ATLANTA — Justice Haynes rushed for 141 yards on 22 carries and scored three touchdowns — two rushing, one receiving — while leading Georgia Tech to its first victory of the season, 44-11 over Mercer on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Georgia Tech (1-2) followed up home losses to Colorado and Tennessee with an uneven performance for most of the first half, but the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Yellow Jackets pulled away from the visitors — a Football Championship Subdivision program from just down Interstate 75 in Macon — thanks to Haynes and first-year starting quarterback Alberto Mendoza.
“I do think we’ve improved each week,” Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key said. “That being said, it was a pretty low starting point, though.”
The Yellow Jackets scored 10 points in the final two minutes before halftime to take a 24-3 lead and added three more touchdowns after the break. Mendoza completed 15 of 21 passes for a season-high 249 yards, finding Javien Plummer and Debron Gatling for scoring strikes from 37 and 33 yards, respectively.
“The first half wasn’t our standard,” Mendoza said. “I think we could clean a lot of those things up, and at halftime we addressed a lot of those things.”
The Yellow Jackets finally got what they were looking for from their star transfer, Haynes, an Atlanta-area native who played for Big Ten member Michigan last season after two years at Alabama in the Southeastern Conference. After just 145 total rushing yards and no plays over 20 yards in the first two games, Haynes was explosive in open space, highlighted by his 31-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Zahmari Palode-Gary led Southern Conference member Mercer (2-2) with 71 rushing yards on 15 carries.
Georgia Tech did not force a turnover in either of its first two games but finally got two takeaways Saturday. Taje McCoy forced an early fumble with pressure off the edge, and freshman Christian Speakman fell on the loose ball. Another freshman, linebacker C.J. Gamble, grabbed Georgia Tech’s first interception of the season with an alert play on a low throw.
“I feel like it’s been a constant progression just being able to put plays together on defense,” McCoy said. “It’s just doing my job and making the plays I’m supposed to make, and it’s finally starting to show.”
The Yellow Jackets won the turnover battle 2-0, and cashed both in for touchdowns.
Stopping the run was a major concern for the Yellow Jackets heading into Saturday after giving up 299 yards on the ground against Tennessee, and the question is still in the fold after another poor performance. Mercer rushed for 188 yards on 46 carries and had six different runs go for at least 11 yards.
The Bears made a quarterback change late in the second quarter. JP Pickles took over and led them on two field-goal drives, accounting for 53 rushing yards with efficient 7-of-11 passing for 82 yards.
Georgia Tech opens ACC play next weekend with a cross-country trip to California to take on Stanford.