Georgia Tech’s resounding, 59-7 victory over visiting Virginia Military Institute on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium put the Jackets in position to do something they haven’t done in a decade: start a season 4-1 or better.
At 3-1 overall, and 2-1 in ACC play ahead of a league matchup at No. 19 Louisville, Tech is now looking for its best start through five games since the 2014 team started 5-0 before its first loss. The Jackets got to that point with a dominant performance against the overmatched Keydets (0-3) in front of a little more than 31,000 fans on a gray and rainy day in Atlanta.
Here are some takeaways from the Jackets’ win, their seventh in the last 10 games:
Pyron and the pylon
Those inside the Tech locker room know the importance of backup quarterback Zach Pyron and what he means to the program. Pyron continued to be rewarded Saturday with two more rushing touchdowns, bringing his season total to three.
“Guys, they earn the ability to go on the field with how they work during the week,” Tech coach Brent Key said. “(Pyron’s) earned every one of those reps throughout all of training camp up until now.”
Pyron scored on a 1-yard keeper in the first quarter Saturday to put Tech up 17-0. He scored again from a yard out early in the second quarter, making it 24-0. Late in the third quarter, the sophomore connected on a 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Leo Blackburn — the fourth TD pass of Pyron’s career and first since Nov. 12, 2022, against Miami.
A 6-foot-3, 220-pound native of Pinson, Alabama, Pyron battled with Haynes King for the starting quarterback position throughout the 2023 preseason. King won the job and has started all 17 games since. But Pyron has continued to stick with the Jackets and “prepare as a starter,” Key said last week.
“We’ll continue to use him in different packages and different situations because he does bring a lot of value to the team as a player on the field, but he also brings a ton of value in the locker room,” Key said Thursday on his weekly radio show on 680 The Fan. “Happy for how he has progressed. This summer he had a tremendous training camp.”
Pyron has 51 carries for 199 yards and five touchdowns and is 57-for-96 for 643 yards passing with four touchdowns and four interceptions during his Tech career.
Maddox makes debut
Tech’s running back room has been thinned out due to injury early this season. Backup Trey Cooley left after the opening kickoff Aug. 24 in the game against Florida State and hasn’t played since. Chad Alexander had 12 carries for 64 yards over the first two games, but did not play at Syracuse.
So the timing was just right for Trelain Maddox to make his debut in Saturday’s win.
“He’s been cleared for a couple of weeks from the medical standpoint, but with those types of things it’s the mental standpoint where they have to be ready to go,” Key said. “I think it was last week he said, ‘I’m ready.’ We were waiting for the time to be able to get him in and he went in second series, was able to get carries.
“You could see still a little tentativeness in him as he’s going through there. But I think you saw what we’ve been seeing also in the fact that he falls forward. He gets positive yardage. He’s a big back. And he’s only going to get better and better as he gets more reps.”
Maddox was considered a three-star recruit, according to the 247Sports Composite, coming out of Parkview High School in the 2024 signing class. But he missed most of his senior high school season with a torn ACL.
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound back (the largest running back on Tech’s roster) finally made in on to the field Saturday and rushed for a team-high 53 yards on nine carries. With 7:38 to go in the third quarter he scored his first career touchdown on a 3-yard plunge.
“You dream of playing college football since you were a little kid, playing in front of the fans. Great environment. It was exciting,” Maddox said. “I haven’t played a game in a while so just being back on the field in that game environment, I was a little tense at first, but I feel like I loosened up as the game went on.”
Something to build on for the defense
Tech’s defense needed a bounce-back game in a big way after a poor performance at Syracuse on Sept. 7. It got just that against VMI. The Jackets totaled 10 tackles for loss, three sacks, broke up two passes and recovered a fumble. Fifteen different players recorded at least one solo tackle. The Keydets were 1 of 13 on third down, averaged 2.2 yards per play and were held scoreless until 6:37 to play in the fourth quarter.
Tech held VMI to 104 yards of offense, the fewest by a Tech opponent since Maryland managed just 82 yards against the Jackets on Oct. 9, 2004.
“That’s the standard. That’s what we gotta do. But it gotta be consistent,” Tech defensive end Romello Height said about the performance.
Added Key: “We know we didn’t play up to the expectations we had last week (at Syracuse) on the defensive side of the football. Players know that. It’s not just coaches, players understand that, too. They work really hard to correct those things and be able to play and not lot let circumstances around the game dictate how they play. Hopefully we can continue to build on that.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Georgia Tech at Louisville, 3:30 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2, 680 AM, 93.7 FM
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