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ATLANTA (Ticker) -- There was no struggle for Joe Hamilton and seventh-ranked Georgia Tech against North Carolina State. Hamilton passed for 212 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 83 as the well-rested Yellow Jackets cruised to a 48-21 victory over North Caorlina State. After a weekend off, Georgia Tech (6-1, 4-1 ACC) won its fifth straight game and did it with relative ease following struggles against North Carolina and Duke. "It was the first game since early in the season where we came out and played an entire game," Georgia Tech coach George O'Leary said. "You take two or three plays out that they scored on and I thought it was a complete game by the defense. You could see that coming off the open date we improved in a lot of areas. Chemistry-wise, they finally started playing the way they were supposed to play." Koren Robinson caught five passes for 168 yards and a touchdown for North Carolina State (5-4, 2-4). Jamie Barnette completed 10-of-26 passes for 181 yards and one interception as the Wolfpack lost to Georgia Tech for the fifth straight time after splitting the first 14 meetings. Hamilton was 16-of-26 with one interception and carried 11 times. Sean Gregory added 113 yards on 22 carries as Georgia Tech amassed 513 yards, 99 more than NC State. "We came out today and did the things we needed to do to establish ourselves early," Hamilton said. "We have been coming out in the second half and not finishing teams off. Today we were able to come out and execute when we needed to. There was a lot of balance. Every guy took it upon himself to make big plays and try to do the things we needed to do to move the chains. It was a fun day out there." With 53 touchdown passes, Hamilton is the school's all-time leader, two ahead of Shawn Jones. He has had a hand in 71 scores, one more than Jones' previous club mark. He is 101 yards away from breaking Jones' ACC total offense record of 9,296 yards. Barnette tied Florida State's Danny Kanell for the career lead in ACC annals with his 57th touchdown pass. Gregory opened the scoring with 6:53 left in the first quarter when he ran two yards for a score to finish off an eight-play, 55-yard drive. "We've always gotten out of the gate, but in the last couple of games we weren't able to pull the trigger," Gregory said. "Today we came in with the mindset that if we get up early, make sure we are focused and keep them down. We really executed that to perfection." With 3:04 remaining in the period, flanker Kelly Campbell went in motion, took a quick handoff from Hamilton and raced 17 yards around right end for a touchdown to make it 14-0. "We dropped two passes on the first series and then they score," NC State coach Mike O'Cain said. "We never seemed to get our feet on the ground offensively." Barnette threw a 70-yard scoring pass to Robinson to halve the deficit with 9:21 remaining in the second quarter. But Luke Manget booted a 49-yard field goal with 6:13 left and Hamilton threw a three-yard scoring pass to Kerry Watkins 32 seconds before the half to push the lead to 24-7. Hamilton threw scoring passes of 11 and 39 yards to Campbell in the first 11 minutes of the second half to extend the lead to 38-7. Campbell finished with 84 yards on six catches and was alone on both scoring catches. "With the receivers we have, Joe has the opportunity to read and throw it to the man that is open," Campbell said. "Right now, they are trying to double Dez (White), so I have to come and make big plays to help Dez and Joe. I'm having fun. Joe is throwing the ball to me and I'm catching them and making big plays." Barnette ran 10 yards for a TD with 59 seconds remaining in the third quarter. In the fourth period, Sidney Ford had a one-yard touchdown run and Manget booted a 34-yard field goal for Georgia Tech before Stone Mountain native Jatavis Sanders threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Cotra Jackson for the Wolfpack to close the scoring. "They played better defensively this game than they have the past couple of weeks," O'Cain said. "But maybe having that week off allowed them to rest and work through some things."
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