Saturday afternoon’s game between Georgia Tech and USF from Raymond James Stadium was not for those who are fans of defense, folks. This game was a thriller, and it had a whopping nine lead changes, 87 points, and 1,124 total yards of offense.
USF upsets Georgia Tech in one of 2018’s wildest games so far
The AAC gets its second marquee victory over a Power 5 opponent for 2018.
Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
This one came down to the wire. Inside the three-minute mark, Georgia Tech QB TaQuon Marshall’s tipped pass was intercepted, which allowed USF to get the ball back.
On USF’s ensuing possession, Bulls QB Blake Barnett, a former Alabama and Arizona State transfer, scored a five-yard TD on the ground to make it 49-38, which effectively put the game away.
In USF’s possession before the GT interception, the Bulls took a three-point lead thanks to this nifty rushing touchdown scored by Barnett:
Georgia Tech’s quarterback situation was pretty interesting throughout the game. Marshall had two touchdowns in the first half, one throwing and one rushing. In the third quarter, Marshall left the game due to injury, which was classified as a “lower body injury.” The Yellow Jackets’ offense didn’t miss a beat with Marshall’s back-up, signal caller Tobias Oliver, who scored two touchdowns off the bench.
It looked as if Marshall was out for the game, but he Marshall wasn’t done — he came back into the game in full pads with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Obviously Marshall and Oliver both looked good on Saturday, but Barnett was the clear star of Saturday’s show. He finished with 202 yards and two touchdowns in the air, along with those two clutch fourth-quarter rushing scores to give his team the victory.
USF got on the board early in the game with two back-to-back kickoffs returned for touchdowns by Terrence Horne, who returned one for 97 and 98 yards:
Georgia Tech wisely stopped kicking to him after that, but he still added a touchdown reception in the third quarter.
For USF, this is a pretty big win for Charlie Strong and the AAC as a whole — getting a win over a Power 5 school early in the season just furthers the Power 6 narrative that the AAC has been pushing. Not to mention Cincinnati knocked off UCLA last week. We’ll see how high the Bulls can climb this season.
Obviously for Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets can still win their division, but an early loss on the road in which you were slightly favored doesn’t bode well for the rest of the year.
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