Oct. 30, 2016
THE FLATS – In recognition of his incredible performance in Georgia Tech’s come-from-behind victory over Duke on Saturday, quarterback Justin Thomas has been named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week, the Walter Camp Football Foundation announced on Sunday.
Thomas amassed 459 yards of total offense – the third-highest total in Georgia Tech history – and accounted for four touchdowns in the Yellow Jackets’ 38-35 win. He completed 10-of-14 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns and ran 17 times for 195 yards and two scores, good for a 99.7 ESPN Total Quarterback Rating, which is the highest Total QBR for an FBS player this season.
The fifth-year senior became the first Yellow Jacket with 400 yards of total offense in a single game since George Godsey totaled a school-record 477 yards against Virginia in 2001. In addition to posting the third-highest yardage total ever at Georgia Tech, Thomas’ 276.97 pass-efficiency rating was also the third-highest mark in program history.
Thomas Is only the fourth FBS player since 2000 with 190 rushing yards, 250 passing yards, two touchdown runs and two touchdown passes in a game and he single-handedly outgained 66 of the 106 FBS teams that played on Saturday.
In addition to piling up the gaudy numbers, he led Georgia Tech to scores on six of its 10 offensive possessions (not including a final drive when the Jackets ran out the clock to seal the victory). He engineered a six-play, 86-yard drive late in the fourth quarter that culminated with him throwing the game-winning 21-yard touchdown pass to Clinton Lynch with 5:38 to go in the ballgame.
In the process, he also became only the 39th player in FBS history with 4,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards in a career.
Thomas and the Yellow Jackets (5-3, 2-3 ACC) are back in action on Saturday when they go for their third-straight win at North Carolina (6-2, 4-1 ACC, ranked No. 17 in this week’s Amway Coaches Poll). The ACC announced on Sunday that the contest at UNC will kick off at 12:30 p.m. and be televised on the ACC Network.
