Toyota Gator Bowl at Jacksonville, FL
 

35   1 2 3 4 T  Georgia Tech 14 14 7 0 35    West Virginia 7 10 21 0 38 38

Georgia Tech (9-4)

Coach: Chan Gailey Record at GT: 37-26 (5 years) Bowl appearances: 34 Bowl record: 22-12 Last bowl: 2005 Emerald Utah 38, Georgia Tech 10 2005 ACC Coastal finish: 7-1, 1st

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West Virginia (10-2)

Coach: Rich Rodriguez Record at WVU: 49-24 (6 years) Bowl appearances: 25 Bowl record: 10-15 Last bowl: 2006 Sugar West Virginia 38, Georgia 35 2006 Big East finish: 5-2, t-2nd

West Virginia comes back from 18 down to defeat Georgia Tech 38-35 in Gator Bowl

Recap: Quarterback Patrick White led West Virginia back from an 18-point deficit in the second half for a 38-35 victory over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl on Monday. Tailback Steve Slaton, the country's third-leading rusher at 144 yards a game, played only the first half for the Mountaineers (11-2) and wasn't a factor. Slaton's status was uncertain before kickoff with a badly bruised left thigh and the sophomore managed just 11 yards on three carries.

White was 9-of-15 for 131 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 22 times for 145 yards and a touchdown. Owen Schmitt ran 13 times for 109 yards and two TDs.

The teams set a Gator Bowl record for scoring, breaking the previous mark set in Tennessee's 45-23 win over Virginia Tech in 1994. Georgia Tech (9-5) tried a 54-yard field goal on fourth-and-9 with 5 minutes left that could have tied the score, but Travis Bell's kick fell well short. West Virginia then ran out the clock.

It was an astonishing turnaround from the first half, in which Georgia Tech's sophomore quarterback Taylor Bennett and All-America wideout Calvin Johnson picked apart West Virginia's secondary....more

Scoring Summary  FIRST QUARTER  WVA TD 10:16 Owen Schmitt 1 yard run (Mountaineers 6, Yellow Jackets 0)    WVA PAT 10:16 Pat McAfee kick (Mountaineers 7, Yellow Jackets 0)    GT TD 8:12 Calvin Johnson 31 yard pass from Taylor Bennett (Mountaineers 7, Yellow Jackets 6)    GT PAT 8:12 Travis Bell kick (Yellow Jackets 7, Mountaineers 7)    GT TD 3:13 Tashard Choice 3 yard run (Yellow Jackets 13, Mountaineers 7)    GT PAT 3:13 Travis Bell kick (Yellow Jackets 14, Mountaineers 7)    SECOND QUARTER  GT TD 13:58 Calvin Johnson 48 yard pass from Taylor Bennett (Yellow Jackets 20, Mountaineers 7)    GT PAT 13:58 Travis Bell kick (Yellow Jackets 21, Mountaineers 7)    WVA FG 9:16 Pat McAfee 25 yard (Yellow Jackets 21, Mountaineers 10)    GT TD 4:26 James Johnson 27 yard pass from Taylor Bennett (Yellow Jackets 27, Mountaineers 10)    GT PAT 4:26 Travis Bell kick (Yellow Jackets 28, Mountaineers 10)    WVA TD 1:06 Owen Schmitt 11 yard run (Yellow Jackets 28, Mountaineers 16)    WVA PAT 1:06 Pat McAfee kick (Yellow Jackets 28, Mountaineers 17)    THIRD QUARTER  GT TD 13:48 Tashard Choice 5 yard run (Yellow Jackets 34, Mountaineers 17)    GT PAT 13:48 Travis Bell kick (Yellow Jackets 35, Mountaineers 17)    WVA TD 12:31 Tito Gonzales 57 yard pass from Patrick White (Yellow Jackets 35, Mountaineers 23)    WVA PAT 12:31 Pat McAfee kick (Yellow Jackets 35, Mountaineers 24)    WVA TD 6:57 Brandon Myles 14 yard pass from Patrick White (Yellow Jackets 35, Mountaineers 30)    WVA PAT 6:57 Pat McAfee kick (Yellow Jackets 35, Mountaineers 31)    WVA TD 5:57 Patrick White 15 yard run (Mountaineers 37, Yellow Jackets 35)    WVA PAT 5:57 Pat McAfee kick (Mountaineers 38, Yellow Jackets 35)      Statistics  Georgia Tech Passing   C/ATT YDS LG TD INT Taylor Bennett 19/29 326 48 3 1   Team 19/29 326 48 3 1    West Virginia Passing   C/ATT YDS LG TD INT Patrick White 9/15 131 57 2 0   Team 9/15 131 57 2 0  Georgia Tech Rushing   ATT YDS AVG TD LG Jamaal Evans 2 10 5.0 0 7   Tashard Choice 27 169 6.3 2 31   Taylor Bennett 3 -19 -6.3 0 0   Team 32 160 5.0 2 31    West Virginia Rushing   ATT YDS AVG TD LG Steve Slaton 3 11 3.7 0 4   Owen Schmitt 13 109 8.4 2 52   Darius Reynaud 1 20 20.0 0 20   Patrick White 22 145 6.6 1 27   Ed Collington 6 26 4.3 0 14   Team 45 311 6.9 3 52  Georgia Tech Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD LG Tashard Choice 4 28 7.0 0 15   George Cooper 1 21 21.0 0 21   James Johnson 2 68 34.0 1 41   Michael Matthews 1 9 9.0 0 9   Rashaun Grant 2 14 7.0 0 9   Calvin Johnson 9 186 20.7 2 48   Team 19 326 17.2 3 48    West Virginia Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD LG Tito Gonzales 1 57 57.0 1 57   Steve Slaton 2 20 10.0 0 11   Brandon Myles 6 54 9.0 1 15   Team 9 131 14.6 2 57  Team Stat Comparison   GT WVA  Passing attempts - completions 29-19 15-9    Gross passing yards 326 131    Rushing attempts - yards 32-160 45-311    First downs 20 20    Punts - average 4-46.0 5-40.8    Return yards 25 6    Fumbles - lost 2-1 0-0    Penalties - yards 5-37 3-30    Time of possession 28:57 31:03

SMART CHART GATECH   TEAM   WESTV 25.7   PTS FOR 38.9 17.5 PTS AGNST   20.6 8.2   DIFF. 18.3 160.0   PASS YDS 160.7 164.3   RUSH YDS 302.3 200.8 PASS D   236.4 88.3   RUSH D 87.8 -0.6   TO DIFF -0.4

POWER STATS YARDS PER POINT TEAM OFF DEF DIFF GATECH 12.6 16.5 -3.9 WESTV 11.9 15.7 -3.9 YARDS PER PASS TEAM OFF DEF DIFF GATECH 6.2 5.7 0.5 WESTV 8.8 7.2 1.7 YARDS PER RUSH TEAM OFF DEF DIFF GATECH 4.3 3.0 1.4 WESTV 6.7 2.8 3.8