On the second-to-last week of the regular season, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets hosted the Syracuse Orange with both teams in different places in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
The Yellow Jackets came in with four wins in conference, while the Orange had a mere one on six tries, resulting in the Yellow Jackets being in the top five of the ACCnd the Orange in the bottom two of 14 member institutions.
Georgia Tech started this contest with a score on their opening drive, going 75 yards on 10 plays, taking 5:21 off the game clock after redshirt-sophomore quarterback Haynes King found redshirt-sophomore running back Jamal Haynes for a 15-yard receiving score, giving Georgia Tech the first lead of the game, ahead 7-0.
Syracuse's rushing touchdown on the legs of sophomore running back LeQuint Allen, Jr., was negated by not one, but two offensive penalties, putting the Orange in a 2nd-&-31 position.
Shocker, Syracuse ran the ball both times.
But, sophomore kicker Brady Denaburg connected from 44 yards out to end the drive with some points for the Orange, down 7-3 to the Yellow Jackets at the 1:10 mark of the first quarter.
Syracuse would force a three-&-out to follow, and Villari would return under center on the ensuing drive, which would also be a three-&-out.
On the following Georgia Tech drive, King would be intercepted by redshirt-senior cornerback Isaiah Johnson, the first of his collegiate career.
The Orange would continue to focus on running predominantly and would not come away with a first down.
Syracuse Head Coach Dino Babers chose to take his offense off the field on 4th-&-3 and send Denaburg out for a 50-yarder that did not end through the uprights.
Back on defense, the Orange would be flagged for being offsides on 4th-&-1, giving the Yellow Jackets a new set of downs.
Two plays later, King sent the ball deep to redshirt-Junior wide receiver Dominick Blaylock for a 53-yard score after Blaylock shedded a tackle attempt. With 7:41 remaining in the first half, the Yellow Jackets led 14-3 at home.
That score would hold to the half.
The frustration of the Orange fan base could probably be heard rolling down the east coast to Atlanta when the team opened the second half with a fumble, when freshman wide receiver Darrell Gill, Jr., lost the handle on the kickoff return.
Haynes would capitalize on the Syracuse turnover immediately, rushing through the middle and darting out for a 30-yard running score to expand the Georgia Tech lead to 24-3 just 17 seconds into the second half.
An unnecessary roughness penalty on Georgia Tech junior defensive back LaMiles Brooks on a run by Syracuse's Allen moved the ball from the Syracuse 35 to the Georgia Tech 48-yard line.
Five of the next seven plays would be, you guessed it, runs by the Orange, with the final two runs coming from direct snaps to Villari for a 21-yard gain, followed by a four-yard score to bring the score to 24-10 Yellow Jackets at the 10:07 mark of the third quarter.
Georgia Tech's Haynes would break through and was seemingly on his way to a large gain until junior linebacker Marlowe Wax, Jr., forced the ball out and redshirt-senior defensive end Caleb Okechukwu would recover the ball for Syracuse.
The Orange offense, however, would not gain a single first down following the fumble recovery by their defense, turning the ball over on 4th-&-1 on n the Yellow Jackets' 32-yard line.
Syracuse's defense would come up big once again, forcing a three-&-out.
Allen would then take the punt from his own 29 to the Georgia Tech 18, a gain of 53 yards on his return.
On the fifth play of the drive set up by Allen's return, Allen would run it in from a yard out to make it 24-16 Yellow Jackets, at the 3:51 mark of the third quarter, after the score and botched extra-point hold by redshirt-sophomore punter Jack Stonehouse.
Following the touchdown, Georgia Tech redshirt-freshman defensive lineman Horace Lockett would be ejected for spitting at Syracuse.
Georgia Tech would punt twice and Syracuse once in between those of the Yellow Jackets before Syracuse would score once again. This drive included four runs and Villari going 2-for-2 on pass attempts, with the final run coming from Allen.
Due to not even getting the extra-point attempt up after their last touchdown, Syracuse had to go for it following this score. Three players would be sent in motion, but the Orange would not utilize any of them. Allen, instead, tried to get outside and when he ran into trouble, he attempted a pss that did not end up in anyone's hands, keeping the Orange two away from a tie.
Ahead by two, the Yellow Jackets remained poised.
Haynes rushed forward for an eight-yard gain and King kept the snap to get the two yards needed plus a little more to secure a new set of downs inside three minutes to play.
With just under 2:30 on the game clock, King looked around, saw the Orange sea part, and took a golden opportunity to keep the ball for a run up the middle untouched for a 19-yard touchdown to raise the Yellow Jackets up to a nine-point separation, 31-22, with 2:22 left.
Every quarterback on the Syracuse roster that was active for this game got on the field once redshirt-sophomore quarterback Luke MacPhail came out on the next drive.
Unfortunately, his drive ended on just one play when he tossed the ball to redshirt-freshman linebacker Kyle Efford, whose interception locked the door on the Orange comeback try.
With the victory, Georgia Tech advances to the postseason at 6-5 overall, winning their fifth ACC game of the season, residing in the top four of the conference at 5-3pts end ACC play.
Syracuse, on the other hand, lost for the sixth time in their last seven games, going 1-6 in the ACC thus far following 4-0 play in non-conference games. Their overall record moved to 5-6, needing a win over Wake Forest on Saturday, November 25th, at home to become bowl eligible and to avoid another losing season under Babers.
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