Georgia Tech: 20
Brigham Young: 38

Looking to bounce back from two consecutive losses, Georgia Tech traveled to Provo, Utah to face the 3-2 Brigham Young Cougars to complete a home-and-home series that began a year earlier on the Flats. The Cougars dismantled Tech in Atlanta in 2012, holding the Jackets without a rushing touchdown en route to a 41-17 victory and a 2-1 lead in the all-time series.

The Yellow Jacket defense held strong on the opening drive, but Vad Lee and the offense quickly went three-and-out and punted back to the Cougar 38 yard line. The Ramblin’ Wreck immediately surrendered a touchdown when Taysom Hill hit Cody Hoffman on a 45 yard scoring strike at the 10:26 mark of the first quarter to jump ahead 7-0.

Vad Lee then punched the ball in the end zone from 2 yards out on the drive that followed, shortly after finding Michael Summers for 49 yards to the Cougar 19 yard line.

BYU broke the tie just 1:37 later when Jamaa Williams scored on a 2 yard run to make it 14-7, capping off a 6 play, 61 yard drive that featured a good mix of run and pass.

The teams traded field goals at the start of the second quarter before the Cougars widened the gap on a 1 yard scoring run by Hill, making it 24-10 with 4:53 to play in the half.

Harrison Butker would then cut it to eleven on a 44 yard field goal with just 59 seconds remaining, and Tech narrowly avoided a defensive letdown when Justi Sorensen’s 52 yard field goal attempt missed wide to the right as the clock expired on the half with BYU ahead 24-13.

After intermission a defensive battle ensued with neither team surrendering much ground throughout the third quarter. The Jackets then began to fall apart at the start of the final period, however, when Butker missed a 42 yard field goal wide to the right, and Lee threw an interception that was returned 51 yards for a Cougar touchdown to increase the deficit to three scores at 31-13.

The Jackets mounted a drive into Cougar territory on the drive that followed, but failed to capitalize when David Sims lost a fumble to Spencer Hadley at the BYU 31 yard line. BYU’s offense needed just six plays to ice the game with Algernon Brown scoring on a 15 yard touchdown run to put the Cougars up 38-13 with 3:11 to play.

Playing mainly with reserves, the Tech offense added a late touchdown to reach the 38-20 final. Walk-on reserve Matt Connors broke off a 55 yard run on third down to put the Jackets in scoring position at the Cougar 11, and Justin Thomas hit Deon Hill from five yards out two plays later for the score.

The Cougars would go 4-2 over their final six games to earn a berth in the Fight Hunger Bowl, where they would eventually fall to the Washington Huskies 31-16 for an 8-5 finish on the season.

Statistics:

First downs:
GT – 18
BYU – 26

Rushing yards:
GT – 237
BYU – 189

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
GT – 11-24-163
BYU – 19-27-244

Interceptions thrown:
GT – 1
BYU – 0

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

Penalties (Total-Yds):
GT – 10-76
BYU – 8-60

References:

Game summary: http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/101213aaa.html

Videos:

– Game highlights