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.