ATLANTA — A strong start to the game extended Georgia Tech’s strongest start to a football season in more than a decade, and the Yellow Jackets hit the halfway point of their schedule without a loss after returning from their first open date more than ready to go.
Malachi Hosley rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown, quarterback Haynes King added two touchdowns on the ground, and 13th-ranked Georgia Tech scored the first 18 points of Saturday’s game at Bobby Dodd Stadium on the way to beating short-handed Virginia Tech 35-20.
The Yellow Jackets, who are 6-0 for the first time since 2011, remained atop the Atlantic Coast Conference standings at 3-0. And after beating preseason ACC favorite Clemson on a 55-yard field goal at the final horn on Sept. 13, then needing overtime to escape Wake Forest on Sept. 27, rested Georgia Tech didn’t give the ailing Hokies (2-5, 1-2) much of an opportunity to entertain the thought of an upset.
King led Georgia Tech with another productive and efficient display of his dual-threat skills. The sixth-year standout completed 20 of 24 passes for 213 yards with a 9-yard touchdown to Malik Rutherford, and he added 60 rushing yards with touchdowns covering 2 and 26 yards, with the latter a highlight-reel ramble in which he followed his blockers and dodged a diving defender to make it 35-14 early in the fourth quarter.
“That was a heck of a run, wasn’t it,” said Georgia Tech coach Brent Key, who welcomed King to the sideline with a hug.