ATLANTA (AP) — Haynes King threw for 161 yards and two touchdowns, Malachi Hosley ran for two touchdowns, and No. 18 Georgia Tech raced out to a quick three touchdown lead and beat Temple 45-24 on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets (4-0), playing their first home game as a ranked team since 2015, scored touchdowns on their first three possessions, gaining 199 yards on 16 offensive plays for a 21-0 first-quarter lead.
King opened the scoring with a 17-yard touchdown run, and threw touchdown passes to Malik Rutherford and Isiah Canion.
Temple (2-2) pulled within 21-14 on Jay Ducker's 2-yard touchdown run and Evan Simon's 28-yard scoring pass to JoJo Bermudez.
But Hosley scored his third and fourth rushing touchdowns of the season on consecutive drives, busting off left tackle for a 34-yard score and pushing forward from 2 yards out to restore the 21-point advantage by the end of three quarters.
"We’re not going to have down faces any time we win a football game," Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key said. "But there’s a reason everybody feels the way we do right now, because we left a lot on the table.”
Rushing attack
Georgia Tech entered the game 21st nationally and third in the ACC in rushing with an average of 230 yards per game. The ground attack flourished again, totaling 307 yards on 30 carries. Jamal Haynes accounted for 107 yards on a dozen attempts with a long of 47 yards, and Hosley had 59 yards.
Two depth backs long runs late in the game. Daylon Gordon took his only carry of the game 41 yards for a touchdown, and true freshman J.P. Howell went for 61 yards on the final snap.
Second quarter lull
On a day with plenty of positives, a stretch from the second quarter through to the other side of halftime soured the mood for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets gained just nine yards from scrimmage in the second quarter while allowing a touchdown, then gave up another touchdown off fumble early in the third.
“We could have gone out there and played the game backwards and been better than we were in the second quarter,” Key said.
The mid-game stretch left the Yellow Jackets wanting more.
“Happy we won for sure," King said. "But still, we do have to play better, we do have to keep the standard of who we are and what we're going to do offensively.”
The takeaway
Temple: After only gaining 105 total yards last week and failing to reach the end zone, Temple's offense more than tripled that mark with 328 yards from scrimmage. Quarterback Simon's 34-yard scramble in the second quarter set up Ducker's score, and the touchdown pass to Bermudez came on Temple's second offensive snap after halftime.
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are 4-0 for the first time since 2014, the last season the program reached the ACC Championship Game and finished with double-digit victories. It was also the first time since 2015 Georgia Tech has won a game while ranked, snapping a three-game losing streak while in the poll.
Up next
Temple has a bye week next Saturday before opening American Athletic Conference play at home against UTSA on Oct. 4.
Georgia Tech plays its first road ACC game of the season next Saturday at Wake Forest.
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