With quarterback Jeff Sims available only for emergency duty, injured with a sprained foot, Georgia Tech lost its second game in row, falling 41-16 to Florida State on Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Yellow Jackets were outplayed on offense and defense. Their defense could not match a high-caliber FSU offense, which rolled up 642 yards – season-highs for the Seminoles offense and the Jackets defense. Tech managed only 264 yards of offense, its second game in a row with fewer than 300 yards – with Sims unavailable Saturday and out for two-plus quarters in the loss last week to Virginia.
Key play
With a little under 11 minutes left in the second quarter, the Seminoles led 7-3, had the ball on their 22-yard line and faced a second-and-9. FSU opened it up, as quarterback Jordan Travis hit wide receiver Johnny Wilson in stride down the right sideline near the FSU 45. Wilson was able to elude safety LaMiles Brooks, one of several missed tackles by the Jackets defense Saturday, and ran untouched the rest of the way for a 78-yard touchdown. It gave the Seminoles a 14-3 lead, and they controlled the game the rest of the way. That was the longest play that the Tech defense has given up this season.
Key stat
Tech averaged 1.0 yards per play in the first half, but 6.5 in the second. Interim coach Brent Key said that, after running a conservative game plan in the first half, coaches felt confident enough in freshman quarterback Zach Pyron to play more aggressively.
In the second half, Tech had four possessions and scored touchdowns on two of them (one on the final drive of the game with the game well in hand for the Seminoles) and on a third drive from its 25 inside the FSU 5-yard line before losing the ball on downs.
Game ball
Tech had few answers for Travis, who completed 24 of 38 passes for 396 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. In his 22nd career start, Travis set a career high for passing yards and tied his career high for completions. It also was the most passing yards that Tech has allowed this season and well over the Jackets’ defensive average of 215 passing yards per game.
What we learned
While he had most of his success when the game was out of reach, Pyron looks like he can help the offense this season, and certainly in the future. In his first college game, Pyron came in for starter Zach Gibson in the third series and played well enough to stay in for the rest of the game. Pyron showed poise in the pocket, found targets and fought for yards on the run. He finished 18-for-28 passing for 198 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. After the game, Key said that he hoped that Sims would be able to play next week at Virginia Tech but did not know if he would.
They said it
“We came in at halftime and basically told the guys, ‘Look, you can’t do more than you’re supposed to do. You can’t go outside of your box, you can’t act like you hadn’t been there before. Everybody just needs to calm down and go play football.’” – Key
What’s next
Tech: The Jackets (3-5, 2-3 ACC) will go to Blacksburg, Va., to play Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Hokies (2-6, 1-4) lost to No. 24 N.C. State 22-21 on Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C., their fifth loss in a row.
FSU: The Seminoles (5-3, 3-3) will travel to south Florida to face archrival Miami on Saturday. The Hurricanes (4-4, 2-2) survived Virginia in four overtimes Saturday in a 14-12 win in Charlottesville, Va.
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