When the Georgia Tech football team won the opening coin toss on Saturday afternoon at Lane Stadium, James Franklin and Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Ty Howle knew they were getting the football first.
As is the case with every team, plays are scripted before the game for the first number of plays. You can imagine that Franklin and Howle are pretty precise about what they want to do early in a game and test their opponents' defense.
That was the case against Georgia Tech, and the Hokies scored, marching down the field on their first two possessions for touchdowns. In fact, they were so good on their first drive that there was still plenty to choose from on their second drive in a 34-24 win.
James Franklin has a funny line after Virginia Tech beat Georgia Tech
After receiving the opening kickoff, the Hokies need just three plays to find the end zone. Facing their second snap from their own 40-yard line, quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer found Que'Sean Brown in the Georgia Tech secondary for a 60-yard touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead. Franklin said after the game, they scored too quickly and still had more secrets up their sleeve.
"We actually scored so fast that we still had plays left for our next drive that we felt really good about,'' said Franklin.
They must have felt really good as they once again marched down the field for a second touchdown and a 14-0 lead on their next possession. They worked the ball down to the Georgia Tech 20-yard line when Grunkemeyer took a snap and used his legs to find the end zone. He made a couple of defenders miss on his way to a 20-yard touchdown run and a two-touchdown lead. That capped a seven-play, 80-yard drive that lasted just 3:31.
It was another game where Grunkemeyer was very effective against a Yellow Jackets defense that brought some heat at times and had racked up five sacks early in the third quarter. That's a recipe for a disaster, but the offensive line in front of him is as banged up as there is around the country.
Brown racked up over 250 all-purpose yards, and Jeffrey Overton Jr. and Marcellous Hawkins Jr. both ran the ball well, but if there was one drawback to the game, it was that they didn't target tight end Luke Reynolds enough. Now, some of that had to do with the way that Brent Key and the Georgia Tech defense defended him, but they were able to survive not targeting him enough to pick up the win.
When you have the weapons on offense that the Hokies have, it can be fun drawing up your first 10-15 plays to begin a game. This game started the same way that the Pittsburgh game did two weeks ago, but unlike that game, Virginia Tech was able to hold off Georgia Tech and pick up the win to improve to 5-2 on the season.
Now the question is, can they do the same thing next week at Clemson?
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