It wasn’t always pretty, but thanks to their 45-24 victory over the Temple Owls at Bobby Dodd last Saturday, Tech football is now 4-0 for the first time since 2014. Against the Owls, Jackets could not have scripted a better first quarter offensively, putting up three touchdowns in three possessions. An 18-yard rushing touchdown from Haynes King, a 24-yard touchdown pass from King to Malik Rutherford on a screen pass and a 37-yard touchdown pass from King to Isaiah Canion gave the Jackets a commanding 21-0 lead.
After one quarter of play, it seemed as if Tech, the 21-point favorite, would cruise to their eighth consecutive home win. However, Temple came back fighting with a 34-yard scramble from Owls’ quarterback Evan Simon leading to a two-yard touchdown run by Jay Ducker on fourth and goal. While the score remained 21-7 at halftime, Temple’s front seven limited the Jackets’ rushing attack to zero yards in the second quarter.
Tech received the ball to begin the second half. On the second play of the ensuing drive, a miscommunication on a handoff from King to Jamal Haynes resulted in a fumble. Temple got the ball at the Jacket 31-yard-line, and a 28-yard touchdown pass from Simon to Jojo Bermudez cut Tech’s lead to 21-14.
Shortly after, the Jacket’s run game got going. Their next drive was capped off with a 34-yard touchdown run by Malachi Hosley. After forcing a three and out, a 47-yard run by Haynes led to Hosley’s second rushing touchdown of the day, this time from two yards out. Tech once again held a 21-point lead, and it was their defense’s turn to stand tall, stopping Temple on a fourth-and-1 at the Jackets’ 38-yard line. Both teams converted field goals on their following drives, before redshirt senior Daylon Gordon rushed for a 47-yard touchdown, the first of his collegiate career. After rushing for 67 yards in the first half, the Jackets rushed for 240 yards in the second half, averaging 12.5 yards a carry.
“The second quarter didn’t go the way we wanted it to,” Haynes explained after the game. “So we have to go back inside, reset our minds…and essentially start the second half the way we started the game and it worked out for us.”
After climbing to a national ranking of No. 16 in the latest Associated Press poll, Tech will travel to Winston Salem, N.C. to take on Wake Forest, looking to extend their record to 5-0.
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