Georgia Tech had an ACC football showdown against Pitt in their final game of the season. It was senior day for the Yellow Jackets as they were trying to secure a victory. It was an important game because Georgia Tech would earn a spot in the ACC Championship with a win.
The Yellow Jackets were 9-1 ahead of the game and ranked 10th in the country while Pittsburgh was 7-3 and 4th in the conference. The contest held high level stakes with major ACC implications.
Pittsburgh started off the game on fire, scoring 21 points in the first quarter alone and leading 28-0 early in the second quarter. Their offense was extremely potent, with quarterback Mason Heintschel going 20 of 27 for 226 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. Running back Ja’Kyrian Turner had 201 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Pitt wide receiver Kenny Johnson was a tough matchup for opposing defenders with six receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Pitt had Georgia Tech’s number as they held them scoreless in the first quarter. They sacked Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King one time for a loss of 13 yards and even recorded a pick six in the third quarter.
Georgia Tech went down four scores early in the first half but began to rally back as the game went on. They scored twice in the second quarter but stalled in the third, although momentum picked up in the fourth with two more scores.
Georgia Tech’s quarterback went 27 of 41 for 257 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions while also leading the team in rushing with 76 yards and a touchdown. King played decently as he was a focal point of the offense, but it was difficult for the team to climb back into the game. The offense was averaging 496.7 yards per game ahead of the contest and still managed 378 yards. Tech’s defense struggled as they had trouble slowing down Pitt’s high powered offense.
Pitt defeated Georgia Tech 42-28.
After the game, during the press conference, I asked Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key how he managed to keep the team engaged despite being down 28-0 early, and part of his response was:
“Yeah I mean that’s an expectation, we got down 28 to nothing. Called them together at the end of the first quarter but at the end of the day there's no justification for it. You lose a game, a loss is a loss. They did have a play the next play mentality and we were able to keep playing and try to cut it close, like I said that’s an insurmountable deficit that we put ourselves in.”
Link to press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL3nCmWs-HM&t=239s
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