King, Smith power Georgia Tech in 45-17 victory at Virginia
Sat, Nov 4, 2023
NCAAF News (AP)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Haynes King ran for two touchdowns and threw for another and Dontae Smith ran for two more scores and Georgia Tech beat Virginia 38-10 on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets (5-4, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) won their second game in a row, ending a season-long pattern of alternating wins and losses, and moved within a victory of qualifying for a bowl game. Their win total is their best in the last five seasons.
Virginia (2-7, 1-4) lost starting quarterback Tony Muskett on the fifth play of the game when he was hit hard as he released a deep pass that cornerback Myles Sims took away from intended receiver Malachi Fields.
The Yellow Jackets trailed 7-3 before King scored on a 2-yard run with 8:42 left in the second quarter. He added a 34-yard scoring burst with 2:24 left in the half and Smith broke off a 33-yard run on a third-and-14 play 28 seconds before halftime.
King hit Eric Singleton Jr. for a 58-yard TD on the opening series of the second half, and Smith bulled through the defense for a 10-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. Jamal Haynes added a 43-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter as the Yellow Jackets piled up 514 yards a week after having 635 - its most in an ACC game - in a victory against then-No. 17 North Carolina.
King finished 23 for 30 for 208 yards and gained 83 more on seven runs. Haynes finished with 119 yards on 17 carries and Smith had 78 on 15 carries.
Freshman Anthony Colandrea, who replaced Muskett, threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Rawlings and an 8-yard scoring pass to Kobe Pace, but he also lost a fumble, threw an interception and had another nullified by a penalty.
THE TAKEAWAY
Georgia Tech: King's ability to spread the ball around - he hit 10 different receivers - and the effectiveness of Smith and Haynes as runners gives defenses plenty to pay attention to, making King all that more effective as a runner. He was barely touched, if at all, on either of his touchdown runs.
Virginia: Coach Tony Elliott was hoping to be able to reshirt Colandrea and even put Grady Brosterhous in when Muskett went down, but switched to Colandrea in the same series after Brosterhous completed his first college pass for 21 yards to Malik Washington. Colandrea's fifth appearance deprives him of a chance to redshirt.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets are back on the road at Clemson on Saturday.
The Cavaliers play at No. 15 Louisville on Thursday night.
___
Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
"