Haynes King completed 17 of 22 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns, helping lead Georgia Tech to a 59-7 rout of visiting VMI on Saturday in Atlanta.
Backup Zach Pyron ran for a pair of scores, adding another through the air, as the Yellow Jackets (3-1) outgained VMI (0-3) 575-104.
After the teams traded punts on their opening drives, Ahmari Harvey forced a fumble from VMI wide receiver Julio Da Silva, which was recovered by Yellow Jackets linebacker Clayton Powell-Lee on the Georgia Tech 44-yard line.
From there, King’s 22-yard pass to Chase Lane followed by Trelain Maddox’s 14-yard run set the Yellow Jackets up on VMI’s 14, eventually resulting in Aidan Birr’s 28-yard field goal with 7:39 left in the first quarter.
Following another VMI punt, King’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Malik Rutherford capped a two-play, 41-second drive, extending Georgia Tech’s lead to 10-0 with 4:52 left in the first.
VMI’s third punt of the first quarter set up the Yellow Jackets’ offense on their own 27. King’s 50-yard pass to Eric Singleton Jr. placed the ball on VMI’s 12-yard line. Three plays later, Pyron scored on a 1-yard sneak, giving Georgia Tech a 17-0 advantage with eight seconds left in the first quarter.
With 11:04 left remaining in the second quarter, Georgia Tech capitalized off another VMI punt, as Pyron’s second rushing touchdown — this time a 2-yarder — capped a six-play, 55-yard drive, putting the Yellow Jackets up 24-0.
Georgia Tech tacked on a pair of scores in the final two minutes of the first half, as Haynes connected with Singleton for a 14-yard passing touchdown with 1:49 remaining, before VMI’s seventh punt of the first half resulted in a five-play, 73-yard drive that was capped with King’s 33-yard passing score to Avery Boyd with 30 seconds left.
Leading 38-0 at the half, Georgia Tech outgained the Keydets 366-35. The Yellow Jackets picked up 19 first-half first downs, to VMI’s one.
After each team agreed to shorten the quarters to ten minutes for the second half, Maddox stamped a five-play, 60-yard scoring drive with a 3-yard rushing touchdown with 7:38 left in the third quarter. Pyron added another tally with 1:32 left in the third, finding Leo Blackburn for a 24-yard touchdown, giving the Yellow Jackets a 52-point cushion.
VMI cracked the scoreboard with 6:37 left in the fourth, when Brady Hammonds found Ethen Horne for a two-yard passing touchdown on fourth and goal. Anthony Carrie’s 2-yard rushing score for Georgia Tech then capped the game’s scoring with 4:29 to play.
