Georgia Tech’s Haynes King named to Great 8 list

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King (Longview, Texas/Longview H.S.) has been named to the Davey O’Brien Award’s weekly Great 8 list in recognition of his performance in the Yellow Jackets’ win over No. 4 Miami (Fla.) this past Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field.

Playing through an injury that forced him to miss the previous two games, King accounted for 125 yards and two touchdowns while splitting time behind center with freshman Aaron Philo. King ran 20 times for 93 yards, shattering his previous career-high of 14 rushing attempts, and completed all six of his passes for 32 yards in the victory. His 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Malik Rutherford in the second quarter gave the Yellow Jackets a 14-10 lead that they never relinquished, and his 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter closed the scoring for the Jackets.

Led by King’s 93 rushing yards, the Yellow Jackets ran for 271 yards as a team (nearly 176 more than the 95.2 ypg that the Hurricanes had allowed coming in) and possessed the ball for 34:49, almost nine minutes more than the 25:58 of possession time that Miami opponents had previously averaged this season.

The win over previously unbeaten Miami (9-1, 5-1 ACC) made Georgia Tech (6-4, 4-3 ACC) bowl eligible for the second-straight season and clinched a .500-or-better record in Atlantic Coast Conference play for the third year in a row.

The Yellow Jackets, who are 4-0 at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field this season, close the home portion of their schedule on Thursday, Nov. 21 when they host NC State for a nationally televised ACC duel. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be shown nationally on ESPN. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online by clicking HERE.

The Davey O’Brien Great 8 recognizes the top performances by college football quarterbacks each week. One member of the Great 8 list will be named the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week on Tuesday.