Yellow Jackets’ Jordan puts together solid performance

Matthew Jordan continued to keep a steady hold on the No. 2 quarterback job at Georgia Tech.

His performance Saturday showed head coach Paul Johnson that the sophomore is capable to stepping in to help whenever needed.

Jordan came into the game in a short-yardage situation in the first half and scored on a 1-yard run.

He started the second half and engineered two long drives, one that resulted in a touchdown and one that was short-circuited when a back fumbled near the goal.

“It was awesome,” Jordan said. “I probably should have settled down. I was kind of amped up, and once the team played everything was fine. We did pretty well. I mean, I think we did better than we did last week.”

Jordan beat out TaQuon Marshall to be the No. 2 quarterback. His size (6-foot-2, 208 pounds) makes him an ideal candidate to replace the much smaller Justin Thomas on short-yardage plays. He did it some last year, reprising the role that Tim Byerly made famous in 2014.

But Jordan got a chance to play more Saturday. Thomas got dinged up — an unspecified ding — and could have played the second half. But Johnson felt the game was pretty much in hand and opted to bring in Jordan.

“I’ve got faith in Matthew,” Johnson said. “He’s been around for a couple of years, and the way the game was going for him running the ball, he’s a downhill runner, and I knew he would go in there and run the ball hard.”

Jordan did not attempt a pass. He ran it 12 times for 44 yards and two touchdowns.

“I thought Matthew did a really nice job,” Johnson said. “At times he might have gotten downhill a little too much there because I was getting on him to get downhill, so he was trying to do what I had asked him to do, but I thought he did well.”

Jordan was told at halftime that he would start the second half. He directed an 11-play, 78-yard scoring drive on his first possession. Jordan scored on a 1-yard run to cap the drive and make it 28-10.

The second time he got the ball, Jordan took the team 78 yards in 12 plays. The Yellow Jackets were on the verge of punching in another score when freshman Quaide Weimerskirch fumbled at the 3 to end the threat.

“I definitely feel a lot more comfortable,” Jordan said. “I feel a lot more confident and less stressed than I was last year.”

This story was originally published September 10, 2016 at 9:33 PM with the headline "Yellow Jackets’ Jordan puts together solid performance."