Haynes King threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Haynes early in the fourth quarter, and Georgia Tech came back to defeat Duke 24-14 on Saturday night, handing the Blue Devils their first loss of the season.
Sahmir Hagans gave Duke a 14-10 lead with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Maalik Murphy late in the third quarter.
Haynes, who rushed for 128 yards on 19 carries, ended a 14-play drive that covered 85 yards by catching a short pass in the right side of the end zone, putting Georgia Tech ahead 17-14. King extended the lead with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Eric Singleton Jr. with 6:36 left in the game.
Georgia Tech (4-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) controlled the first half but had to recover after losing a 10-0 advantage.
Duke (5-1, 1-1) missed the chance to achieve its best start since winning its first seven games in 1994.
Haynes celebrated his 22nd birthday by matching his career high and leading the Yellow Jackets in rushing.
After the game, he was presented with a birthday cake on the field and praised his offensive line for his successful night.
“We came out and did what we have to do,” Haynes said. “We have a great mentality in our running back room and I have trust in all our backs. … A big shoutout to the offensive line.”
Georgia Tech outrushed Duke 245-74 and had a total yard advantage of 412-279. Chad Alexander contributed 59 rushing yards.
“The tailbacks going for as many yards as they did was ultimately the telling stat,” said Duke coach Manny Diaz.
Diaz noted that the Blue Devils struggled to maintain their momentum after taking the lead.
“Once we got going we looked like we were going to be hard to stop the rest of the day,” Diaz said. “We just could not keep the momentum going.”
