Virginia Suffers First Loss of Season to Ga. Tech 56-20
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Sept. 15, 2012
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ATLANTA (AP) – Tevin Washington ran for three touchdowns and threw a 70-yard scoring pass to Zach Laskey on Georgia Tech’s first snap, setting up an early barrage of big plays as the Yellow Jackets beat Virginia 56-20 on Saturday.
Washington’s backup at quarterback, Vad Lee, added to the rout with two touchdown runs.
Georgia Tech’s spread-option offense overwhelmed the Cavaliers with three gains of 60 yards or longer on its first four plays.
After Washington’s long scoring pass to Laskey, Orwin Smith had a 77-yard touchdown run on the second play of Georgia Tech’s next possession. Washington started the third possession with a 60-yard rush to set up his 1-yard touchdown run.
Georgia Tech (2-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) kept up the high-scoring pace with 1-yard scoring runs by Washington and Lee in the second quarter for a 35-7 halftime lead.
Virginia (2-1, 0-1) was held to 98 yards rushing. One year ago, the Cavaliers ran for 274 yards and held the ball 30 minutes in a 24-21 win over the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech scored 50 or more points in an ACC game for the first time since beating Wake Forest 52-20 on Oct. 14, 2000. The 56 points were the third-highest total for the Yellow Jackets in an ACC game.
Smith had six carries for 137 yards.
Laskey’s long touchdown came on his first career catch. He ran for 43 yards and did not return after suffering a shoulder injury in the first half.
Virginia’s first touchdown came on Michael Rocco’s 19-yard pass to tight end Jake McGee in the first quarter.
Rocco completed 15 of 25 passes for 143 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Phillip Sims replaced Rocco in the fourth quarter and threw two scoring passes – a 22-yard touchdown pass to E.J. Scott and a 1-yarder to Zachary Swanson on the final play of the game.
Sims completed 6 of 8 passes for 56 yards and two touchdowns.
Another bright spot for Virginia was sophomore tailback Khalek Shepherd, who had a 72-yard kickoff return, a 22-yard catch and four carries for 33 yards.
Washington’s third touchdown run, a 12-yarder, pushed Georgia Tech’s lead to 42-7 in the third quarter. Washington sat out the remainder of the game.
With Lee at quarterback, Matt Connors had a 32-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter. The 49-7 lead gave the Yellow Jackets their most points in the series with Virginia.
Lee added a 41-yard touchdown run with 5:56 remaining.
Washington completed 6 of 8 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. He had 11 carries for 93 yards and matched his career high with the three scoring runs.
Perry Jones, who had 149 yards rushing against Georgia Tech last year, had five carries for 15 yards.
Kevin Parks led Virginia with 13 carries for 53 yards.
Washington, who normally wears No. 13, instead wore No. 40 to honor former Georgia Tech linebacker Julian Burnett, who suffered a career-ending injury last year. A different player is wearing Burnett’s No. 40 each week.
Georgia Tech, which wore new white helmets in its first two games, was back in traditional gold headgear. The Yellow Jackets also wore gold pants for the first time this season and had new white jerseys.