Virginia Tech vs Georgia Tech: Three Players to Watch on The Yellow Jackets Offense
The Hokies are going against Georgia Tech this weekend, and this will be a good one as the Hokies are coming off a big win against rival Boston College. In last week's game, we saw the Hokies lose focus in the second half, giving up three straight touchdown drives and not scoring again until the fourth quarter. This week they will face off against a formidable opponent in Georgia Tech, who is good on both sides of the football, especially the offensive end.
1. Whoever Starts at Quarterback
Georgia Tech is in a weird situation right now. Starting quarterback Haynes King is injured, and Zach Pyron started in his place this past weekend. After the game, Georgia Tech head coach had this to say about the quarterback situation:
""You know, it's, you know, you're going to get crazy and say day-to-day, but that's kind of what it is. I mean, you know, I don't know. I don't know where it's at as far as... it's not, it's not season-ending. I can tell you that. It's not a season-ending injury. You know, it's going to depend a lot upon just, you know, how quickly you can, you know, react and come, you know, ready, ready to roll."
Key has not updated the situation and the team has not officially ruled him out. For now, we will go over both of the quarterbacks and what they both have to offer. For the season, Haynes King has thrown eight touchdowns, one interception, and 1,568 yards. In King's seven starts this season he is 5-2 and his best games were against VMI, Duke, Georgia State, and North Carolina. Zach Pyron has started in one game this season, which was a loss against Notre Dame where he threw for 269 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. On the season, Zach Pyron has thrown for two touchdowns, two interceptions, and 333 yards.
2. RB Jamal Haynes
Jamal Haynes has been a big contributor in the Yellow Jackets run game, but this past weekend he struggled against Notre Dame. Against the Fighting Irish, Haynes rushed for 15 yards, one rushing touchdown, and one receiving touchdown. For the season, Haynes has rushed for 551 yards, eight rushing touchdowns, one receiving touchdown, and 248 receiving yards. Haynes's biggest rushing performances came against Duke and North Carolina, where he gained 128 and 170 yards, respectively. Going up against a Virginia Tech team that is known to struggle against the run, allowing 170 rush yards a game, it wouldn't be surprising to see Georgia Tech use Haynes a lot more this week than last week.
3. WR Malik Rutherford
Malik Rutherford is the Yellow Jackets leading receiver this season, having 541 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns, and 67.6 yards a game, with 12.3 yards a catch. In two games this season, he's had over 100 yards receiving against Georgia State and Louisville where he had 131 and 113 yards. I'm interested in seeing how Georgia Tech will use him this game as the Hokies' defense is really good against the pass allowing under 200 pass yards a game with 188.3.
Additional Links:
Virginia Tech Football: Three Things The Hokies Must Fix Ahead of It's Matchup With Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech Football: Could Bhayshul Tuten catch Ashton Jeanty as the nation's leading rusher?
Virginia Tech Football: 5 Big Takeaways From Virginia Tech's win vs Boston College
Kahlil McCuller joined the Sports Illustrated team in summer 2024 and is a Sports Media major at Virginia Tech. Covering College Baseball, College Basketball, and College Football for the Virginia Tech Hokies. Prior to this Kahlil worked pregame radio shows for Virginia Tech Basketball teams on 105.3 The Bear and started his own basketball podcast on Spotify called "Fleeky Hoops Podcast" and covered March Madness for the Hokies Women's Basketball team back in March 2024. My favorite sports teams are: Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Chargers, Virginia Tech Hokies and PSG for Soccer