ATLANTA – Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas accounted for 250 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 35-24 victory over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

L.A. Ramsby rushed for two touchdowns, and Kevin Ellison threw for 102 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 18 yards to lead Georgia Southern (3-3). Favian Upshaw collected 107 total yards, and BJ Johnson III caught three passes for 42 yards and a touchdown.

Thomas ran for 78 yards and a pair of touchdowns and threw for 172 yards and a score for Georgia Tech (4-3). Dedrick Mills ran 13 times for 89 yards and two touchdowns, and Clinton Lynch caught two passes for 81 yards and a score.

The story
Georgia Tech blitzed Georgia Southern early in the contest and scored two touchdowns on its first five plays from scrimmage. After the Eagles cut the margin to 11 points in the fourth quarter, Mills effectively put the game away with a 20-yard run with 3:58 remaining.

Thomas struck first with a 58-yard run on the option keeper when the senior went around the right side and faked the pitch before bursting down the right sideline. Thomas then found Lynch with a 65-yard pass up the seam for a touchdown to open a 14-0 lead just 4:07 into the contest.

Georgia Southern got back in the game with a 75-yard drive, and a 1-yard run by L.A. Ramsby on fourth-and-goal helped trim the margin to 14-7 midway through the quarter. A 50-yard run by Marcus Marshall set up a 6-yard touchdown run for Mills, and Georgia Tech opened a 21-7 cushion last in the first. 

The Eagle defense tightened up in the second quarter, and Younghoe Koo hit a 44-yard field goal to trim the lead to 21-10 at the break. The Eagles moved the ball to midfield twice in the third but had drives stall out, and the Yellow Jackets used an 11-play, 90-yard drive, capped by 4-yard run by Thomas, to extend the margin to 28-10 early in the fourth.

A 19-yard pass from Ellison to Johnson and a 25-yard completion to Keigan Williams helped set up a 1-yard run for Ramsby, and GS cut the margin to 28-17 with 9:38 to go. Johnson III caught a 3-yard pass from Ellison on the slant route, and Koo added the point after with 1:03 left for the final margin.

In a turnover free contest, the Yellow Jackets scored on their first three drives and last two possessions of the contest and outgained the Eagles 437-335.

Quotable from head coach Tyson Summers
"I'm proud of this group for continuing to fight and continuing to improve. That's not our standard; our standard is to win, but I'm proud of the guys for continuing to improve."

"We have to continue to do the little things right. There are some positive things we can build off of, but we have to make the most of our opportunities. We had some opportunities today that we didn't make the most of."
 

Post-Game Notes
• Captains: #1 L.A. Ramsby, #6 Myles Campbell, #10 Vegas Harley, #92 Jonathan Battle Jr.

• Georgia Southern won the toss and deferred to the second half. It's the fifth time GS has won the coin toss this year.

• L.A. Ramsby got the Eagles on the board in the first quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run. He later scored on another 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. The touchdowns were the junior's fourth and fifth rushing scores of the season and the 29th and 30th of his career. 

• After giving up 216 yards of offense to Georgia Tech in the 1st quarter, the Eagles give up just 64 yards in the 2nd stanza.

• When the Eagles failed to score in the third quarter, it broke a streak to 24 straight quarters scoring dating back to the third quarter of the 2015 GoDaddy Bowl. GS had scored in all 22 quarters this season prior to not scoring in the third quarter.

• With his 44-yard field goal in the second quarter, Younghoe Koo has now made all 10 of his field goal attempts this season.

• BJ Johnson III hauled in his first touchdown catch of the season with  a 3-yarder late in the game. It was his first touchdown catch since 2014 when he had three scoring catches. The senior's first touchdown catch came at Georgia Tech in 2014.

• Georgia Southern has now lost seven straight non-conference road games dating back to its 2013 win at Florida.

Next up
Georgia Southern returns to Sun Belt play by traveling to New Mexico State next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET.

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