ATLANTA -- Tevin Washington passed for
three touchdowns and ran for another score to lead Georgia Tech to a
42-24 win over Duke on Saturday, preserving the Yellow Jackets' hopes of
playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
Georgia Tech (6-5, 5-3 ACC) is
bowl-eligible for the 16th consecutive season and moved one-half game
ahead of Miami in the Coastal Division. Miami ends its conference
schedule next week against Duke.
Duke (6-5, 3-4) already clinched its first bowl berth since 1994.
Washington threw two scoring passes to Robert Godhigh and one to Zach Laskey.
Duke receiver Conner Vernon became the
ACC's all-time leader in yards receiving, passing former Florida State
star Peter Warrick's record of 3,517 yards. Vernon, who began the game
35 yards behind Warrick's mark, had five catches for 38 yards.
On the first play of the game, Vernon
caught a 2-yard pass from Sean Renfree, giving him receptions in 46
consecutive games, setting another ACC record. North Carolina's Corey
Holliday had the old record of 45 games.
Miami, 4-3 in the ACC, would win a
tie-breaker with Georgia Tech, thanks to its 42-36 overtime win over the
Yellow Jackets on Sept. 22, if each team finishes 5-3 in the league.
Miami, under NCAA investigation, could
self-impose its second-straight bowl ban. That decision would send
Georgia Tech to the Dec. 1 ACC championship game.
Washington completed 6 of 10 passes for
102 yards and had 19 carries for 62 yards. He matched his career high
with the three touchdown passes. He also threw three scoring passes
against Western Carolina on Sept. 1, 2011.
Godhigh had 18 carries for 72 yards and David Sims rushed for 70 yards with a touchdown.
Renfree completed 24 of 36 passes for
198 yards with two touchdowns and an interception as Duke took its third
straight loss.
Washington, playing in his final home
game, reclaimed his hold on the quarterback job one week after he played
only two possessions in a 68-50 win over North Carolina.
Washington set a school and ACC record
for career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback when he capped a 13-play
drive with his 1-yard scoring run on Georgia Tech's first drive. The
rushing touchdown was his 36th. Joshua Nesbitt had the old record of 35
for the Yellow Jackets from 2007-10.
Vad Lee, who played most of last week's
game at quarterback, had four carries for 13 yards, including a 2-yard
touchdown run. He completed 2 of 4 passes for 17 yards.
Georgia Tech led 28-24 when Washington
led an 18-play touchdown drive that lasted 8 minutes, 31 seconds. It was
the Yellow Jackets' longest drive by number of plays and time of
possession this season.
The only pass of the drive was Washington's 8-yard touchdown toss to Godhigh with about 10 minutes remaining.
On Duke's next possession, linebacker
Jeremiah Attaochu's third-down sack of Renfree forced only the Blue
Devils' second punt of the game.
Attaochu delivered the key play for
Georgia Tech's defense again when he made the stop on a fake punt by
Duke's Will Monday with about 5 minutes remaining.
Renfree had a 24-yard touchdown pass to
Desmond Scott in the first quarter and a 1-yard scoring pass to Juwan
Thompson in the third quarter. Renfree had a 9-yard scoring run in the
second quarter.
