Desperate Jackets win with ‘surreal’ effort

BLACKSBURG, VA. — In need of a win to give life to its hopes for a second-half turnaround, Georgia Tech scored one of the more significant wins of coach Paul Johnson’s tenure, a 49-28 win over Virginia Tech in Lane Stadium on Thursday night. The last time an opponent came into Blacksburg and scored that many points was in 1974.

It was Georgia Tech’s third win in a row over the Hokies and third consecutive win in Lane Stadium, where the Hokies have won more than 70 percent of their games.

“It’s kind of surreal, isn’t it?” left guard Parker Braun said. “We’ve been kind of touchand-go this year so far, but it’s good to beat them again.”

Some takeaways from the Jackets’ win:

Unforgettable play by Tobias Oliver: Just an incredible, memorable night for quarterback Tobias Oliver. In his first career start, he led his team to a blowout win with a superlative individual performance in one of the more fearsome home-field advantages in college football. It called to mind TaQuon Marshall’s starting debut against Tennessee last season (44 carries, 249 yards, five touchdowns) as well as Matthew Jordan’s in the same venue (32 carries, 121 yards, two touchdowns).

He finished with 40 carries for 215 yards and three touchdowns with a style that was at turns slippery, head-on, patient and explosive.

“It’s fantastic,” Braun said of Oliver’s running style. “To see consistent 6-yard gains, there’s nothing better than that.”

In Tech’s records, only six players (and one quarterback, Marshall) have run for more yards in a game.

“He’s quick and fast and hard-nosed, and he can run all those follow plays and all those keeps, and he played his tail off,” coach Paul Johnson said.

Powerful play by offensive line: The offensive line is due no small measure of credit for the 465 rushing yards cranked out against the Hokies. From left tackle to right tackle, Zach Quinney, Braun, Kenny Cooper, Connor Hansen and Andrew Marshall consistently pushed back the Hokies’ line, cleared paths on Oliver’s quarterback follows and made punishing blocks at the second level.

Tech’s A-backs and B-backs were aggressive in seeking out Hokies to square up, and the wide receivers, often blocking in closed quarters when they were drawn in close to the offensive line, were effective at sealing defenders on runs to the perimeter.

“They manhandled us when it’s all said and done, I thought,” Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster said. “I talked to Paul afterwards and I told him, ‘Hey, great job. You guys kicked our tail.’”

The Jackets’ 35 first downs set a school record for the modern era. The previous record was 34, against Virginia in 2000.

Pivotal moment: The turning point arrived midway through the second quarter. Georgia Tech faced a fourthand-10, trailing 21-14 and facing the possibility of going down two touchdowns with the Hokies’ sizzling offense about to return to the field. After a 5-yard penalty on the Hokies for running into the kicker and then a Jackets false start, punter Pressley Harvin got away a punt to Sean Savoy, who failed to bring in the punt at the Hokies’ 9-yard line. Jalen Johnson, covering the punt, had the ball bounce practically right into his arms, securing possession for the Jackets at the 12.

“We did a good job getting down there, and it just bounced off his face mask and right into my hands,” Johnson said. “That was pretty awesome.”

Georgia Tech needed two plays to get into the end zone to tie the score at 21-21 at the 6:51 mark.

Georgia Tech took control by producing a three-and-out from Virginia Tech, and the Jackets scored again on the next possession for a 28-21 lead going into halftime.