Defense leads the way for Georgia Tech in 30-16 win over Wake Forest

Georgia Tech is now 2-2 this season after a big night from the defense

Jackson Caudell | Sep 23, 2023

Defense leads the way for Georgia Tech in 30-16 win over Wake Forest /

In this story:

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

It was a big night in the ACC, as both Georgia Tech and Wake Forest were in need of a win tonight in Winston-Salem. Georgia Tech came into the game 1-2 with a pair of tough losses to Louisville and Ole Miss and looking for their first ACC win of the year. Wake was 3-0 heading into this game, but coming off a tougher-than-expected game against Old Dominion last week.

For Georgia Tech, a win here would be huge in their quest to get back to a bowl game for the first time since 2018. A loss would make that a very tough task.

1st Quarter

Wake Forest won the toss and deferred their choice to the second half. Georgia Tech's high-powered offense took the field first.

It was not the start the offense wanted though, however. It was a three-and-out and the Yellow Jackets had to punt the ball away.

Wake Forest took over at their own 21-yard line and picked up a first down on their first play from scrimmage. The Yellow Jackets then had the Demon Deacons on a third and long and got a sack, but a facemask penalty gave Wake a free first down.

It was not a good start for the run defense, which allowed a big gain for Wake to get into the red zone. The defense was able to hold them to a field goal though and the Demon Deacons led 3-0 with 7:24 left in the first quarter.

Georgia Tech took over down 3-0 and needed to put a drive together. Jakiah Leftwich took over at right tackle for Jordan Williams, who went down on the first drive. It was a great response from the Yellow Jackets offense, who marched quickly down the field and it ended with an Eric Singleton Jr touchdown to make it 7-3. It was the fourth career touchdown catch for Singleton in just his fourth game.

Fourth game in a Georgia Tech uniform. Fourth game with a TD.@EricSingletonJ2 is just different 🐝 pic.twitter.com/FUyj7eOtKM
— Georgia Tech Football (@GeorgiaTechFB) September 23, 2023

Wake Forest took over down 7-3 and continued to have success running the ball. The Demon Deacons run a unique offense and it was giving the Yellow Jackets front seven fits early on. While the defense as a whole was not great on the drive or in the quarter, it came up big when they needed it to in the red zone. It was a bend but don't break approach and early on, the Yellow Jackets did not give up any touchdowns.

At the end of the 1st: Georgia Tech leads 7-3. Eric Singleton has caught a 31-yard touchdown and Haynes King is 4-5 for 78 yards. The defense had not been great but held up in the red zone.

2nd Quarter

Georgia Tech was moving the ball and had gotten across midfield on their third drive. Unfortunately, Haynes King got a little greedy. He tried taking a shot to Singleton and was almost picked off and then a couple of plays later, he did it again and threw his first interception since the opening game against Louisville.

The defense was faced with sudden change after the turnover and was tasked with getting another stop. The front seven did their job and got a sack on third down, courtesy of Kyle Kennard, who has been one of the bright spots on the defense this year.

Georgia Tech took over on their own 17-yard line after a punt and had a great drive. King spread the ball around to different receivers and it ended with an Abdul Janneh 33-yard touchdown catch, his first of the season. The offense had a great response after throwing an interception the previous drive and all of the pressure was now on Wake to answer down two scores.

The Demon Deacons took over and after a couple of quick completions from their offense, they faced a third and long. After a false start backed them up, Wake quarterback Mitch Griffis completed a long pass, but it popped out of the receiver's hands and Georgia Tech took over. The bad thing was that the Yellow Jackets were called for two penalties after the turnover and were backed up.

It was a three-and-out for the offense, but they ran into some luck on the punt. Wake Forest muffed the punt and the offense took over at the 12-yard line.

After being given great field position, the offense was not able to cash in and get a touchdown. It was a three and-out, but Aidan Birr was able to hit the field goal and give Georgia Tech a 17-3 lead with 3:07 left in the first half.

Wake Forest took over and Georgia Tech's defense once again did its job. A three-and-out, helped by a sack from linebacker Paul Moala forced a punt and a bad punt from the Demon Deacons gave the Yellow Jackets the ball at the Wake 39-yard line.

The Yellow Jackets could not cash in once again though and was unable to score a touchdown. Birr came out for another field goal attempt to try and extend the lead and he did just that, making it 20-3. It was great to see Birr nail two field goals after the struggles from the field goal-kicking team through the first three games.

It was a pretty good first half, but as the Louisville game showed, Georgia Tech was going to need to play a complete second half to get the win.

At the half, Georgia Tech had 219 yards total, including 177 in the air. King was 9-16 and had two touchdowns, but also some mistakes that kept the offense from being better.

3rd Quarter

Wake Forest got the ball to start the second half and they would look to cut into the lead the Yellow Jackets had. It was a big drive for the Yellow Jackets coming out of halftime.

Kennard got his third sack of the game to make it second and long, but back-to-back plays from Wake got them the first down. Poor tackling resulted in the Demon Deacons getting into Georgia Tech territory. A pas interference call on 3rd and 8 then resulted in Wake getting inside the 10-yard line.

The drive ended in a Wake Forest touchdown, but a missed extra point made it 20-9 and it felt like momentum was shifting. The offense needed a response after the Wake touchdown.

The offense started well and a big cutback run from Jamal Haynes got the Yellow Jackets across the 50-yard line and into Wake Forest territory.

However, penalties struck Georgia Tech again and an illegal formation penalty pushed its offense back five yards, and two plays later, they faced a 3rd and 11. Some miscommunication on the throw led to a Georgia Tech punt and the defense would march back out there and try to get a quick stop.

Georgia Tech appeared to get their fifth sack of the game, but an offsides penalty moved Wake closer. The Demon Deacons did not convert the fourth down attempt and Georgia Tech took over at midfield with a chance to pull ahead even further.

The offense took over, but the penalties struck again. It was an uncharacteristic night for the Yellow Jackets in that respect.

Facing a 3rd and long, King found his top receiver Singleton for a big first down.

That was the last play of the quarter. It was not the best quarter of the night, but Georgia Tech remained ahead by double-digits heading into the final frame.

4th Quarter

Eric Singleton Jr, Haynes King, Jamal Haynes — Georgia Tech is now 2-2 this season after beating Wake Forest / Nathaniel Caudell

Georgia Tech faced a third down at the start of the quarter and King tried going deep to Singleton, but it was incomplete. Wake stopped the Yellow Jackets on fourth down and took over on their own 35-yard line.

The defense once again came up big on the first play of the next drive by forcing a fumble and the offense took over. That was a huge play that caused a momentum shift and put Tech in a position to put the game away.

Once again though, the offense could not put the ball in the end zone and was forced to settle for three. The good news was that Birr hit another and remained perfect for the night. Georgia Tech led 23-9 with 10 minutes left in the game.

Wake Forest took over and despite Georgia Tech continuously getting pressure, they were able to move the ball down the field and get into Yellow Jackets territory. A couple of plays later, Wake Forest hit Wesley Grimes for a touchdown to cut it to a one-score game with 5:26 left. The next drive of the game was its biggest for the offense and it was perhaps the biggest drive of the season.

The result was the worst-case scenario, a three and out. Wake got the ball back with 4:01 left in the game and a chance to tie or take the lead. The defense would be needed for yet another stop.

An offsides penalty started the drive and moved the Yellow Jackets defense back and then a pass interference on Myles Sims gave the Wake Forest offense another break. That made it 14 penalties up to that point.

Wake then had the ball at the Georgia Tech 33-yard line and the defense was able to make one more play when Kenan Johnson picked off Griffis to get the ball back to the Yellow Jackets with 2:18 left in the game. It was the fourth forced turnover of the game for GT and it could not have come at a better time.

Georgia Tech iced the game on the next drive with a touchdown run from Jamal Haynes.

The defense was the big winner tonight, forcing five turnovers and tallying eight sacks, including four from Kennard. They have had their struggles this season, but they came up big when they were needed most.

King finished the game 16-27 for 222 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. Jamal Haynes led the way on the ground with 18 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown and Eric Singleton once again led the Yellow Jackets in receiving.

Up next for Georgia Tech will be a home date with Bowling Green at 3:30, which represents an excellent opportunity for the team to get to 3-2 heading into a road game against Miami.

1st Quarter

2nd Quarter

3rd Quarter

4th Quarter

More Georgia Tech Related Content: