The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly From Georgia Tech's 41-16 Win Over Syracuse

Georgia Tech is 8-0 For the first time since 1966 and with the win today, they surpassed the previous win totals of 7-6 that head coach Brent Key had in each of his first two seasons with his alma mater. It was a dominant day on offense for the Yellow Jackets and arguably their most complete performance to date.

Let's break down the good, the bad, and the ugly from yesterday's win.

The Good

Georgia Tech moved to 8-0 for only the sixth time in its 133-season football history (1917, 1928, 1942, 1952, 1966, 2025).

Georgia Tech’s eight-game winning streak is its longest since it won eight-straight games in 2009 and matches its longest since it won nine games in a row spanning the 1989 and 1990 seasons. It matches the Yellow Jackets' longest same-season winning streak since they won their first nine games in 1966.

Georgia Tech moved to 5-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play for the first time in its 43 seasons in the ACC (Tech officially began ACC play in 1983).

Georgia Tech has won seven-straight ACC games dating back to last season.

Georgia Tech moved to 5-2 all-time against Syracuse.

Georgia Tech moved to 3-0 at home against Syracuse.

Georgia Tech moved to 57-18-1 all-time on its homecoming.

The homecoming win was Georgia Tech’s fourth-straight.

Georgia Tech’s 543 yards of offense were a season high against NCAA Division I FBS competition (prev.: 481 vs. Virginia Tech – Oct. 11; the Yellow Jackets had a season-best 680 yards against FCS opponent Gardner-Webb on Sept. 6).

Georgia Tech outgained Syracuse, 543-381, including a 322-118 margin in the first half, as Georgia Tech raced out to a 20-3 halftime lead.

After gaining 41 yards on its first offensive play of the game, Syracuse managed just 77 yards over its final 23 plays of the first half (3.3 avg.).

Georgia Tech’s lost fumble on the second play of the game was its first turnover in three games, dating back to a lost fumble in the fourth quarter of its 30-27 overtime win at Wake Forest (Sept. 27).

Georgia Tech lost the opening coin toss for the seventh time in eight games this season. The Yellow Jackets’ lone win on an opening coin toss came in their second game of the season (Sept. 6 vs. Gardner-Webb). Including losing the coin toss at the beginning of overtime at Wake Forest (Sept. 27), Tech is 1-8 in coin tosses this season. The statistical odds of winning just 1-of-9 coin tosses are just 1.76% (9 in 512).

Haynes King continued to cement himself as one of college football’s top players, as he completed 25-of-31 passes (80.6 pct.) for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns, while also rushing 12 times for 91 yards and two touchdowns.

King’s 304 passing yards, three touchdown passes and 395 yards of total offense were all season highs (prev.: 243 passing yards at Wake Forest – Sept. 27; two TD passes vs. Temple – Sept. 20; and 349 yards of total offense at Wake Forest).

King’s .806 completion percentage is the highest in Georgia Tech single-game history (min. 30 att.) surpassing George Godsey’s .784 versus Virginia (Nov. 9, 200). He now owns five of the top six single-game completion percentages (min. 2020 in program history.

With 304 passing yards, King moved into fourth in Georgia Tech history with 6,436 passing yards in 31 games as a Yellow Jacket. He surpassed George Godsey, who threw for 6,167 yards from 1998-2001.

King’s 300-yard passing game was his sixth as a Yellow Jacket, which moved him into a tie with Godsey for the second-most in Georgia Tech history, behind only Joe Hamilton, who had seven 300-yard passing games from 1996-99.

King extended his own school record by throwing for a touchdown and running for a touchdown for the 15th time in his 31 games as a Yellow Jacket. His 15 games with a passing TD and rushing TD are three more than any other player in program history (12 –Hamilton).

Josh Beetham scored the first two touchdowns of his career on 21- and 13-yard TD catches in the second quarter.

Beetham is the first Yellow Jacket with two touchdown receptions in a game since TE Brett Seither vs. North Carolina on Oct. 28, 2023.

After making just 3 catches for 29 yards over his first 25 career games, Beetham has 5 receptions for 131 yards over the last four games.

With his 37-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter, Dean Patterson has two TDs in his 6 receptions as a Yellow Jacket. Patterson is averaging 21.8 yards per catch (6 receptions for 131 yards).

With Malik Rutherford sidelined due to injury, Jordan Allen shattered his previous career high with 6 receptions (prev.: 2 at Duke – last Saturday).

Jason Moore’s forced fumble in the third quarter was the second of his career and his first since Oct. 29, 2022 at Florida State.

DL Jordan Boyd’s recovery of Moore’s force fumble was the first of his career.

The Bad

The fumble at the beginning of the game. Syracuse only got three points from that turnover, but giving a team a chance to make a statement early on could be the difference between getting beat or not if they face a better team.

The first drive of the second half. The only real low spot for the defense yesterday. Syracuse scored on two plays, both big gains through the air.

The Ugly

This was Georgia Tech's most complete game to date and I don't think anything warrants going in the ugly section.

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly

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