Georgia Tech finally has a win on the board.
The Yellow Jackets rolled past Mercer 44-11 on Saturday to move to 1-2 in the 2026 season, with quarterback Alberto Mendoza, Justice Haynes and a handful of big-play moments carrying the day. It was not a clean performance from start to finish, but Tech did enough to separate once the offense found a rhythm and the defense settled in.
Mendoza completed 15 of 21 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns. Haynes was the other headliner, piling up 141 rushing yards and scoring twice on the ground. Chad Alexander also found the end zone.
Even with the lopsided final score, Tech never quite looked dominant in the way the number might suggest. Both lines had stretches where they were pushed around, and the defense was not airtight.
Mercer actually finished with a slight edge in yards per carry, 4.1 to Tech’s 3.9. Tech was also missing plenty of starters, which opened the door for backups to get meaningful snaps after not seeing much action in the first two games.
Still, Mendoza was efficient when he had time to throw. He consistently found open receivers in the right spots, and one of the prettier catches of the afternoon came late in the first half when Jaivon Plummer hauled in a pass in stride.
The Jackets will head west next week for their first game on the road against a “new” ACC school since the entrance of Stanford/Cal/SMU, traveling to Palo Alto to face the Cardinal.
Georgia Tech’s opening drive was rough enough to hint at another long afternoon. The line nearly allowed a sack on the first play, a screen pass went nowhere, and the possession fizzled without a first down.
But after Mercer went three and out, Tech woke up in a hurry. Mendoza connected with Dalen Penson for 26 yards and then hit Justice Haynes for 25 more, setting up a 4-yard touchdown pass to Haynes.
The defense then forced a sack-fumble on Mercer’s next series, with Christian Speakman recovering the ball in Bears territory.
In the second quarter, Tech kept building, though not always cleanly. A Dalen Penson catch moved the Jackets to first-and-goal from the six, then to the one after a Malachi Hosley run that was initially ruled a touchdown before being overturned on review. Hosley was stopped on second down, Mendoza overthrew Chris Corbo on third down, and Haynes finally powered in on fourth down for a 14-0 lead.
Mercer answered with a drive that exposed some of the issues Tech had been fighting all day. The Bears ran the ball well enough to make first downs feel routine, and penalties gave them two extra chances to extend the series.
Mercer eventually scored out of a timeout after Tech was not ready for the snap, though a quick review showed the runner had been out of bounds at the 1. Even so, the Bears settled for a field goal after Tech shut down a delayed quarterback run on third-and-goal to make it 14-3.
Tech’s next scoring march came with its own share of chaos. Dalen Penson, Haynes and Kevin Roche all picked up first downs, and the Jackets reached the red zone with several chances to either help or hurt themselves.
A fourth-and-inches play turned into a first down thanks to an offsides penalty. Mendoza’s scramble for a touchdown was erased by holding.
A defensive pass interference call then gave Tech first-and-goal at the two. Two tries from there failed, a snap infraction pushed the ball back to the six, and Mendoza was sacked.
Tech had to settle for a field goal and a 17-3 lead.
Before halftime, though, the Jackets finally hit a big one. After a Mercer punt, Tech needed only a 23-yard catch by Kevin Roche, Jr. and a 37-yard touchdown from Jaiven Plummer to make it 24-3.
Mercer switched to J.P. Pickles at quarterback in the second half, and he gave Tech some trouble with his legs, picking up several first downs on runs. But the Jackets kept the Bears out of the red zone and forced a field goal to keep the margin at 24-6.
Then Haynes took over again. Tech handed him the keys on the next drive, and he answered with a 20-yard run before finishing it off with a 31-yard touchdown. The PAT was blocked, and the kick was returned for a two-point safety, cutting the sequence short but still leaving Tech up 30-8.
Mercer moved the ball again on its next possession, with Pickles finding Brayden Smith for 37 yards and Jackson Kostmayer helping push the Bears into the red zone. A holding penalty and a sack by Brayden Manley and Tawfiq Thomas ended the drive with another field goal, trimming the score to 30-11.
Tech answered immediately. Chad Alexander sparked the next series with a long return that set the Jackets up at their own 48, and Debron Gatling turned that field position into a 33-yard touchdown catch to stretch the lead to 37-11.
By the start of the fourth quarter, the game was firmly in garbage time. Freshman linebacker C.J.
Gamble intercepted Mercer to open the period, and Tech soon reached goal-to-go after a Tre Maddox catch and a roughing-the-passer penalty. Alexander finished it off from a yard out to close the scoring at 44-11.
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