown drives took less than three minutes off the clock, as the Yellow Jackets put 59 points on the board despite only having the ball for 22 minutes and 37 seconds.

Georgia Tech’s defense also turned in a stellar performance, as it recorded six sacks, 14 tackles for loss and allowed just 12 points to a Gardner-Webb squad that scored 52 and amassed 627 yards of total offense in its season debut a week ago.

For the second-straight week, the Yellow Jackets had an inauspicious start. After turning the ball over on its first three possessions in last week’s season-opening win at Colorado, the Jackets had turnovers on each of their first two offensive series on Saturday, and once again found itself down by a touchdown early in the ballgame (Gardner-Webb missed the PAT after its early TD and only led 6-0).

However, Tech’s offense began humming after the initial miscues. Philo led the Jackets to scores on four-straight possessions following the early turnovers, leading Tech to a commanding 28-6 halftime lead. After the break, the Jackets scored on 4-of-5 possessions account for the final 47-point margin.

Philo’s 373 passing yards were the sixth-most in Georgia Tech single-game history, and the most by a Yellow Jacket since George Godsey’s school-record 486 yards through the air against Virginia in 2001.

After Philo left the game in the fourth quarter, redshirt freshman Graham Knowles completed the first pass of his career for an 84-yard touchdown to Dean Patterson.

In all, 11 different players caught passes for Georgia Tech, led by Malik Rutherford, who had a team-high five receptions for 62 yards. Patterson led the Jackets with 87 receiving yards, and sophomore Isiah Canion hauled in his first-career touchdown, part of a 2-catch, 53-yard day.

Defensively, redshirt junior linebacker Kyle Efford had six tackles, leading 15 different Yellow Jackets with at least three stops. Sophomore defensive end Amontrae Bradford and redshirt senior defensive tackle Akelo Stone each recorded two of the Jackets’ six sacks, while sophomore DB Kelvin Hill had 2.5 tackles for loss.

Not to be overshadowed by the impressive performances on both sides of the ball, the Yellow Jackets were nearly flawless on special teams, highlighted by a field goal block by Jordan van den Berg that was returned 65 yards for a score by Ahmari Harvey. The Jackets also blocked a PAT that was seemingly returned for a defensive two-point conversion by Will Kiker, only for it to be erased by an inadvertent official’s whistle. Place kicker Aidan Birr moved to 3-for-3 on the season with a 23-yard field goal.

Sitting at 2-0 for the second season in a row, Georgia Tech hosts longtime Atlantic Coast Conference rival and No. 8-ranked Clemson next Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon and the game will be televised on either ABC or ESPN.

Jamal Haynes had 100 yards from scrimmage (92 rushing, 8 receiving) and matched a career high with two touchdowns in Saturday’s 59-12 win over Gardner-Webb (Danny Karnik photo)

 

Team Notes

  • Georgia Tech moved to 2-0 with the win.
  • Georgia Tech is 2-0 for the second-straight season. Prior to 2024, the Yellow Jackets had not won their first two games of the season since 2016 (the Jackets were 1-1 after two games every season from 2017-23).
  • Georgia Tech is 2-0 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2015 and 2016.
  • Georgia Tech extended its winning streak at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field to six games. It is its longest winning streak at Bobby Dodd Stadium since it won eight-straight at BDS from 2016-17.
  • Georgia Tech moved to 98-29-4 all-time in home openers (.763).
  • Georgia Tech moved to 21-6 in home openers since 2000.
  • Georgia Tech moved to 2-0 all-time against Gardner-Webb.
  • Georgia Tech’s 680 yards of offense ranks third in program history, behind only 768 yards vs. Kansas (Sept. 17, 2011) and 712 yards vs. Presbyterian (Sept. 8, 2012).
  • Georgia Tech’s 680 yards of offense marked the seventh time in 28 games since Brent Key took over as the Yellow Jackets’ permanent head coach prior to the 2023 season that Tech has had at least 500 yards of offense.
  • Georgia Tech’s 457 passing yards are the second-most in school history (record: 486 vs. Virginia – Nov. 10, 2001).
  • Georgia Tech’s 11.9 yards per play are the second-most in school history (record: 13.5 vs. Kansas – Sept. 17, 2011).
  • Georgia Tech’s defense registered six sacks, its most in a game since it had eight at Wake Forest on Sept. 23, 2023.
  • Georgia Tech’s three-play, 94-yard, 1:07 touchdown drive in the second quarter marked the first time that the Yellow Jackets had an offensive scoring drive of at least 94 yards that took 1:07 or less off the clock since a one-play, 95-yard scoring drive that took just 14 seconds off the clock on the opening possession of their 66-24 win over Kansas on Sept. 17, 2011.
  • r-Sr. DB Ahmari Harvey’s 65-yard return of a blocked field goal by r-Sr. DL Jordan van den Berg was Georgia Tech’s first blocked field goal return for a touchdown since Lance Austin’s 78-yard return for the game-winning touchdown in the Yellow Jackets’ 22-16 win over No. 9 Florida State on Oct. 24, 2015.
  • A week after turning the ball over on its first three possessions last Friday at Colorado, Georgia Tech had turnovers on its first two possessions against Gardner-Webb.
  • After turning the ball over on its first two possessions of the game, Georgia Tech scored touchdowns on its next four possessions to open a commanding 28-6 lead late in the second quarter.

Individual Notes

  • r-Sr. QB Haynes King did not play due to a nagging lower body injury.
  • r-Fr. QB Aaron Philo made his first-career start in place of King.
  • Philo completed 21-of-28 passes for 373 yards and a touchdown.
  • Philo’s 373 passing yards were the most ever by a Georgia Tech player in his first-career start and the sixth-most in Georgia Tech history.
  • His 21 completions and 373 passing yards were both career highs (prev.: 19 completions and 265 yards vs. NC State – Nov. 21, 2024).
  • RB Malachi Hosley had his first 100-yard rushing game at Georgia Tech with 100 yards and two touchdowns (55 and 5 yards) on nine carries (11.1 avg.). Hosley, the 2024 Ivy League Player of the Year, had 10 100-yard rushing games in two seasons at Penn (2023-24).
  • r-Sr. RB Jamal Haynes rushed for a career-high tying two touchdowns (47 and 1 yards). He previously ran for two touchdowns in wins over North Carolina on Oct. 12, 2024 and No. 10 Florida State on Aug. 24, 2024.
  • The two-touchdown game was the fourth of Haynes’ career. He had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown against Syracuse on Nov. 18, 2023.
  • WR Isiah Canion had his first-career touchdown reception in the first quarter (11 yards).
  • r-Sr DB Ahmari Harvey’s 65-yard return of a blocked field goal was the first touchdown of his career.
  • R-Sr. TE Brett Seither had his first reception in 651 days in the first quarter (26 yards). Seither, who missed the entire 2024 season due to injury, made his last previous catch on Nov. 25, 2023 against Georgia.
  • DL Amontrae Bradford’s game-high two sacks were the first two of his career.
Ahmari Harvey’s 65-yard return of a blocked field goal by Jordan van den Berg was Georgia Tech’s first blocked field goal return for a touchdown since its famous Miracle on Techwood Drive versus Florida State in 2015. (Danny Karnik photo)

 

Multimedia

Head Coach Brent Key Postgame Press Conference (Video)

Head Coach Brent Key Postgame Press Conference (Audio)

Student-Athletes Postgame Press Conference (Video)

ACC Digital Network Highlights

ACC Digital Network Condensed Game

ACC Digital Network Full Game Replay

 

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2025 GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL SEASON TICKETS

2025 Georgia Tech football season, mini-plan and single-game tickets are on sale now.

Season tickets include the best seats for the Yellow Jackets’ six-game slate at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, which features Atlantic Coast Conference showdowns versus Clemson, Pitt, Syracuse and Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech season ticket members also have elevated seating priority for tickets purchased for the 2025 edition of “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” versus archrival Georgia, set for Nov. 28 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Tech’s 2025 mini-plan includes tickets to the home opener versus Gardner-Webb, Hall of Fame Weekend against Virginia Tech and Senior Day versus Pitt. Mini-plans offer a better value than purchasing seats at single-game prices without the commitment of a full season ticket.

For more information and to purchase 2025 Georgia Tech football tickets today, visit ramblinwreck.com/footballtickets.

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and at www.ramblinwreck.com.

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