Atlanta, GA — No. 18 Georgia Tech wasted no time putting points on the board Saturday afternoon, jumping out to a commanding lead and riding a dominant rushing performance to a 45–24 win over Temple at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets (4-0) looked every bit the Top 25 team early, scoring touchdowns on their first three drives while racking up nearly 200 yards of offense in just 16 plays. The early surge gave them a 21-0 cushion by the end of the first quarter, and they never looked back.
Early Explosion Sets the Tone
Quarterback Haynes King led the charge, opening the scoring with a 17-yard touchdown run before tossing scoring passes to Malik Rutherford and Isiah Canion. He finished with 161 passing yards and two touchdowns through the air, adding 29 more on the ground.
Temple (2-2) showed some fight, cutting the lead to 21-14 midway through the second quarter after a 2-yard touchdown run by Jay Ducker and a 28-yard strike from Evan Simon to JoJo Bermudez. But Georgia Tech’s offense reignited before the third quarter ended.
Running back Malachi Hosley added two more touchdowns—his third and fourth of the season—on back-to-back drives, scoring from 34 and 2 yards out to help the Jackets regain a comfortable lead.
Rushing Attack Keeps Rolling
Georgia Tech came into the matchup ranked third in the ACC in rushing and showed why. The Jackets rolled up 307 yards on the ground on just 30 carries, averaging over 10 yards per attempt.
Jamal Haynes led the team with 107 yards on 12 carries, including a 47-yard run. Hosley chipped in with 59 yards, while reserves Daylon Gordon and J.P. Howell broke off big runs late—Gordon scored on a 41-yard run, and Howell closed the game with a 61-yard dash on the final snap.
“We’re not going to have down faces anytime we win a football game,” head coach Brent Key said. “But there’s a reason everybody feels the way we do right now—we left a lot on the table.”
Second-Quarter Stumble a Concern
Despite the win, the Yellow Jackets had a rough stretch spanning the second and early third quarters. Georgia Tech gained just nine yards in the second quarter, and a fumble early in the third led to another Temple touchdown.
“We could’ve gone out there and played the game backwards and been better than we were in the second quarter,” Key said, frustrated by the lapse.
King echoed the sentiment: “Happy we won, for sure. But we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to uphold the standard of who we are offensively.”
What We Learned
Temple: The Owls showed growth on offense after struggling last week. They totaled 328 yards, up from just 105 in their previous outing. Quarterback Evan Simon made plays with both his arm and legs, including a 34-yard scramble that set up a score. The offense was far more competitive despite the loss.
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are 4-0 for the first time since 2014, the last season they reached the ACC title game and finished with double-digit wins. Saturday also marked their first win as a ranked team since 2015, snapping a three-game losing streak while inside the AP Top 25.
What’s Next:
Temple heads into a bye week before hosting UTSA in its American Athletic Conference opener on Oct. 4.
Georgia Tech travels to Wake Forest next Saturday for its first road ACC contest of the season.
