Tulane Green Wave vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Match Player Stats On Sep 12, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Sep 12, 2015

ATLANTA - Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas made a believer out of Tulane coach Curtis Johnson on Saturday.

Thomas accounted for 168 offensive yards and three touchdowns in No. 15 Georgia Tech's 65-7 victory over Tulane on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

The junior, who played only one quarter in last week's 69-6 win over Alcorn State, played into the middle of the third quarter Saturday before being relieved.

Thomas completed 7-of-9 passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 10 times for 71 yards and one touchdown.

"That quarterback is amazing with some of the stuff he does," Tulane coach Curtis Johnson said. "I think (Georgia Tech coach) Paul Johnson has the answers with this offense. He's done an outstanding job here."

The Yellow Jackets (2-0) rushed for 439 yards, the 16th straight game they've exceeded 200 yards and eighth consecutive contest of more than 250. Eight backs gained at least 30 yards for the Yellow Jackets, with backup quarterback Matthew Jordan tops with 72. The Yellow Jackets had 571 yards in total offense.

Georgia Tech set a modern-day school record (since 1950) with 134 points combined in consecutive games.

"I thought we came out a little bit lethargic to start the game, even though we scored on the opening drive," Paul Johnson said. "We'll look at the film and see if we got better. We need to continue to improve."

Tulane (0-2) was led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Tanner Lee, who completed 14-of-30 passes for 165 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Tailback Lazedrick Thompson rushed 13 times for 74 yards to lead the rushing attack. The Green Wave had 248 yards in total offense.

"Our kids played hard in spots," Curtis Johnson said. "Our running back (Thompson) really ran the ball well. I've got to get him the ball more."

Georgia Tech scored on its first possession when Jamal Golden returned a punt 44 yards to the Tulane 35 and the Yellow Jackets covered the rest of the ground in six plays. A-back Qua Searcy scored on third-and-goal from the 13, taking a pitch to the left and diving into past the pylon.

"All those A-backs made some plays," Paul Johnson said. "TaQuon Marshall had a nice catch. Clinton Lynch had a nice run. Qua Searcy made a play."

After Tulane missed a field goal, the Yellow Jackets responded with a 70-yard touchdown. B-back Patrick Skov rushed the final 9 yards for the touchdown to give Georgia Tech a 14-0 lead.

Georgia Tech blocked a punt to set up its next score. The ball was snapped high to punter Peter Picerelli, whose kick was blocked by Chris Milton and recovered at the 10. Three plays later, Thomas scored on a 4-yard counter option to the right.

"It helps anytime you get some short fields and certainly the offense had some short fields tonight," Paul Johnson said. "If I'm watching that game, I'm not sure that after the third series I was pretty sure who was going to win."

Tulane put together a seven-play 90-yard scoring drive to cut the lead to 21-7. The Green Wave scored when Lee found receiver Devon Breaux for a 44-yard touchdown pass.

"When we got into a little bit of rhythm we did move the ball," Curtis Johnson said. "That's a great defense."

Georgia Tech scored again with 1:01 left in the half when Thomas threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Searcy for a 28-7 halftime lead. The Yellow Jackets blew it open with three touchdowns in the first 6:22 of the second half to seize command 49-7.

NOTES: Tulane suspended senior Darion Monroe, the starting strong safety, and redshirt freshman Eric Bowie, a second string outside linebacker, for Saturday's game because of undisclosed violations of team policy. Tristan Cooper moved up to start at strong safety, with Malik Eugene the backup. ... Lawrence Austin got the starting nod at nickel for Georgia Tech. He and Lynn Griffin were both listed at No. 1. In the other fluid situation, Patrick Gamble started at nose tackle and Rod Rook-Chungong started at defensive end. ... Georgia Tech CB Chris Milton blocked the fourth punt of his career and the first since 2013. ... Georgia Tech leads the series 37-13 and is 21-4 in games played in Atlanta. ... Next week: Georgia Tech travels to Notre Dame and Tulane hosts Maine.