The odds are low that Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King will win the Heisman Trophy. That’s just as well. King said he grew up in Texas dreaming a “little bit” about winning the Heisman, but mostly he fantasized about winning the college football national championship.
It turns out King has a real chance for that dream to become reality.
Soon after the Yellow Jackets finished their beat down of Syracuse on Saturday, Wake Forest kicked a field goal to beat SMU. That left No. 7 Tech (8-0, 5-0 ACC) and No. 16 Virginia (7-1, 4-0) as the last two ACC teams with no league losses. The teams don’t play one another, so the Jackets will make the league championship game in Charlotte if they win their remaining three ACC games.
That’s possible. I’d say it’s probable, even. King is the best player in the ACC and Tech’s defense keeps improving despite injuries to some key players. The Jackets will be in Charlotte if they keep it going, and the winner of the ACC title is almost guaranteed a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff field.
The Jackets haven’t been a legitimate national title contender this late in the season since they won a share of the 1990 national championship.
“It’s always next game, next play kind of mentality,” King said. “It’s never (trying) to look at it too far in advance. Because if you handle the present of what’s going and control what you can control, everything else will handle itself.”
The Jackets handled business against Syracuse. They won 41-16 while playing what coach Brent Key called “the closest thing we have to a complete game.” Tech took control of the game by scoring on five consecutive possessions with four touchdowns.
The Jackets got lucky to win at Wake Forest in Week 5. They’ve been excellent since then. Tech routed Virginia Tech at home, scored 17 points in the fourth quarter at Duke and had little trouble sending Syracuse (3-5, 1-4) home with another loss.
“We’re getting closer to playing a full game,” Key said. “Good thing about that is we haven’t peaked yet. And if I’m not mistaken, that’s kind of how you want it. You want to play your best ball rolling into October and November.”
The metrics are still lagging behind the results for Tech. Among undefeated power conference teams, the Jackets entered the weekend ranked lowest nationally in ESPN analyst Bill Connelly’s SP+ (28th), FPI (26th) and FEI (35th). The consensus among those statistical systems is that Tech’s offense is only pretty good and the defense is just average.
Maybe that’s true, but I predicted the Jackets would win handily on Saturday because I’ve watched them improve each week. They piled up 543 yards of total offense on Syracuse, including 304 yards passing, with No. 1 receiver Malik Rutherford out with an injury. Tech limited Syracuse to two big pass plays and not much else with starting defensive back Jy Gilmore sidelined.
The Jackets should be favored to win their remaining ACC games. They play at North Carolina State on Saturday. The Wolfpack lost at home to Virginia Tech last month. Tech plays at ACC cellar-dweller Boston College the next week before finishing the league schedule with a tough home game against Pitt.
Win all those games, and the Jackets will be one win away from making the CFP. Jackets tight end Josh Beetham won the 2024 CFP championship while playing for Michigan.
“There are a lot of things that you have to do to be capable of doing that, and I’ve seen a lot of that out of this team,” Beetham said after scoring two touchdowns. “Obviously, we just need to focus on one game at a time and that’s going to put us in the position where we need to be.”
Tech was never in danger of losing to Syracuse. The Orange couldn’t stop King. He passed for 304 yards on 31 attempts with three touchdowns and ran for 91 yards and two scores. Syracuse’s offense didn’t do much when it mattered.
The Jackets took firm control of the game in the final minute before halftime. The Orange trailed 17-3 when they faced fourth-and-1 at Tech’s 39-yard line. Running back Will Nixon had a clear lane to his left to run for a first down, but linebacker E.J. Lightsey ran into the backfield from right side and stopped Nixon before he could reach the marker.
The Jackets had just 45 seconds to score with one timeout. They needed just two plays to reach scoring range: Malachi Hosley’s 20-yard run and King’s 13-yard pass to Isiah Canion. After a personal foul penalty moved the Jackets back, King ran for 25 yards to Syracuse’s five with four seconds to go. Key opted for a field goal that extended the lead to 20-10.
The Orange got the ball first after halftime and quickly answered with a two-play touchdown drive. Rickie Collins passed 41 yards to Johntay Cook II, then 34 yards to Darrell Gill Jr. for a score that got Syracuse’s deficit down to 10 points. But the Jackets scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives to put Syracuse away.
The Orange beat Tech 31-28 last year in Syracuse. They were no match for the Jackets this year. It might be the case that no one in the ACC can beat Tech. If so, then King will get a chance to make his national championship dream come true.
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