The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are a scary football team this year. That’s not a sentence that anyone has had the ability to write in good faith for a very long time. Last year, Georgia Tech was extremely inconsistent, they started out the year 2-3 including a loss at home to Bowling Green. After this loss they beat 2 ranked teams in a month, and generally looked like a completely different team. In their last 6 games of the season Georgia Tech went 4-2. Their losses coming by way of going on the road to Clemson and by 8 to Georgia. That team that won 7 games last year and returns their starting quarterback, their running back and both leading receivers has had their win-loss total placed at 4.5 by Vegas. They return 9 starters on offense and 8 on defense. I’m not saying that this is an ACC champion or a playoff team, but I am saying this team will give the elite schools on their schedule 4 quarters of problems. Today we’re going to look at some of these
August 24: Georgia Tech VS Florida State Dublin, IRE
Florida State is almost a polar opposite of Georgia Tech, with lots of recent success and mass departures of important players. They have to replace star quarterback Jordan Travis, and an NFL duo of receivers in Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson. On the defensive side of the ball they lose Braden Fiske and Jared Verse, who made a living in opponents backfields over the past two seasons. This Georgia Tech team returns 4 starters on the offensive line that ran for over 150 yards against the Georgia defense. The run game is the path to victory for Georgia Tech in this game. They come in at 10.5 point underdogs, and the best way for them to win this game is to keep the ball away from transfer QB DJ Uiagalelei and the weapons that a blue blood like Florida State will always have. A big day for Junior RB Jamal Haynes, along with Uiagalelei struggling to settle in, will both be necessities for a Georgia Tech win in Dublin.
September 21: Georgia Tech @ Louisville
The Georgia Tech v. Louisville game last year was one of the best matchups of the season. Georgia Tech led by 15 at the half before giving up 26 unanswered in the second half. That Louisville team then went on to play for the ACC championship in the first year under head coach Jeff Brohm. Jeff Brohm loves the transfer portal. Half of Louisville’s projected starters this year comes from the transfer portal. They brought in former Texas Tech and Oregon QB Tyler Shough to replace the graduating Jack Plummer. It’s going to be very difficult for Jeff Brohm to replicate the success he found with this transfer portal technique. The key to Georgia Tech victory in this game is going to be what gave them their lead last year. Haynes King threw for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns against Louisville last year. It was when the team ran the ball to run down the clock that the offense sputtered. If King can replicate his performance this is a definite upset watch for the Yellow Jackets.
October 19: Georgia Tech VS Notre Dame
Another big game and another transfer QB calling the signals. Riley Leonard is probably in the best situation for immediate success with the always elite offensive line of the Irish in front of him. This game will require Tech’s most touted defensive lineman to show up and contain Leonard’s run game. Defensive Tackle Zeek Biggers and Edge Romello Height, will be the most important players on the field in this game. Height transfers in after 2 years with Auburn and USC. He’s struggled to stay on the field but he has produced when available. If he can stay healthy he will be an instrumental part of Georgia Tech outperforming their projections. In this game Georgia Tech will have to make Riley Leonard beat them with his arm. If he can establish the run this will likely be a long game for the Jackets.
November 9: Georgia Tech VS Miami
While doing the research for this, I have come to the conclusion that the ACC has a transfer QB problem. This is another top 25 matchup with a team led by a QB that is completely unproven in this system. Another team that is projected to win 8+ games that does not return proven production. Mario Cristobal single handedly lost this game by not taking a knee when Miami led late last year. Beating Miami was the turning point of Georgia Tech’s season, and it was done solely based on the fact of Brent Key being the better coach. These teams won the same amount of games last season. Georgia Tech returns more production and won head to head last year. Despite all of this Miami is a 19.5 point favorite. These are the games that Brent Key seems to over perform in. Georgia Tech was 6-2 against the spread in games they were underdogs in last year, with 4 outright wins. This team can play up to competition, Cristobal’s Miami seems to underperform their expectations on a weekly basis.
November 29: Georgia Tech @ UGA
I’ve thought about this game a lot. A majority of my friends are Georgia fans. My dad is a former Georgia season ticket holder, so I hear a lot about Georgia. I was at the Georgia Tech-Georgia game last year, and I watched Georgia Tech establish the run, be able to throw the ball, force turnovers, and minimize penalties. They played the best game I had seen them play in a very long time and they still lost by 8. The way they beat Georgia is through the magic that keeps rivalry games close when they shouldn’t be, and prayer. The Bulldogs return too much talent and have too good of a coaching staff for me to seriously write a “keys to victory” against them. I’m not saying it’s an impossibility, I am just saying that I do not have any idea as to how it will happen from a game planning standpoint. Chaos will be required for it to happen and chaos will likely ensue if it does.
In Conclusion, this team is severely underrated. I have no clue how they’re projected to only win 4-5 games. I will admit the schedule is a bit of a gauntlet. They play the best teams in the country week in and week out. However, this team has proven to me that they can compete, and sometimes win in these environments. I don’t think this will be an all time memorable season of Georgia Tech football, but I do think it will be a step towards one. This team, in all likelihood, will not be elite. However, I think elite teams should keep an eye out for Georgia Tech. If you
