After starting 20 consecutive games as quarterback for Georgia Tech, the Jackets will have another starter on Saturday when they take on #12 Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Jackets starting pitcher Haynes King left the game against North Carolina with an upper-body injury and was replaced by veteran Zach Pyron. Head coach Brent Key will hand over quarterback duties to Pyron for Saturday’s game against the Irish.
Pyron last started in one of two career games against Miami, where he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the third quarter of that game. Pyron is 1-1 as the Jackets’ starting quarterback in his career and played every game this season as part of a short-yardage package and as part of a mop-up mission against VMI and the last three series against North Carolina. I am doing it. Saturday after King’s injury.
During his freshman season, Pyron played nearly two full games against Florida State, Virginia Tech, and home against Miami before injuring his shoulder, passing for 565 yards and posting a 59.8 completion percentage. He threw three touchdowns and three interceptions, but the third one came after a play in which he broke his collarbone against the Hurricanes, and the injury caused the ball to go straight up in the air. I didn’t notice the break until I threw it. Pyron has four rushing touchdowns this season and is 5-7 passing for 64 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions.
He takes over from King, who flipped the script on a turnover-prone first season and passed for nearly 1,600 yards with eight touchdowns and one interception in seven games. King ranks among the top in the nation with a 71.2 percent competition rate and has rushed for 353 yards on 62 carries this season, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, and his rushing has been a key component of Tech’s offense. .
King started 20 consecutive games for the Jackets and never left due to injury. This is the longest start by a Tech quarterback since Justin Thomas started 35 consecutive games from 2014 to 2016 against Virginia Tech.
True freshman Aaron Philo should back up Pilon at quarterback against the Irish.
