ATLANTA — Georgia Tech found a way to contain Syracuse’s barrage of direct-snap runs — and a way to put itself back in the bowl picture.
Haynes King threw two touchdown passes and added a 19-yard scoring run late in the fourth quarter as Georgia Tech stopped Syracuse’s comeback to beat the Orange 31-22 on Saturday night and become bowl eligible for the first time in five years.
Jamal Haynes’ 30-yard run to open the second half gave Tech (6-5, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) a 24-3 lead. Haynes’ touchdown run came after Darrell Gill Jr. fumbled a kickoff return that was recovered by Tech’s Jacob Cruz.
Syracuse’s run-dominant offense was a surprise in last week’s 28-13 win over Pittsburgh when the Orange rushed for 392 yards, the high mark in the ACC this season. Three players, including quarterback Garrett Shrader, ran for more than 100 yards.
“We really challenged the defense this week, and they accepted the challenge,” Tech coach Brent Key said.
Syracuse (5-6, 1-6) ran for 206 yards on 42 carries against the Jackets but passed for only 53 yards.
“It was definitely a hard thing to game plan just because there were so many different bodies doing different things,” said Tech linebacker Kyle Efford, who had 11 tackles.
Efford’s interception of sophomore Luke MacPhail’s first pass of the game clinched the win.
The Orange did not have a player listed as a quarterback take a snap in the first half. Shrader was in uniform but was limited by an undisclosed injury. Backup quarterback Carlos Del Rio Wilson, who sustained a lower body injury in a 17-10 loss to Boston College on Nov. 3, was not with the team.
The Orange closed the deficit to 24-22 on three second-half touchdown runs, one by Dan Villari and two by LeQuint Allen Jr.
Allen ran for 120 yards and had a 23-yard run to set up his 2-yard scoring run midway through the final quarter.
“We’re doing what we can with the guys we have up,” Syracuse coach Dino Capers said.
Villari, a tight end, and Allen, a running back, had direct-snap runs as the bulk of the Syracuse offense. Villari was 14-for-14 passing for 59 yards while rushing for 89 yards and a touchdown.
“A game like this is a linebacker’s dream,” Efford said.
King completed 16 of 20 passes for 180 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown.
Shrader finally entered the game on a third-down snap at the Tech 1 late in the third quarter. He lined up behind center before handing off to Allen for a touchdown run.
Tech’s most recent bowl appearance was a 34-10 loss to Minnesota in the 2018 Quick Lane Bowl. Efford, a freshman, said he was motivated to see the seniors finally have an opportunity to play in a bowl.
“Especially the sixth-year guys,” Efford said. “They haven’t been to a bowl game. That means a lot to me.”
Syracuse has one final opportunity to qualify for a bowl game next weekend against Wake Forest.
“We’ve got an opportunity to go to bowl games two years in a row for the first time in a long time,” Capers said.
Syracuse made back-to-back bowl appearances in 2012 and 2013.
“I think these guys still have the fire,” Capers said. “I know I do. We want to get this season ended on the right note.”
The Orange might have overcome their limited offensive options if they had taken advantage of two Tech turnovers.
Cornerback Isaiah Johnson’s interception of a pass by King led to a missed field-goal attempt. A fumble by Haynes recovered by defensive end Caleb Okechukwu midway through the third quarter gave Syracuse the ball at the Tech 41, but the Orange were stopped on a fourth-down run by Allen.
With King and Haynes dominating the carries for the Jackets, they leaned on their running game for a clock-draining drive in the fourth quarter. Haynes had gains of 11 and 8 yards on back-to-back runs. The Jackets totaled 372 yards, with a balance of 192 rushing and 180 passing.
Tech hosts No. 1 Georgia of the Southeastern Conference next Saturday in an attempt to end the Bulldogs’ five-game winning streak in the Peach State rivalry known as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. Georgia has won the past three meetings by a combined margin of 134-21.