Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Georgia Tech's defense helped get the ball back in the hands of Yellow Jackets quarterback Josh Nesbitt, who burned the Hokies for 122 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday in Atlanta.

ATLANTA -- Georgia Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan raised his forefinger in the air in the waning minutes of his team's win Saturday night.

Morgan and his fellow defensive players were embarrassed no longer.

Their defense had reason to be proud after beating fourth-ranked Virginia Tech 28-23 on Saturday night.

"As a defense, we [were] tired of being a liability to the offense," linebacker Sedric Griffin said. "They had been scoring at will on teams, and we couldn't stop no one.

"So we came out with some intensity and wanting to dominate."

The 19th-ranked Yellow Jackets had allowed 487 yards of total offense in a 42-31 win at Mississippi State on Oct. 3. They had surrendered 539 yards of total offense in last weekend's 49-44 win at Florida State. They had forced one punt in the two games combined.

"The last two games, we kind of got embarrassed on the defensive side," Morgan said. "We owed it to the offense, because they were just taking care of business. The last two weeks, they were like a machine. ... We're on the sideline getting chewed out by the coach and the next thing you know, the [Jackets'] offense was scoring."

So Georgia Tech simplified its defense Saturday. After piling up more than 440 yards of total offense in each of its previous two wins, the Hokies managed 334 yards Saturday.

"We had a lot of defensive packages in the last couple weeks," Morgan said. "Guys' heads start spinning when you get all that thrown at you. You kind of slow down, hesitate.

"Simplifying all the packages and personnel and all that helped everybody go out there and play fast and play physical and just have fun."

Ryan Williams had 100 yards on 14 carries, but 66 of those came on his third-quarter touchdown. The Hokies finished with 175 yards on the ground.

"We were going to try to load up on him," defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said.

Tyrod Taylor ran for 63 yards and one TD on 13 carries and completed 10 of 14 passes for 159 yards and one TD with two interceptions.

"You can't hem him up," Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said. "I don't know if you can grab him and tag him in a phone booth."

It was the Jackets' first home win over a top-5 team since a 1962 victory over Alabama.

"It's the biggest thing to happen since I've been here," junior quarterback Josh Nesbitt said.

Students rushed the field at game's end and pounded on the Jackets to congratulate them. Nesbitt was asked if the students hit him harder than the Hokies' defensive linemen.

"Ten times harder," he said with a laugh.

Nesbitt ran for 122 yards and three TDs in his team's triple-option offense.

"They left me wide-open to run the ball, and sometimes they gave me a chance to pitch it so I pitched it," Nesbitt said. "I was a little bit too hyped up before the game. Once I just calmed down and slowed the game down for myself, and everybody else did the same, we just got it going."

Nesbitt, whose team led 7-3 at halftime, ran for 100 yards and two TDs in the second half.

"He didn't play very well in the first half, but he came back in the second half and I think he might have missed [only] two reads in the option," Johnson said.

"He came out there in the second half and he was on fire," said fullback Jonathan Dwyer, who ran for 82 yards.

The Yellow Jackets piled up 272 rushing yards in the second half after mustering just 37 rushing yards and hurting themselves with penalties in the first half. The offense was "kind of like in 'Zombieland,' " in the first half, Johnson said.

He said his players were confused in the first half because the Hokies lined up in a 4-3 defense after playing an eight-man front in last year's meeting.

"We acted like we had never seen that defense," Johnson said. "Once we got settled down at halftime and understood where everybody was supposed to go, we executed a little bit better."