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Jackets' Comeback Falls Short in Birmingham Bowl Defeat

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Final Stats Postgame Notes Multimedia Photo Gallery

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Georgia Tech nearly caught lighting in a bottle after close to an hour-long weather delay in Friday’s Birmingham Bowl, as the Yellow Jackets nearly battled all the way back from a 22-point deficit, but fell just short in a 35-27 loss to Vanderbilt at Protective Stadium.

Trailing 35-13 with 7:17 to go in the game, both teams were sent to their locker rooms and the stands were cleared of fans due to lightning in the vicinity. Just four plays after play resumed, running back Jamal Haynes caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Haynes King to cut the deficit to 35-20 with 5:03 remaining on the clock.

Georgia Tech did not recover the ensuing onside kick, but Tech’s defense, which held Vanderbilt to 306 yards of total offense, forced a three-and-out and the Yellow Jackets got the ball back on their own 17 yard line with 4:06 to go.

The Jackets then engineered an 11-play, 83-yard touchdown drive in just 2 minutes and 36 seconds, capped by a 2-yard touchdown toss from King to Bailey Stockton, which pulled Tech within a single score at 35-27.

However, another unsuccessful onside kick attempt gave Vanderbilt the ball back with 1:30 to go in the game and with the Jackets having only one timeout remaining, the Commodores were able to kneel out the clock and hold on for the win.

Georgia Tech outgained Vandy by a 394-306 margin, but was uncharacteristically penalized 10 times for 100 yards (Tech entered the game ranked No. 10 nationally in fewest penalty yards per game at 38.6). The Yellow Jackets, which came into the game tied for second nationally with just eight turnovers on the season, also uncharacteristically turned the ball over twice on back-to-back possessions in the second half, which led to 14 Vandy points – the most the Jackets have surrendered all season.

Haynes led Georgia Tech with 168 yards from scrimmage – 136 rushing and 32 receiving. The 100-yard rushing game was his third of the season, seventh in his career and second in as many bowl games (he had 128 in last year’s Gasparilla Bowl win over UCF). King completed 25-of-33 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns and Abdul Janneh, Jr. led 11 different Jackets with receptions with three catches for 34 yards.

Defensive backs LaMiles Brooks and Zachary Tobe had seven tackles apiece to lead a Georgia Tech defense that barely allowed 300 yards despite being without four starters from the regular season.

Georgia Tech finished the season at 7-6, giving the Yellow Jackets back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2013 and 2014.

Jamal Haynes had 168 yards from scrimmage – including his third 100-yard rushing performance of the season – in the 2024 Birmingham Bowl. (Danny Karnik photo)

 

 

Postgame Notes

Team Notes

  • Georgia Tech finishes the season with a final record of 7-6, giving it consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2013 and 2014.
  • Georgia Tech dropped to 26-21 all-time in bowl games (.553).
  • The loss snapped Georgia Tech’s six-game winning streak against Vanderbilt (dating back to 1966) and 13-game unbeaten streak against Vandy (12-0-1 – dating back to 1948). Tech fell to 20-16-3 all-time against the Commodores.
  • The loss was Georgia Tech’s first against an unranked team from the Southeastern Conference since a 13-7 defeat at unranked Georgia in 2015.
  • Georgia Tech outgained Vanderbilt by a 394-306 margin. It marked the third time this season that the Yellow Jackets outgained an opponent by at least 80 yards in a defeat (outgained Louisville, 410-326, in a 31-19 defeat on Sept. 21 and outgained Virginia Tech, 356-233, in a 21-6 defeat on Oct. 26).
  • Eleven different receivers caught passes for Georgia Tech, one shy of the school record of 12, which was matched on Sept. 14 vs. VMI. Friday’s game marked the third time this season that Georgia Tech had at least 11 players with receptions (12 vs. VMI – Sept. 14 and 11 vs. Georgia State – Aug. 31). Prior to it happening three times this season, Georgia Tech only had as many as 11 different receivers catch a pass in a game eight times in program history.
  • Georgia Tech, which entered the game tied for the second-fewest turnovers in the nation this season (8), had a season-high-tying two turnovers (Tech also had two turnovers against Notre Dame on Oct. 19 and at Virginia Tech on Oct. 26). Vanderbilt’s 14 points off turnovers were the most that Tech allowed this season (prev.: 10 vs. Notre Dame – Oct. 19).
  • Georgia Tech, which entered the game ranked 10th nationally in fewest penalty yards per game (38.6 ypg) was flagged 10 times for 100 yards, both season highs (prev.: eight penalties for 72 yds. vs. Georgia State – Aug. 31).
  • The game was stopped for a 52-minute lightning delay with Georgia Tech trailing 35-13 with 7:17 to go in the fourth quarter. When play resumed after the delay, Georgia Tech outscored Vanderbilt, 14-0, and had a chance to retake possession with a minute-and-a-half to go but its onside kick attempt went out of bounds.

Individual Notes

  • With 204 passing yards, three touchdown passes and one interception, r-Jr. QB Haynes King finished the season with 2,114 passing yards, 14 touchdown passes and just two interceptions in 11 games. He is only the second Atlantic Coast Conference player and the 13th NCAA Division I FBS player in the last 69 seasons (since 1956) with at least 2,100 passing yards, 10 touchdown passes and two or fewer interceptions in a season. The full list includes: Rudy Carpenter (Arizona State – 2005), Stephen McGee (Texas A&M – 2006), Jake Medlock (Florida International – 2012), Connor Shaw (South Carolina – 2013), Drew Hare (Northern Illinois – 2014), Danny Etling (LSU – 2017), Dustin Crum (Kent State – 2019), Jayden Daniels (Arizona State – 2019), Hendon Hooker (Tennessee – 2022), Grayson McCall (Coastal Carolina – 2022), Drew Allar (Penn State – 2023) and Jordan Travis (Florida State – 2023).
  • King’s three touchdown passes matched a season high (prev. vs. VMI – Sept. 14).
  • RT Jordan Williams made the 53rd start of his career to set a new Georgia Tech record for career starts (prev.: 52 – RB Roddy Jones, 2008-11).
  • r-Jr. RB Jamal Haynes rushed for 136 yards, good for his third 100-yard rushing game of the season and seventh of his career. All seven of his 100-yard rushing games have come in the last 25 games.
  • Haynes finished the season with 944 rushing yards. He is the first Georgia Tech player to rush for at least 900 yards in consecutive seasons since QB TaQuon Marshall in 2017 and 2018 and the first Tech running back to accomplish the feat since Jonathan Dwyer in 2008 and 2009.
  • R-Jr. WR Malik Rutherford caught three passes for 32 yards. It was his 29th-consecutive game with a reception, which is tied for 4th-longest in Georgia Tech history with Kerry Watkins (2000-02) and Demaryius Thomas (2008-09). Rutherford’s 29-game streak is the longest by a Yellow Jacket since Thomas’.
  • Rutherford finished the season with 62 receptions, the sixth-most in Georgia Tech single-season history and the most by a Yellow Jacket since Pro Football and College Football Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson’s 76 receptions in 2006.
  • r-Sr. TE Ryland Goede’s 2-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was the first-career TD for Goede, a sixth-year senior playing in his final collegiate game.
  • r-Fr. WR Bailey Stockton’s 2-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter was his first-career TD.
Haynes King threw for a season-high three touchdowns in the Birmingham Bowl. (Danny Karnik photo)

 

Multimedia

Head Coach Brent Key and Student-Athletes Postgame Press Conference (Video)

Head Coach Brent Key Postgame Press Conference (Audio)

ACC Digital Network Highlights

ACC Digital Network Condensed Game

ACC Digital Network Full Game Replay

Around Social Media

 

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.

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