Georgia Tech’s offense combined for 836 yards and Team Wreck ‘Em defeated Team Swarm, 42-24, in Saturday afternoon’s White and Gold Game at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Rutherford’s Team Wreck ‘Em amassed 512 yards of offense, while Team Swarm went for 322 in the fan-friendly spring game. The offenses were particularly explosive through the air, as Wreck ‘Em completed 22-of-32 passes for 380 yards (17.3 yards per completion) and three touchdowns, and Swarm completed 12-of-26 passes for 238 yards (19.8 yards per completion) and two scores.
Rutherford was the star of the show, as he led all players with his seven receptions for 154 yards. His 11- and 64-yard touchdown catches in the second half helped Wreck ‘Em break open what was a one-score game for much of the afternoon. Wideout Avery Boyd also had two touchdown receptions of 2 and 64 yards, while D.J. Moore hauled in a 55-yard scoring catch and finished the day with four receptions for 92 yards.
Taking snaps for both teams, quarterback Haynes King completed 13-of-22 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns. In his first action since sustaining a season-ending injury last fall, Zach Pyron picked up right where he left off by completing 11-of-16 passes for 153 yards and a score. Zach Gibson also broke the century mark, throwing for 106 yards on 7-of-12 passing, while Brody Rhodes completed three of his five attempts for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Head coach Brent Key was quick to point out after the game that in the interests of putting on a show for the approximately 10,000 fans in attendance, the defensive schemes were limited and the offensive fireworks were not indicative of the progress that the Yellow Jackets’ defense made this spring. The Yellow Jackets’ defenders were led on the stat sheet by Ahmari Harvey, who had a team-high-tying six tackles to go along with two pass breakups and a forced fumble.