Georgia Tech’s homecoming turned into a rough afternoon, and Boston College made sure it stayed ugly from start to finish. The Eagles rolled to a 49-27 win in Atlanta, leaning on a run game that Georgia Tech never came close to slowing down and exposing a defense that has had too many of these nights already.
Boston College’s ground game was the headliner. The Eagles were even more efficient in the first half, averaging 8.6 yards per carry before the game only got looser in the second half.
Boston College finished with 343 rushing yards and four touchdowns, with Bo MaCormack piling up 158 yards and three scores and Mason McKenzie adding 166 yards and two touchdowns. McKenzie also broke off a 40-yard run in the third quarter as the Eagles kept hitting the same soft spots and Georgia Tech kept missing the answers.
That made this one feel especially frustrating for the Yellow Jackets because the run game had been productive in recent weeks. Earlier in the week, Coach Key said the offensive line had its best performance of the season against the Hokies, but that didn’t carry over here.
Georgia Tech’s top running backs were held to just 2.3 yards per carry in the first half. Justice Haynes finished the opening half with 22 yards on nine carries, while Trelain Maddox had 14 yards on six carries.
As a team, Georgia Tech managed only 108 rushing yards.
The receivers didn’t help matters much either. The day started with Isaiah Fuhrmann dropping two early passes that stalled drives, and the problems kept coming after halftime.
The most damaging miss came on a throw intended for Jaiven Plummer, only for the ball to end up in Charlie Cornella’s hands after the drop. Georgia Tech’s wideouts have generally held up this season, but this game was a clear outlier, and it left the offense searching for other answers.
Defensively, the story was more of the same, just louder. Georgia Tech has struggled against both the pass and the run all season, and Boston College took full advantage.
Last week, Virginia Tech and Ethan Grunkmeyer with Que’Sean Brown did damage through the air. This time, the Eagles ran wild for 346 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
The defense has not just slipped - it has regressed, and every week seems to bring a new breakdown.
There was one bright spot on that side of the ball: Tae Harris. He kept showing up all afternoon, finishing with seven tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass breakup.
One sequence stood out in particular, with a tackle in the backfield followed by a key third-and-long breakup that forced a punt. Harris is starting to look like a top defensive player no matter how the rest of the unit is performing around him.
On offense, a pair of wide receivers continued to give Georgia Tech something to build around. Penson turned in another productive outing with five catches for 88 yards and a receiving touchdown.
Allen added four catches for 85 yards and included a 43-yard grab. Both have been among the most consistent pieces for the Yellow Jackets this season, and despite everything else going wrong, they remain two players Georgia Tech has to do everything in its power to keep.
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Georgia Tech Let This Game Slip Away In A Brutal Third Quarter
Georgia Tech spent much of the afternoon trying to keep pace with Boston College in a game that kept swinging on quick scoring bursts, field position and penalties. The Yellow Jackets had moments to answer, with touchdowns and field goals keeping the pressure on, but the Eagles found enough rhythm through the first three quarters to keep control of the scoreboard in Atlanta.
The turning point in the third quarter came when Boston College cashed in on a short field after a Mendoza interception, a sequence that helped the visitors widen the gap at a key moment. By the time the quarter ended, Georgia Tech was still chasing and needed a response in the fourth to avoid letting a winnable home game slip further away. [Read more 🡒]
Scott Cross Debut Raised A Georgia Tech Problem Fans Know Too Well
Scott Cross got his first look at Georgia Tech in game action, and the debut showed why the new coach has plenty to sort through before the regular season. In an exhibition against Providence, the Yellow Jackets had stretches where the offense never really settled in, with ball security and shot selection both looking like early concerns for a team trying to reset under a new voice.
Kam Craft led Georgia Tech with 17 points, but the bigger picture was an offense that struggled to find any consistent rhythm. The Jackets also had trouble at the line and with turnovers, the kind of self-inflicted problems that can turn a sloppy night into a lopsided one and leave Cross with a clear list of fixes before the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]