Haynes King passed for 275 yards and three touchdowns while playing only the first half, and backup quarterback Zach Pyron scored twice on 1-yard runs as Georgia Tech defeated VMI 59-7 on Saturday.
Facing a much weaker FCS team on a gloomy day in Atlanta, the Yellow Jackets (3-1) bounced back from a loss at Syracuse, which had ended their brief return to the Top 25.
Georgia Tech jumped to a 24-0 lead before VMI (0-3) managed its first first down about five minutes into the second quarter.
“That was a good win for our program,” said coach Brent Key. “It was on our guys to have tunnel vision on doing their job and playing a football game. We want to play a complete game regardless of the scoreboard, regardless of the opponent.”
King and most of the starters rested for the rest of the game after Georgia Tech built a 38-0 lead by halftime. The team went to the locker room with a staggering 366-35 lead in total yards and a 19-1 edge in first downs.
The final two quarters were shortened to 10 minutes each.
The difference in size between the teams was clear. Georgia Tech’s starting offensive line averages 313 pounds, while VMI’s front five weighed only 258 pounds.
The Yellow Jackets scored on six of their eight possessions in the first half, with none of the drives taking more than 3:13.
The game began with some hope for VMI — Georgia Tech went three-and-out on its first possession and then settled for a 28-yard field goal by Aidan Birr — but it quickly got out of hand.
“I was disappointed that we didn’t compete better for longer,” said VMI coach Danny Rocco. “We really never got much of anything going, and that makes it really a difficult game to manage.”
King threw touchdown passes of 35 yards to Malik Rutherford, 14 yards to Eric Singleton Jr., and 33 yards to Avery Boyd.
King also led the Yellow Jackets to the 1-yard line on two other occasions before Pyron took over and pushed the ball into the end zone.
