In his fisrt career start, redshirt sophomore quarterback Vad Lee threw for 189 yards on 7-11 passing and two touchdowns, leading the Jackets to a 70-0 victory over Elon in Tech’s season opener. Senior B-back David Sims added 47 yards on the ground with one rushing touchdown and one receiving.
Tech rushed for 368 yards on the day averaging 7.4 yards per carry.
As well as the offense played, the defense stole the show for Tech. The Jackets forced four turnovers: one fumble and three interceptions. Interceptions by both Tyler Marcordes and Chris Milton were run back for touchdowns. Tech’s 173 return yards on interceptions broke the previous school record.
Two true freshman and several redshirt freshman had impressive collegiate debuts for Tech against Elon. Redshirt freshman A-back Dennis Andrews had two carries for 47 yards, including a 42 yard run.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Thomas finally got to show off his speed, leading the Jackets on a 99 yard touchdown drive that was capped off by Thomas breaking down the sideline on a 44 yard touchdown run. Thomas led the Jackets with 53 yards rushing.
Freshman Harrison Butker made kickoffs very pleasurable for Coach Johnson. It’s an area that Tech has struggled in the past, but after Butker kicked seven touchbacks on nine attempts, it appears the Jackets will be solid in that department for the next four years.