Haynes King is Close to Making Georgia Tech History

King is having one of the best single seasons in Georgia Tech history for a quarterback

It's been a long time since Georgia Tech has had stable quarterback play. When he arrived from Texas A&M last December, there was hope that Haynes King was going to bring that, but nobody was even sure if he would be able to win the starting quarterback job.

King has not only won the starting quarterback job, he is going to have a chance to make history and have arguably the best single season for a Yellow Jackets quarterback ever. 

Currently, King is five touchdown passes away from tying Joe Hamilton for the single-season record. Hamilton had 29 touchdown passes in 1999 (the year he finished as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy) and King has 24. He has potentially three games (Syracuse, Georgia, and a potential bowl game) to reach 30 touchdown passes, which is doable. 

In terms of yardage, King is 626 yards away from tying George Godsey for the most passing yards in a single season in Georgia Tech history. Godsey threw for 3,085 yards in 2001 and King currently has 2,459 yards. 

So how tough is the road ahead for King to reach those milestones?

Haynes King is having one of the best seasons for a Georgia Tech quarterback in history / Nathaniel Caudell

Syracuse is 88th in the country in passing defense, giving up 237 yards per game. King could have a big day against the Orange on Saturday and if he does and the Yellow Jackets win, he will get another opportunity in the bowl game. 

The game against Georgia is of course going to be more difficult. The Bulldogs rank 14th in the country in passing yards allowed per game and Georgia has the most talented secondary that the Yellow Jackets have seen. Putting up a big number on them through the air will be tough. 

King is also just the third ACC player since 2000 with 2,400 passing yards, 500 rushing yards, 24 touchdown passes, and six touchdown runs through his team's first 10 games of a season, joining Louisville Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson in 2016.

King is one of only two NCAA Division I FBS players with at least 2,400 passing yards, 500 rushing yards, 24 touchdown passes, and six touchdown runs this season., LSU's Jayden Daniels is the other. 

It was a rough weekend for King in Death Valley last Saturday. He had his worst performance statistically as the starting quarterback, throwing four interceptions, but Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key has confidence his quarterback is going to bounce back: 

"Haynes is a competitor now. When you sit down and talk to him, his knowledge of the game, his competitiveness. The competitiveness is what makes people great and when you get down in a game a little bit and look face it, when things are not going right, he is the guy that is going to step up and try to make things right. Sometimes he does not always have the right decision and like I said, it is a route or a protection and look at the end of the day he is the quarterback and he has the spotlight on him and I am the head coach and I have the spotlight on me. That is the nature of the position, it is. Is he hard on himself, yeah he is hard on himself, most competitors are.

The thing you love about him though, talking to him the other day, I made the comparison to Brett Favre, not as a player but Brett Favre would throw a pick and then let it rip the next one and then he would rip it again and that is what made him a great player as he matured and got older and got comfortable is that he progressed in his years playing that game and he was ripping those things in those tight windows when nobody thought he should have. But it is that confidence to continue to make a play and be the guy to put the ball in the right spot, to pull down and run and those things and is there coaching to it? Yeah, but that is like every game, there is coaching whether you win or lose.

There are as many things that go blindly... that go blindly unseen I guess you could say that go by in wins that need to be corrected in losses every week, we are going to correct mistakes that need to be fixed so yeah he is hard on himself and he is going to continue to grow and he is going to continue to mature and he is going to continue to rebound like he has, I have full faith and confidence in Haynes King."

It's been an unexpected season for King and this offense, but it can be even more memorable if he can find a way to lead Georgia Tech to its first bowl game since 2018. 

Georgia Tech and Syracuse kicks off this Saturday at 8:00 on the ACC Network. 

ESPN's FPI Gives Georgia Tech a Slight Edge in Their Matchup Against Syracuse on Saturday

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