Virginia Tech Outscores Georgia Tech 34-24 Despite Fewer Yards
Georgia Tech outgained Virginia Tech 428 yards to 414 and lost by 10. Yardage is a lovely thing to have. Virginia Tech had the points, and it had them early: a 60-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Grunkemeyer to Que'Sean Brown on the game's first score, then a 20-yard Grunkemeyer run, and it was 14-0 with 6:10 left in the first quarter.
The Hokies never gave the lead back. They stretched it to 24-3 by the 4:55 mark of the second quarter with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Ricous Hairston and a John Love field goal. Georgia Tech then scored twice in 2:11 early in the third, a 42-yard Trelain Maddox run and a 33-yard Alberto Mendoza pass to Dalen Penson, to get it to 24-17. Virginia Tech's reply came with 5:41 left in the quarter, Jeffrey Overton Jr. catching a 26-yarder, and it led 31-17 going into the fourth. Love kicked a 24-yard field goal to start the period, and Jaiven Plummer's 6-yard touchdown with 5:20 left only cut it to 34-24.
Mendoza threw for 335 yards on 29 of 38, but Georgia Tech ran only 21 times for 93 yards. It also gave away an interception and a fumble, while Virginia Tech lost one fumble and threw no picks. Virginia Tech goes to 5-2 and Georgia Tech slides to 2-4.
Fantasy owners got their money's worth out of Grunkemeyer, who accounted for four scores, and out of Brown, whose 182 receiving yards came on just 6 catches. On the other side, Jordan Allen caught 10 balls for 120 yards, and Penson and Plummer each found the end zone, so Georgia Tech's passing game was fine. It just trailed 24-3 at the half.