Georgia Tech beats Wofford in opener 38-19
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets headed into their opening season game against Wofford looking to pound the Terriers and get some momentum going for the “real” games.
As it turned out, this game was a lot more “real” than most Tech fans would have liked to see.
Zach Laskey scored on a four-yard touchdown run to put the Yellow Jackets on top early in the first quarter, but the Terries responded with a field goal and a touchdown of their own to take a 9-7 lead just before the half. The Jackets managed to move down the field on their last drive of the second quarter and Harrison Butker nailed a 30-yard field goal to give the Jackets a one-point advantage heading into the half.
Normally, going into the half with a lead is a good thing, but against Wofford it was extremely disappointing to see and coach Paul Johnson probably let his team know that in between quarters — once the third quarter started, it looked much better for Georgia Tech and they went on to outscore Wofford 28-10 through the rest of the game and win 38-19.
Justin Thomas proved to be extremely efficient passing and running the ball in this one. He finished 11-15 with two passing touchdowns and 282 yards in the air while running for 71 yards on 13 carries (5.5 yard average). If Thomas is able to replicate this type of performance against better competition, this offense could be leaps and bounds better than last season — an 18.8 yard average on passes is pretty awesome.
Laskey got most of the carries for the Yellow Jackets today and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns after 15 carries and 70 yards.
The real highlight offensively though was DeAndre Smelter. The receiver only had five receptions, but he made the most out of each and every one, picking up 132 yards through the air and ending up on the receiving end of both of Thomas’s touchdown passes.
Defensively, it was a mixed result at best. Somehow the Yellow Jackets allowed the Terriers — who run essentially the same offense as their own team — to pick up 271 rushing yards, an average of 5.8 per carry. On the other hand, the secondary held Wofford to just 55 yards through the air.
As we talked about in our preview, this is a tough game to really judge the defense on because they won’t be coming up against many triple-option offenses throughout the ACC. Still though, it’s a bit disappointing to see the team give up so many easy yards on the ground.
Either way, after coming out of the gates a bit slow, Tech turned things on in the second half and put the finishing touches on their first win of the season. Next week the Jackets will hit the road and take on Tulane.