Tyler Shough threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns and No. 19 Louisville repeatedly came up with big plays to overcome visiting Georgia Tech 31-19 in an Atlantic Coast Conference thriller on Saturday.
The Cardinals (3-0) also got a touchdown apiece on defense and special teams and stuffed a would-be tying score at the 1-yard line in winning their conference opener, while the Yellow Jackets (3-2) fell to 1-2 in the ACC.
Just after Georgia Tech tied the game at 17 on Aidan Birr’s 26-yard field goal, Shough hit Ja’Corey Brooks for a 57-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline. Brooks finished with four receptions for 125 yards.
Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King piled up 312 yards passing and 58 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Malik Rutherford made seven catches for 113 yards.
The Yellow Jackets, who outgained the Cardinals 410-326 for the game, had multiple chances to knot the game again, first going 66 yards in about five minutes before being stopped on fourth down at the Louisville 1.
The visitors got a second chance when Shough stumbled in the end zone and went down for a safety to make it 24-19 with 11:23 to play. Taking over after the free kick, the Yellow Jackets made it to the Louisville 33, but the Cardinals’ Tayon Holloway blocked a 50-yard field goal attempt and returned it for the game-breaking score with 7:05 left.
Louisville scored 17 straight points to lead 17-7 late in the first half, but King burned the Cardinals with a 51-yard pass to Eric Singleton Jr. for a first-and-goal at the 3. On fourth down, the Yellow Jackets capitalized on Jamal Haynes’ 1-yard run with four seconds remaining.
The Cardinals’ Brock Travelstead hit a 27-yard field goal midway through the second quarter to make it 17-7. The score capped a 75-yard drive that saw Shough hit Chris Bell for 45 yards and Donald Chaney Jr. for 17. The latter play came on a fourth-and-1 from Georgia Tech’s 30.
On Louisville’s previous possession, Bell beat one defender as he caught a short pass from Shough and completed a 37-yard touchdown burst for a 14-7 lead.
After King put the Yellow Jackets ahead 7-0 with a 23-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter, the Cardinals’ defense put up some points.
King faced third-and-7 on Georgia Tech’s 9 and tried to dodge pressure up the middle. As he aimed for an outlet receiver on the right side, the ball went for a lateral and was deflected into the end zone. Louisville’s Ramon Puryear made the recovery for his second defensive touchdown of the season.
