The 2024 Techmo Bowl goes to the other Tech
On a day when the GT defense delivered its best performance of the season, it simply wasn’t enough to overcome a hobbled offense. Georgia Tech, playing their second straight game without starting QB Haynes King, outgained Virginia Tech 356-233 but ended up falling 21-6 in Blacksburg in the 2024 edition of the Techmo Bowl. The loss dropped the Jackets to 5-4 for the season and 3-3 in ACC play.
The story of the day was twofold. The negative was the offense’s inability to finish drives, which ultimately cost the team the game. Quarterback Zach Pyron drove the Jackets downfield for a field goal on their first possession and started the game 8-for-10 through the air, but he faltered as the game went on, going 2-for-12 for 7 yards the rest of the way and ending his day with an interception thrown into double coverage. True freshman Aaron Philo took over in the third quarter—getting the first serious game action of his career—and gave the offense a major spark, throwing for 184 yards in roughly a third of the game, but he couldn’t quite finish drives against a VT defense that got good pressure in key moments.
The QB passing lines don’t illustrate the entire story, though; GT had a number of uncharacteristic drops at crucial moments on would-be first downs, including two by Malik Rutherford on Pyron passes and one by Avery Boyd on Philo’s final throw of the day. And the run game was largely ineffective, with Jamal Haynes and Anthony Carrie combining for just 80 yards on the ground.
The positive was on the defensive side, where Tyler Santucci’s unit was stellar for almost the entire game. Despite not having generated many havoc plays (tackles for loss, forced fumbles, and pass breakups), the team delivered in a big way against VT, with eight tackles for loss (including 1.5 sacks by Romello Height) and a trio of pass breakups. In addition, they had three run stuffs (runs for no gain) and recorded three QB hurries, two of which were by defensive end Sylvain Yondjouen.
GT’s defense had two rough drives early on that ended in VT touchdowns, including one that featured multiple major coverage busts that left the tight end open. But they tightened up and allowed just 63 yards in the second half, preserving the team’s shot to win the game until the final minutes.
There were some bright spots in the losing effort. Aside from the defensive havoc, Philo completed a 57-yard pass to Eric Singleton that had to be one of the prettiest passes ever thrown by a Tech QB. But those bright spots simply weren’t enough.
Everything looked promising at the outset. The game began with Height strip-sacking Drones on VT’s first play from scrimmage en route to a three-and-out, followed by Pyron leading a methodical 12-play, 59-yard drive to set up an Aidan Birr field goal from 34 yards out. Pyron used the tight ends heavily on that opening possession, completing passes to Josh Beetham, Jackson Hawes, and Boyd for first downs and relying on high-percentage throws to avoid risk.
The defense stepped up again on the following possession, with Jackson Hamilton leading the charge to disrupt a run play and Clayton Powell-Lee making a diving breakup on a third-down pass. That ended up being VT’s last possession of the first quarter, so the Hokies finished the opening stanza with a grand total of one first down. But the Jackets’ second drive went nowhere (but somehow took up 4:50 to move the ball 17 yards), and the Hokies finally broke through afterward. VT’s Kyron Drones exploited a series of coverage busts on a four-play, 72-yard drive, completing passes of 31 and 20 yards to tight end Benji Gosnell to put the Hokies ahead 7-3.
A couple possessions later, Pyron got the Jackets into range for a 50-yard field goal, and Birr was on the mark again, cutting the lead to 7-6. But that didn’t last long. VT’s first play of the next drive was a 41-yard run, and the Hokies slowly moved the ball upfield from there, finishing it off with a reverse pass from Jaylin Lane to Drones himself, putting VT ahead 14-6 heading into the half.
Most of the third quarter was a defensive grind, with GT getting good pressure on Drones but Pyron struggling with his passing accuracy. The turning point was Pyron underthrowing a pass into double coverage for an easy pick, which set up VT at the GT 42-yard line. Drones quickly completed a 28-yard pass to Stephen Gosnell, and a few plays later, he finished off the drive with a read option keeper, putting VT ahead 21-6.
The big development was on GT’s next possession with 4:50 left in the third, where Philo took over at QB for the Jackets in his second appearance of the season and his career (following a brief cameo at the end of the VMI game). After Jamal Haynes picked up a first down to help him settle in, Philo salvaged a third-and-15 situation by hitting Eric Singleton over the middle for 22 yards. The Jackets had to punt soon after, but it was a promising sign for what the offense could do with him at the helm.
Philo’s brightest moment came on the final play of the third quarter, right after GT’s defense forced a three-and-out. The freshman made a deep dropback, stepped up to avoid a free rusher off the right edge, and uncorked a deep strike to Eric Singleton. With two defenders mostly blanketing Singleton, it would’ve taken an absolutely perfect throw… and that’s exactly what Philo delivered, hitting the speedster in stride for what ended up being a 57-yard gain.
Alas, the drive ended with nothing, as GT—needing two touchdowns to tie the game—went for it on fourth and 1 from the 17, only for Jamal Haynes to be stuffed for a loss.
A couple drives later, GT got the ball with 8:44 left, and Philo put together what started looking like an excellent drive. He completed four passes in a row, with two short completions to convert third and 10 and then fourth and 2 followed by two 21-yard passes to move GT into scoring range at the VT 24. From there, though, VT’s defense stepped up in both coverage and pressure, forcing Philo into four straight incompletions.
GT got the ball back again—all part of a suffocating final quarter by the Jackets’ defense—and had a shot to at least do something with it. But despite Boyd picking up 24 yards on that final possession, he had a fourth-down pass bounce off his hands and right into the arms of VT safety Jaylen Jones.
It was a tough end to an otherwise intriguing debut for Philo, who finished 11-for-26 for 184 yards and an interception that wasn’t really his fault. Pyron, who was almost certainly still banged up from the Notre Dame game, went 10-for-22 for 76 yards with a pick. Eric Singleton led the team with 90 receiving yards, while Malik Rutherford had a team-high six receptions.
An important reason for GT’s struggles was the run game simply not doing much of anything. Jamal Haynes had 18 carries for 47 yards as VT’s defenders did an effective job of closing off run lanes. Anthony Carrie—whose redshirt was burned today as he played in his fifth game—had eight carries for 33 yards, but 17 of those yards were on a single carry, and he was similarly stymied the rest of the time.
On the defensive end, the biggest impacts came from the defensive ends. Height had 1.5 sacks and forced a fumble on the first play of the game (which Drones recovered). Yondjouen had 2.5 tackles for loss, two QB hurries, and a pass breakup where he tipped a pass at the line. Rodney Shelley—who had some miscues on punt returns—had a solid game defensively, with three tackles for loss. Trenilyas Tatum led the team with seven tackles as he continues trying to fill the void left by the injured Kyle Efford.
The bad news for GT is that today’s loss erases any margin for error in the path to bowl eligibility. With a 5-4 record and two games remaining against top-10 teams in Miami and Georgia, Tech’s 11/21 Thursday night game against N.C. State has become that much more important. But the good news is that because of their Week 0 game in Dublin and their unusually packed early season slate, Tech will get byes before both Miami and N.C. State. It’ll be all the more valuable for a team looking to return multiple key starters from injury.