Lee, threw two touchdown passes in the White's 24-7 victory over the Gold in the Yellow Jackets' spring game Friday night before a crowd of 18,125.
Lee completed 9 of 16 passes for 145 yards, connecting with Tony Zenon and Chris Jackson for 12-yard touchdowns in the fourth quarter after the defenses dominated the early going.
"It was a little bit sloppy," Yellow Jackets coach Paul Johnson said. "We were missing some guys in the offensive line. In the second half, it was better."
Georgia Tech, which has 13 starters returning from an 8-5 team, will have to be up to speed early next season with a game at Virginia Tech looming on Labor Day.
The Yellow Jackets and Hokies are the only teams to win the ACC's Coastal Division, Virginia Tech doing it five times and Georgia Tech twice.
Washington, who had a 2-yard touchdown run for the White in the third quarter, led the Yellow Jackets in rushing last season, but struggled with his passing in Johnson's spread-option offense.
That's what makes Lee intriguing to Georgia Tech fans.
"He's the better passer," Johnson said. "But he needs to work on the option game to be a complete player."
The defenses dominated the first half, with the only scoring coming on David Scully's 42-yard field goal on the final play before intermission. Then Corey Dennis returned a fumble by Gold quarterback Syniyn Days 36 yards to open the third-quarter scoring.
After that, White's offense finally got going.
"They made a couple of plays and got some momentum," Johnson said. "When Vad went to the first group, I made some adjustments and starting throwing the ball."
Linebackers Jeremiah Attaochu and Quayshawn Nealy each had two sacks for the Gold, which got its only touchdown on a 4-yard run by Days in the fourth quarter.
"They know what we're doing, but still it was very competitive," Attaochu said. "We've gone through scrimmages where the offense has schemed us and we've had moments where we've beaten them up. So it's just back and forth."
Days, Washington's backup last season, carried 17 times for 85 yards, but lost two fumbles. Washington was 3 of 6 passing for 24 yards and had 26 net yards on 15 carries after four sacks.
"They all bring something to the table," Johnson said of his quarterbacks. "Really, it's going to be who improves the most."
Two of the Yellow Jackets' returning starters - A-back Orwin Smith (foot) and guard Omoregie Uzi (knee) - missed spring practice while recovering from surgery. Will Jackson, the other returnee at guard, suffered an ankle sprain during the first scrimmage and sat out along with fellow guards Trey Braun and Shaquille Mason.
Georgia Tech struggled at times on defensive last season, but hope to be much improved up front next fall.
"I feel like we got a lot better on our footwork," defensive end Izaan Cross said. "That was something we were trying to work on every day. We still need some work on pad level. But we're a bigger group. We're trying to work towards getting to the quarterback."
Georgia Tech's Tony Zenon (9) is greeted by teammates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter of their spring NCAA college football game at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta on Friday. / photo: Associated Press
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