Mississippi State vs. Georgia Tech: Score, Twitter Reaction for 2014 Orange Bowl

Georgia Tech rushed for over 450 yards en route to a 49-34 victory over Mississippi State in the 2014 Orange Bowl. Justin Thomas and Synjyn Days combined to score six times on the ground in the win.

The biggest question coming into the game was whether the Yellow Jackets could shake off their recent bowl woes against a team from the vaunted SEC West. Paul Johnson led them to a bowl in each of his first six seasons at the helm but went just 1-5 in those games.

The seventh appearance went far better for Johnson's squad. Here's how the game played out from Sun Life Stadium in Miami:

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
Bulldogs	0	20	0	14	34
Yellow Jackets	14	7	21	7	49

One of the marquee losses for Georgia Tech came in the 2009 season against Iowa in the Orange Bowl. Ryan S. Clark of the Sun Sentinel passed along comments from Johnson, who admitted he used that defeat as a teaching tool as he got the current group of players ready.

"I've talked a little bit about 2009 when we were here before and we didn't play particularly well," he said. "You know, Iowa had a really good team and they had a lot to do with that."

The Jackets certainly came out like a motivated bunch. They forced an immediate turnover on the opening drive, as Chris Milton plucked a deflected pass out of the air on third down.

Dr. Saturday highlighted the early momentum shift:

Four plays later Georgia Tech was in the end zone. After back-to-back runs by Charles Perkins and Deon Hill that covered 37 yards, Days plunged in from three yards out for the score.

Tech was able to stretch the lead to 14 later in the first quarter. It used eight straight runs to move the ball from the 12 out to near midfield. As it usually does, that success on the ground opened up a chance to take a shot deep.

Thomas found Darren Waller, who won a jump-ball situation for the 41-yard score. A stat provided by ESPN Stats and Info shows how little the run-heavy Jackets rely on the deep ball:

The complexion of the first half changed on the next drive, though.

Josh Robinson was bottled up for no gain and appeared to fumble with the loose ball recovered by Tech. It would have given them the ball deep in Mississippi State territory with a golden opportunity to make it 21-0.

Instead, referees ruled him down by contact, and the Bulldogs' drive continued. Thirteen plays and 60 yards later, they put their first points of the game on the board to make it 14-3.

Mark Schlabach of ESPN noted the forward progress calls haven't gone in the Yellow Jackets' favor this season after a previous controversial decision against Georgia:

The score marked the start of a 13-0 run for Mississippi State to get back in the game. The touchdown in that stretch came on a Dak Prescott scamper from five yards out after he had delivered three consecutive strikes to Joe Morrow that covered 50 yards.

Evan Sobiesk then added his second field goal of the game to cut the lead to one. CBS Sports College Football pointed out the change of momentum after the disputed call:

Georgia Tech was finally able to resettle late in the second quarter.

The Jackets got back to basics with a string of runs and a couple timely completions by Thomas to engineer the type of long drive they excel at. It covered 82 yards with 12 plays and took nearly five minutes off the clock before finding paydirt.

Thomas ran in from 13 yards to make it 21-13. Bob Carskadon of Hail State noted the score:

Mississippi State answered in dramatic fashion.

Prevent coverage by Georgia Tech allowed the Bulldogs to get within Hail Mary range as time ticked down in the first half. Prescott threw it up from near midfield, and Fred Ross was in the right place at the right time as the ball deflected in his direction for the diving grab.

ESPN College Football passed along the highlight-reel 42-yard score that made it 21-20 at the break:

Giving up a touchdown of that nature could have been a crushing blow to the Yellow Jackets. Instead, it seemed to motivate them coming out of halftime.

They came out flying on both sides of the ball. It all started on the second play from scrimmage as Days, who opened the scoring, struck again with a burst from 69 yards to quickly erase the Bulldogs' miracle touchdown.

After a defensive stop, the Tech rushing attack was at its best. Seven straight runs allowed them to cover 81 yards in just three minutes. Thomas capped it off with an impressive 32-yard score to stretch the lead back to 15.

David Pollack of ESPN summed up the drive:

It continued, too. Another stop led to a drive where the only blemish was a single incomplete pass. Otherwise, five runs for 52 yards and another touchdown. Once again it was Thomas crossing the goal line, marking his third score of the game.

The sophomore QB impressed Robby Donoho of WCBI:

The Bulldogs answered to open the fourth quarter with a connection between Prescott and De'Runnya Wilson. Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen decided to go for an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff down by 15 despite there being an entire quarter to play. Georgia Tech recovered.

The Bulldog defense still didn't have an answer as the Jackets scored again. Days matched Thomas with his third rushing score of the night.

The Bulldogs tacked on a late touchdown, but there was no miracle comeback in the cards. Georgia Tech Football celebrated the result:

Mississippi State's season comes to a close on a sour note despite a strong 10-3 record. The Bulldogs climbed all the way up to No. 1 in the rankings at one point. Three losses in their last four games is a major disappointment as they begin to look ahead to 2015.

On the flip side, Georgia Tech rebounds from its loss in the ACC title game to Florida State with a bowl win to silence the critics, at least for the time being. With Thomas returning to lead the triple-option attack, all signs point to another year in contention on the horizon after an 11-3 campaign.