ATLANTA – Trelain Maddox rushed for a career-high 81 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 54 seconds left, to lift Georgia Tech to a 28-25 victory over visiting Duke on Saturday.
Alberto Mendoza completed 23 of 30 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown for Georgia Tech (2-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which earned its first win over an FBS opponent this season. Jordan Allen had 10 receptions for 99 yards and a score for the Yellow Jackets, who won their sixth straight over Duke.
Walker Eget threw for 259 yards and a touchdown for Duke (4-1, 1-1), while Nate Sheppard rushed for 99 yards and two touchdowns and added 91 receiving yards.
Leading 14-10 at halftime, Georgia Tech tacked on with Maddox’s 60-yard touchdown run with 10:39 left in the third.
Duke responded with Eget’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Jared Richardson and an ensuing two-point conversion pass to Jonah Burton to narrow the Georgia Tech advantage to 21-18 with 3:18 left in the third.
After consecutive Georgia Tech punts, the Blue Devils took their first lead of the game on Sheppard’s 5-yard rushing score with 2:40 remaining.
Mendoza connected with Allen for 20 yards to the Blue Devils’ 40-yard line with two minutes left. After Duke was whistled for a late hit out of bounds, Mendoza hit Allen for 14 yards to the Blue Devils’ 1-yard line, where Maddox rushed for his third touchdown with 54 seconds left.
Eget connected with Sheppard for gains of 10 and 42 to push the ensuing drive to Georgia Tech’s 23 with 31 seconds remaining.
After a seven-yard gain, the Blue Devils sent true freshman Gavin Strange out for a 33-yard field goal. Strange, who had never attempted a field goal entering Saturday, missed wide left with four seconds left to seal Georgia Tech’s victory.
Georgia Tech opened the game with a 12-play, 78-yard scoring drive, which was stamped with Mendoza’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Allen.
Duke answered with a drive that saw Sheppard catch a 24-yard pass before running in a game-tying 5-yard touchdown with 14:20 left in the first half.
A pair of Duke 15-yard penalties aided a Georgia Tech possession that was finished with Maddox’s 5-yard touchdown rush to give the Yellow Jackets a 14-7 lead with 7:37 left before halftime.
Strange drilled a 35-yard field goal to trim the Blue Devils’ deficit to four at the break.
–Jack Batten, Field Level Media
