Brigham Young: 41
Georgia Tech: 17

Georgia Tech looked to build on its victory over Boston College when it welcomed the Brigham Young Cougars to The Flats for homecoming in late October. BYU entered the contest on a two game losing streak at 4-4, most recently falling to 17-14 to Notre Dame in South Bend one week earlier. The teams split their only two meetings in a home-and-home series in 2002 and 2003 with the Cougars taking the last meeting 24-13 in Provo, Utah.

BYU got the scoring started with a 12 play, 55 yard drive on the opening possession to jump ahead 7-0 after roughly five minutes of play. J.D. Falslev set the offense up with great field position when he returned the opening kick 44 yards to the 45, and Jamaa Williams capped off the drive with a 6 yard touchdown run for the early lead.

Tech picked up a single first down on the ensuing drive before pinning the Cougars at their own 9 yard line following Ryan Rodwell’s 52 yard punt. Three plays later, Isaiah Johnson picked off Nelson Riley and returned the ball 22 yards for a touchdown to knot the score a 7-7 with roughly six minutes to go in the opening period.

The squads exchanged punts over the next two possessions before the Cougars added to their lead with a 1 yard touchdown run by Williams just four seconds into the second quarter to make it 14-7. The drive’s most notable play was a 43 yard Ross Apo run that gave BYU a first and goal at the Georgia Tech 15 yard line.

Late in the second period, Tech was forced to punt from its own 21 and the Cougars blocked the kick and recovered at the Yellow Jacket 13 yard line. Riley Nelson scored two plays later from 10 yards out to push the BYU lead back to 14 at 21-7.

Jamal Golden put the Jackets right back in the game when he returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown to reduce the deficit to 7 at 21-14. The return gave Tech its first kickoff return for a score since October 31, 1998 when Dez White returned a kick for a score against Maryland at Baltimore Stadium. The fourteen year stint was tied for the fourth longest streak in FBS.

The Cougars consumed most of the time that remained in the half when they moved 42 yards in 10 plays to push the lead to 10 at 24-14 on a 26 yard field goal by Justi Sorenzen.

At the start of the third, Tech pushed out to midfield, but was eventually forced to punt. The Cougars held the ball for nearly 7 minutes as they moved 62 yards to the Yellow Jacket 4 yard line before missing a 25 yard field goal at the 5 minute mark in the third quarter. But Tevin Washington gave it right back three plays later when his pass was picked off by Dannie Sorenzen and returned 26 yards to the Yellow Jacket 2 yard line. Williams went in for the score two plays later from the 1 and the BYU lead increased to 31-14.

With Vad Lee at the helm, the Jackets marched to BYU’s 3 yard line with the aid of a pair of personal fouls on the Cougars. But the drive eventually stalled at the 3 yard line and Justin Moore entered to connect on a 20 yard field goal to bring Tech again within 14 at 31-17 at the end of the third quarter.

The celebration was short-lived, however, as Falslev returned the kickoff 43 yards to the Yellow Jacket 43, and Nelson hit Williams for a 39 yard touchdown three plays later for a 38-17 lead at the start of the final period.

The Cougars would add a field goal on their next possession to make it 41-17 and neither team would score for the remainder of the contest.

BYU went on to win two of its remaining three regular season games before defeating San Diego State in the Poinsettia Bowl to finish at 8-5 on the season.

Statistics:

First downs:
BYU – 22
GT – 12

Rushing yards:
BYU – 183
GT – 117

Passing (Comp-Att-Yds):
BYU – 20-29-228
GT – 4-12-40

Interceptions thrown:
BYU – 1
GT – 1

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

Penalties (Total-Yds):
BYU – 7-67
GT – 2-16

References:
Game Summary: http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/102712aaa.html

Videos:

– Game highlights