Georgia Tech pulls away from Georgia State, is 2-0 for first time in eight years

Georgia Tech didn’t play its cleanest or crispest game, but it got the job done in the first-ever Battle for Atlanta, defeating Georgia State 35-12 at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday.

The Yellow Jackets got 275 passing yards from Haynes King and 14 points in the third quarter to provide enough separation in what was a close affair at halftime (a 14-3 Tech lead). King threw for two touchdowns and ran for 27 yards and a score and Tech receiver Malik Rutherford set career highs in catches (seven) and yards (131). Jamal Haynes ran for 75 yards and a score in leading Tech to its first 2-0 start since 2016.

The Jackets, who last started 3-0 also in the ‘16 season, next will dip back into ACC play when they play at Syracuse (1-0) at noon Saturday (ACC Network).

“It’s a lot of teachable moments that we have to build on. It’s early in the season,” Tech coach Brent Key said. “We have to fix these things, we have to understand that wins are hard to come by, and we’re excited to get a win for sure. But we gotta turn around (Sunday) and be able to get these things corrected and be able to move on to the next opponent.”

Tech’s defense stood tall to open the game after State had driven 64 yards in eight plays to the 1. The Panthers went for it on fourth down, but Tech’s secondary gave Christian Veilleux nowhere to go, and the GSU quarterback overthrew his receiver out of the back of the end zone.

“I think that just kind of resembles who we are as a defense now,” Tech linebacker Kyle Efford said of the goal-line stand. “Back against the wall, we just gotta bow up and play football. That’s really is what it is.”

Veilleux was at the center of attention a few minutes later when an early shotgun snap caromed off his pads and into the waiting arms of Tech defensive lineman Zeek Biggers. Five plays later, from the 1, Haynes dove over left guard to put the Jackets up 7-0 with 3:01 left on the first-quarter clock.

Tech’s offense found the sledding stuff after that, though, and let GSU hang around. The Panthers took advantage with a scoring drive of 87 yards over 16 plays that melted 8-1/2 minutes off the clock. Liam Rickman’s 21-yard field goal at the end of the series, which included a 24-yard completion on fourth down from the Tech 27, made the score 7-3.

But the Jackets responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by King’s 2-yard plunge on fourth down with four seconds left in the half. That allowed Tech to take a 14-3 lead into the locker room.

“At the end of the day it’s about us,” King said of the relative slow start by the offense. “When we’re not going, we’re doing it. It’s not the other team just stopping us.”

Georgia Tech 35, Georgia State 12

It didn’t take long for Tech to dent the scoreboard in the third quarter. Eric Singleton Jr.’s 35-yard touchdown run on a reverse made the score 21-3. On the Jackets’ next offensive play, about 90 seconds later, King threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Malik Rutherford down the left hash to give Tech a 28-3 lead.

After Rickman booted a 47-yard field goal that made the score 28-6, State got an interception (by former Tech defensive back Kenyatta Watson II) and turned that takeaway into a 24-yard touchdown pass from Veilleux to Dorian Fleming cutting the score to 28-12 with 3:42 left in the period.

Tech got that score right back thanks to a 22-yard touchdown from King to Avery Boyd on an underneath crossing route early in the fourth quarter. That would turn out to be the last points of the night.

Veilleux was 19-of-34 passing for 210 yards and a touchdown.

The Jackets held State to 3-of-12 on third downs, 2-of-4 on fourth downs and 1-of-3 in the red zone. That all played a major part in Tech now having a chance to start the season 3-0.

“It definitely feels good, definitely wanna get in a rhythm to start playing our best ball,” Haynes said. “But at the end of the day, it’s just another game. One out of 12 teams that we gotta play is next week, so we gotta just move our heads forward after this win, enjoy the win and continue to go hard next week.”

NOTES

• Tech is now 1-0 against Georgia State. The two programs are scheduled to meet again in 2026 at Center Parc Stadium.
• Tech moved to 40-4-2 all-time against in-state opponents, not including Georgia.
• The fumble recovery by Biggers in the first quarter was the first of his career.
• King now has the eighth-most touchdown passes in a Tech career with 29. Jeff Sims is seventh with 30.
• King now is 10th in Tech history for career completions with 261.
• King now is 12th in career passing yards at Tech with 3,263.
• Efford set a career high with 13 tackles.
• Tech kicker Aidan Birr now is 14th in Tech history for career points by kicking with 99.
• Attendance was announced as 40,113, Tech’s largest home-opening crowd since 2019 (46,599).

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