Thursday’s 16-9 win at Georgia Tech is the second one this season that you can credit to the UVA defense, and think about what you’re saying there when you think back to a year ago.
The 2021 ‘Hoos D gave up 466.0 yards and 31.8 points per game.
Thursday night, the unit allowed only a second-quarter field goal – the Yellow Jackets also scored on an interception return – and Georgia Tech could only muster 201 yards of total offense, 41 in the second half.
“Our defense played their tails off,” QB Brennan Armstrong said. “They kept us in the game.”
Sack exchange
How about a season-high eight sacks for the front seven – two each for Paul Akere, Nick Jackson and Chico Bennett Jr.?
A lot was made during the game by the ESPN crew about how the Yellow Jackets lost QB1 Jeff Sims to a second-quarter ankle injury, but Sims, who passed for 300 yards and three TDs in Tech’s 48-40 loss to UVA last season, was just 6-of-11 for 47 yards through the air, and had a third-and-goal pass intercepted in the end zone, before leaving.
His backup, Zach Gibson, was 11-for-26 for 99 yards.
Head coach Tony Elliott credited the front seven and the guys behind them for the results.
“That’s not just the pass rush. That’s the coverage on the back end,” Elliott said.
Safety Jonas Sanker and cornerback Fentrell Cypress were each credited with two pass breakups – the Cypress one coming on the pass in the end zone that was deflected and caught on the rebound by safety Coen King to keep at least three points off the board.
Homecoming
Jackson, an Atlanta native, led the D with eight tackles, and Bennett, a Georgia Tech transfer who missed all of the 2021 season recovering from an ACL injury, had seven.
“Those guys played their tails off tonight,” Armstrong said. “The defense literally kept us in the game, bottom line. I’m happy for those guys, to come back to your hometown. … There’s just something else about the game when you step foot on that field and you maybe know some of the guys on the other side and you’re with your team.”
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Chris Graham
