Georgia Tech rallies to hand Duke its first loss

Field Level Media|published: Sat 5th October, 23:42 2024

Sep 14, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King (10) celebrates after a touchdown throw against the Virginia Military Institute Keydets in the second quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Haynes King threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes as Georgia Tech recovered to defeat visiting Duke 24-14 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Saturday night in Atlanta.

The Yellow Jackets (4-2, 2-2) won a conference game for the first time since August.

Duke (5-1, 1-1), which was off to its best start since going 7-0 in 1994, hadn't allowed a fourth-quarter touchdown all season until the Yellow Jackets struck twice on Saturday.

Jamal Haynes rushed for 128 yards on 19 carries and King was 23-for-31 for 167 passing yards.

Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy was 18-for-31 for 205 yards, two touchdowns and an interception -- which came on his final throw of the night. The Blue Devils managed only 74 yards on the ground.

Georgia Tech built a 10-0 lead but went more than 29 minutes without scoring as Duke surged to the lead. With 10:40 left in the game, King hooked up with Haynes for a 3-yard touchdown to complete a go-ahead, 85-yard drive that lasted more than seven minutes and consisted of 14 plays.

About four minutes later, Hayes threw a 9-yard scoring pass to Eric Singleton Jr. at the 6:36 mark.

The second fourth-quarter TD for Georgia Tech came after King's pass on third and 5 from the Duke 48 was incomplete but the Blue Devils were tagged with a roughing-the-passer penalty. Three plays later, the Yellow Jackets were in the end zone and restored a 10-point lead.

Duke's Todd Pelino missed a 43-yard field goal attempt with 3:58 left, pretty much dashing Duke's quest for a victory in its first ACC road game of the season.

The Yellow Jackets used more than 6 1/2 minutes on the game's opening possession, scoring on Zach Pyron's 2-yard run. Aidan Birr's 23-yard field goal with 10:02 left in the second quarter came concluded a 13-play, 62-yard drive.

Georgia Tech led 10-0 until Duke got untracked for a touchdown on Murphy's 20-yard pass to Eli Pancol with 26 seconds to play before halftime.

The Blue Devils produced their only lead on Murphy's 65-yard hook-up with Sahmir Hagans with 2:53 to play in the third quarter. It was Hagans' only catch of the game and first TD of the season.

--Field Level Media

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