Vad Lee Throws 4 TD’s And Runs For Another In Georgia Tech’s 38-14 Win Over Duke

Vad Lee was a terror toward the Blue Devils throughout the entire game on Saturday, throwing four touchdowns and rushing for another as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets rumbled to an easy 38-14 win.

Just as we talked about yesterday, the Tech triple option and Lee tore through Duke easily. The Yellow Jackets rushed the entire field on most of their drives before looking to Lee for short touchdown passes in the red zone. Every touchdown Georgia Tech put up (with the exception of Lee’s one yard TD run) went through the air with the longest pass at just 24 yards.

The Jackets ended the game with 344 rushing yards compared to just 125 yards through the air, which really shows how well the running game moved the chains before looking to Vad’s arm close to the end zone.

Lee only threw the ball 18 times (completing on eight of the passes) to three different receivers: Robert Godhigh had four receptions, DeAndre Smelter picked up three and Zach Laskey had just one. Although they weren’t involved in too many plays I wouldn’t think any were unhappy. Each of the receivers caught touchdowns on the day, with Smelter hauling in two.

Like the Elon game last week, a plethora of players were involved in the running game (that’s basically how it is each week) with 10 different guys getting carries. Lee and running back David Sims paced the team with 22 and 14 carries respectively.

Lee ran for 76 yards (including his one-yard touchdown) for a 3.5 yard average while Sims rushed for 65 yards to bring his average to 4.6 once the final whistle blew.

All in all, it was a great effort by the offense. They came in with a clear plan to move the chains on the ground and had little trouble doing that at any point in the game, while only turning the ball over once–an interception by Duke CB Ross Cockrell.

Defensively, it wasn’t as good as a shutout to the Phoenix, but it was more than enough to come away with a win. The Jackets weren’t able to completely shut down Brandon Connette but they didn’t let up much in the air or on the ground. Duke was only able to rack up 254 total yards (122 in the air/132 on the ground) and they were also held to just 3-14 on third downs. Jela Duncan and Connette both picked up touchdowns on short runs but that would be the only thing Georgia Tech would give them.

Paul Johnson has to be pleased with his team’s first two games. Both times, they came out and did exactly what they had to do against inferior opponents to walk away with convincing victories. But things are about to get much tougher.

Georgia Tech is heading into the most difficult stretch of their season with games against (arguably) the top three teams in the Coastal Division: North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Miami.

Next Saturday at noon, we should get good idea of how good this Georgia Tech team really is.