Elon – 0
Georgia Tech – 70

In the 2013 season opener, Georgia Tech would square off with the Elon Phoenix for the first ever meeting between the squads. The Jackets finished the 2012 season at 7-7 after defeating the preseason #1 USC Trojans 21-7 in the Sun Bowl, while the Phoenix finished the season at 3-8 in FCS play.

From the early going the Jackets completely dominated. After the opening kick, Jamal Golden forced a Tracey Coppedge fumble on second down and Jemea Thomas recovered for Tech at the Elon 30. Three plays later, Deon Hill scored from 14 yards out to give the Jackets a 7-0 advantage just over two minutes into the contest.

The Tech defense quickly forced a three-and-out on the possession that followed and Chris Milton partially blocked the Elon punt. Corey Dennis recovered for the Jackets and took the ball three yards to setup shop the Phoenix 36 yard line. Vad Lee then found Michael Summers for 18 yards to the Elon 11 on 3rd-and-4 and David Sims carried three straight times to cap off the drive with a one yard touchdown to make it 14-0.

The Yellow Jacket defense came up big again on the ensuing possession when Jabari Hunt-Days picked off Mike Quinn at the Tech 25 and returned the ball 24 yards to midfield. Tech then pushed to the Elon 33 before Zach Laskey reeled off a 33 yard touchdown run to increase the Ramblin’ Wreck lead to 21-0 with six minutes to play in the opening period.

Tech added another touchdown on its next drive when Charles Perkins found the end zone from 3 yards out to make it 28-0. The score was setup by a 42 yard Dennis Andrews sweep that came up just short of the goal line when an Elon defender forced him out of bounds.

As play moved into the second quarter, the Jackets added two more touchdowns to take a 42-0 lead at halftime. The first score came on the opening play of the period when Lee dumped off a pass to Sims near the 50 that the latter took the remaining distance down the west sideline for a 59 yard touchdown reception. Elon mounted a drive to the Georgia Tech 10 yard line on the possession that followed, but e Quinn threw a pick on third down that Tyler Marcordes returned 95 yards for a touchdown at the 8:51 mark. The remainder of the period passed with no further scoring threats.

Lee returned at quarterback in the third quarter to lead a 13 play, 75 yard scoring drive that made it 49-0. The sophomore phenom carried for 37 yards on the drive before capping off the march with a 2 yard touchdown run.

On the series that followed, the Yellow Jacket defense again came up big when Chris Milton picked off Quinn at the Ramblin’ Wreck 46 and returned the ball for a 54 yard touchdown to make it 56-0.

Late in the period, Lee took to the air to lead Tech 82 yard in four plays for yet another score. On second down he hooked up with Michael Summers for a 54 yard completion to the Phoenix 24 before following up with a 24 yard touchdown strike to Robert Godhigh just two plays later for a 63-0 lead.

A solid defensive stand put the ball back in Tech’s hands, but not before John Loughery of Elon pinned the Yellow Jacket offense at its own 1 yard line with a terrific punt at the start of the fourth quarter. With Justin Thomas at the helm, the Yellow Jacket offense slowly marched into Elon territory. Then, from the 44 yard line, Thomas optioned to the right and went untouched down the west sideline for Tech’s final score of the day to make it 70-0.

The Jackets played the remainder of the contest with reserves, and agreed to a running clock for the remainder of the period. Each offense held only one more possession and no further scoring threats were mounted.

The 70-0 shutout marked the largest margin of victory ever by an ACC team, breaking Florida State’s 69-0 margin over Western Carolina in 2008.

Elon would go on to finish the reason at 2-10.

Statistics:

First downs:
ELON – 16
GT – 23

Rushing yards:
ELON – 89
GT – 368

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
ELON – 20-35-164
GT – 7-11-189

Interceptions thrown:
ELON – 3
GT – 0

Fumbles (Total-Lost):
ELON – 1-1
GT – 0-0

Penalties (Total-Yds):
ELON – 2-20
GT – 3-25

References:
Game summary: http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/083113aaa.html

Videos:

– Game highlights