ATLANTA (AP) — Justice Haynes rushed for 141 yards on 22 carries with three touchdowns — two rushing, one receiving — leading Georgia Tech to its first victory of the season, 44-11 over Mercer at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Georgia Tech (1-2) followed up home defeats to Colorado and Tennessee with an uneven performance for most of the first half, but pulled away thanks to Haynes and quarterback Alberto Mendoza.

The Yellow Jackets scored 10 points in the final two minutes before the break to take a 24-3 lead and added three more second-half touchdowns. Mendoza completed 15 of 21 passes for a season-high 249 yards, finding Javien Plummer and Debron Gatling for scoring strikes from 37 and 33 yards out.

Zahmari Palode-Gary led Mercer (2-2) with 71 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Mercer: The Bears made a quarterback change late in the second quarter. JP Pickles took over and led the Bears on two field goal drives, accounting for 53 rushing yards with an efficient 7-of-11 passing clip for 82 yards.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets finally got what they were looking for from their star transfer, Haynes. After just 145 total rushing yards and no plays over 20 yards in the first two games, the former Michigan back and projected focal point of Georgia Tech's offense was explosive in open space, highlighted by his 31-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Mercer: Steps back into Championship Subdivision play at Abilene Christian next Saturday.

Georgia Tech: Opens its Atlantic Coast Conference slate at Stanford next Saturday.

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