ATLANTA (AP) — Haynes King threw a go-ahead 4-yard scoring pass to Jamal Haynes early in the fourth quarter and Georgia Tech overcame two touchdown passes by Maalik Murphy to beat Duke 24-14 on Saturday night, handing the Blue Devils their first loss.
Sahmir Hagans gave Duke a 14-10 lead on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Murphy late in the third quarter.
Haynes, who ran for 128 yards on 19 carries, capped a 14-play drive which covered 85 yards by catching the soft pass in the right side of the end zone for a 17-14 lead. King padded the lead with a 9-yard scoring pass to Eric Singleton Jr. with 6:36 remaining.
Georgia Tech (4-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) dominated the first half and then recovered after blowing a 10-0 lead.
Duke (5-1, 1-1) failed to extend its best start to a season since winning its first seven games in 1994.
Haynes matched his career high on his 22nd birthday and led the Yellow Jackets’ dominance on the ground.
Haynes was presented a birthday cake on the field after the game and gave credit to his offensive line for his big night.
“We came out and did what we have to do,” Haynes said. “We have a great mentality in our running back room and I have trust in all our backs. … A big shoutout to the offensive line.”
Georgia Tech outrushed Duke 245-74 and claimed a 412-279 advantage in total yards. Chad Alexander added 59 yards.
“The tailbacks going for as many yards as they did was ultimately the telling stat,” said Duke coach Manny Diaz.
Diaz said the Blue Devils faded after surging to a 14-10 lead.
“Once we got going we looked like we were going to be hard to stop the rest of the day,” Diaz said. “We just could not keep the momentum going.”
King was busy as a runner and passer, often taking off on keepers. He had 12 carries for 30 yards while completing 23 of 31 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Backup quarterback Zach Pyron added a 2-yard scoring run to cap the Yellow Jackets’ opening drive.
Murphy passed for more than 200 yards for the sixth consecutive game, completing 18 of 31 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns. Ahmari Harvey ended Duke’s last possession with an interception with 11 seconds remaining.
Duke’s Todd Pelino was wide right on a 43-yard field goal attempt with 3:58 remaining.
The takeaway
Duke: Murphy suffered his first loss after posting a 7-0 record, including two wins at Texas before his transfer. Murphy had too little help from the Blue Devils’ running game. Star Thomas had 14 carries for only 48 yards.
Georgia Tech: King’s quick and mostly accurate passes were effective when paired with Haynes’ strong runs. Jordan van den Berg had a third-down sack of Murphy late in the first half to take the Blue Devils out of field goal position and added another tackle for loss. The Yellow Jackets improved to 11-1 following a loss under coach Brent Key.
Up next
Duke: Hosts Florida State on Oct. 18. Clemson defeated Florida State 29-13 on Saturday.
Georgia Tech: Visits North Carolina on Oct. 12. The Tar Heels fell to 3-3 and 0-2 in the ACC with a 34-24 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday.
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