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A beautiful Saturday afternoon at Bobby Dodd stadium, perfect for a football game. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets came into their ACC opener against the Pittsburg Panthers leading the nation in rushing yards per game (372.5).
The game would start with Pittsburg taking control early with a 78-yard drive capped by Ben DiNicci’s 28 yard touchdown pass to Qadee Ollison. On the ensuing drive for Georgia Tech, KirVonte Benson would fumble at his own 33 yard line.
The Panthers drive would go only one yard on four plays then a missed field goal (50 yards) by kicker Alex Kessman that would put the Yellow Jackets in business.
Quarterback TaQuon Marshall would finish off the drive with a dazzling 32-yard touchdown run. On their next drive, there was a steady dose of both Marshall and running back Benson. The quarterback would squeze his way in for the score on a one yard-run early in the second. The Yellow Jackets was up 14-7.
Then Panthers wide receiver Quadree Henderson would take a punt 80 yards, reverse field and outrun the whole Georgia Tech special teams unit for the score. After that, the Yellow Jackets would keep going forward and not look back. Their defense tightened up something serious after (giving up) that early touchdown.
They allowed only three points while holding the Panthers to only 37 rushing yards (net) for the game. That was really the story of the game right there, Pittsburgh couldn’t establish a run and Georgia Tech dominated when they ran it. The Yellow Jackets finished with 436 yards on a staggering 67 carries (yikes). They started running and never stopped.
Game Notes:
KirVonte Benson finished with 197 rushing yards, TaQuon Marshall had 116 yards, both finished with two touchdowns.
The Panthers finshed without any of their drives reaching the red zone.
Pittsburgh wide reciever Quadree Henderson now has six career kick rerurns for a touchdown. That leaves him one shy of the ACC record held by former Clemson Tiger C.J. Spiller.
