The No. 12 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets beat the absolute hell out of No. 7 Mississippi State, 49-34, improving to 11-3 and matching the best record of the program's last 24 years.
Georgia Tech-Mississippi State final score: 3 things we learned from GT’s 49-34 Orange Bowl win
The Yellow Jackets bring home their biggest win since their 1990 national championship, blowing away the former No. 1 team in the country.
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Sophomore quarterback and game MVP Justin Thomas led the way with a masterful 246 total yards and four total touchdowns, joined by Synjyn Days' 171 rushing and Darren Waller's 114 yards receiving. MSU was without any hope of stopping Georgia Tech's flexbone option offense and made too many mistakes on offense to keep up.
And while MSU gained a lot of yards -- former Heisman favorite Dak Prescott had 500 total -- seven of its points came off a Hail Mary to end the first half. Another three came off a call that probably should’ve given GT a short field. This margin of victory could’ve very easily been 10 points worse. This was an unmistakeable domination, and if these teams kicked off again right now, Georgia Tech would win again, and Days would again be doing this during the fourth quarter:
Three things we learned
1. Georgia Tech peaked, but it won’t fall off. Considering 2009’s ACC championship team finished with an Orange Bowl loss, and considering GT’s three losses were each by a single score, this was Paul Johnson’s best team yet in Atlanta.
And while next year’s squad loses most of its top skill players and a few key defenders, it gets Thomas back. And it gets most of its offensive line back. While it’s gonna be tough to replicate a season like this next year, Johnson might now have the best quarterback for his offense that he’s ever had. For two more years. So even if next year’s only a pretty good one, the one after that should be scary again.
2. Mississippi State’s dream season fell so short. On October 4, the state of Mississippi became the center of college football. On October 19, both Ole Miss and Mississippi State ranked in the top three. MSU held its first-ever No. 1 ranking for five weeks, just two or three big wins from the College Football Playoff.
On December 31, both got outclassed by lower-ranked teams from less prestigious conferences, with Ole Miss losing to TCU, 42-3.
And while Ole Miss sets up for another run in 2014, with its Robert Nkemdiche recruiting class reaching upperclassman form, MSU's at a crossroads in the brutal SEC West. Defensive coordinator Geoff Collins is gone to Florida. Running back Josh Robinson is leaving early. Both sides of the ball lose more starters than they keep. This was the perfect storm season for MSU, and while it led to a 10-win year, it will likely not be replicated soon. Please treasure those 10 wins, MSU fans.
3. How about the ACC! Yes, it’s obnoxious that every bowl game has to be a pendulum-swinging referendum on an entire conference’s quality for the entire season, but it’s worth noting the ACC’s turned a mediocre bowl season into one including wins over No. 7 Mississippi State, No. 23 LSU (counting partial-ish member Notre Dame), and Oklahoma. If the season ended right now, would Florida State be No. 1 or No. 2 instead of No. 3?
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