Not really, but that would be the most Georgia Tech thing to do. We don’t deserve to suffer like we do.

Today sucked and most of the opinions and posts I’ve read are valid, but some are going off the deep end. The season isn’t over and it was just one game. It’s easy to be negative and some of y’all have that on a reoccurring order from Amazon.

It remains to be seen what kind of coach Key will end up being but he did take over for maybe one of the worst P5 HC’s in CFB history. It’s not a stretch to say that Collins will never see a college field again.

Next week will be a great indicator of where this team really is. I just hope the team that beat Wake will show some pride the rest of the season. I’m not ready to give up on this team just yet and while changes are definitely needed (bye Thack) this team and staff have shown some progress.

I can’t wait to hear the 💩 I’m gonna get from some of you haters out there. But just remember, I’m an Atlanta sports fan so you can’t hurt me any worse than my teams have over the years.

Now let’s all get some sleep so we can be let down again starting tomorrow at 9:30am 😆

Why does he deserve the admiration he seemingly gets everywhere? This OL is bad. Hard to keep blaming Paul Johnson's offense at this point.

Down 21-0 to Miami ohio less than 100 yards of O in q3.

Had to create thread to elevate melt

Lose blowout games to MAC teams?

Fans want to fire everyone and bench everyone?


GO INTO A RANKED AND UNBEATEN CONFERENCE OPPONENTS HOUSE AND STAB THEIR STILL BEATING HEART??!!!



We can DO THAT!!

He has to go just like Thacker!

Crazy story. Accused of sexual harassment by a sexual assault prevention advocate.

He's admitted having phone sex with her.

Login to view embedded media There's a Pic. What's he pointing at?

For me:

• Florida
• Tennessee
• Miss State
• Texas

Sad to learn this morning that Jim Poole has Lou Gehrig’s disease.

For those of you not familiar with him, Jim had a very solid Major League Baseball career with Baltimore, Cleveland and several other teams. For Braves fans, you’ll remember he gave up the home run to David Justice in game 6 of the 1995 World Series.

Story in The Athletic (warning: paywall): https://theathletic.com/3165080/202...u-gehrigs-disease/?source=user_shared_article

Quick list of things I hope we do:
- embrace who we are on offense, not who we want to be. Throw the damn ball. We are good at it. Keep doing it. It feels like we are trying to run the ball to satisfy some of Key’s desires. Our best player on offense are the QB, Haynes in space, WRs, and OL while pass blocking. Worst players: OL run blocking, slot WRs run blocking, and QB decision making.

We only run well when the opposition expects a pass. It’s ok to pass, pass, pass and pop in runs to keep them honest. We are not ground and pound ready. It’s ok. Do more of what we do well. Drop back 40-50 times if necessary. Be aggressive. If we lose, lose with your fastball.


- 4-3 time with Tatum or Maola on the slot side of the field. Efford starts and get most PT.

- give me more DBs. Kenyatta, Sirad, Omar, Shelly. They can’t miss more tackles than the current group. Can’t get burned more often either.

- play more bump/press with safety over the top. Give rush a chance to get there. Make the QB think, double clutch, etc.

- stop playing for the strip fumbles. Our past success doing that has created horrible habits. That’s luck. Knock a MFer down hard enough and they will let it go too.

- on 4th and short, throw the ball. Please.


On the recruiting front. Don’t sweat Boyd or Jackson yet as fans. Disappointing but it happens. We need wins and the portal recruitment season more than HS guys. I like HS OL and class balance but we need known commodities more on the DL, LB, TE, and RB.


Let’s whoop some hurricane ass. I’m predicting a shootout. Both teams over 30

Here are a few gifs i decided to breakdown to give an idea of what happened on field vs. BG. These are used to give others a different perspective on how to watch football. I don’t do this to disparage players or coaches, but to give insight to GT enthusiast on what I’ve learned as a player and avid football fan.

Pain is the only way i can describe Saturday. I’ll get some offensive clips in but i want to focus heavily on the defensive and the number “3”



Highlighting the positives. CBF has done a really good job utilizing motion and formation to
Scheme our playmaker open. Jet motion into the boundary gives us a blocker for each defender and easy yardage.



Same principle. Using the jet motion and read option to freeze the defense to allow our speedy wr to outflank the defense for an easy TD

****VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED****

Watching these clips you get the feeling a demotion wasn’t enough. We have guys playing defense that doesn’t either know the calls, what keys to be reading or where to be in their run or pass fit



3rd down and we are in a zone coverage. So why is #14 King carrying that crosser across the field instead of passing it off. Look where the ball is thrown. The area he vacated



As former WLB, if they are in shotgun and the back is front of you, you are slow playing the going away from you anticipating cutback or QB keep. LB gets to far inside and gets washed down inside. The bigger issue is #1 Brooks and the rest of the DBs? Why are you waiting on the ball carrier instead of filling the hole? What is Sims doing in his attempt to tackle? That is not the toughness and aggressiveness we preach


We got zone here. This is tough on the LB due to the false keys the play give with the pulling OL. This is cover 1 meaning all the man assigned players have outside leverage. DBs: are we fighting to stay blocks or defeating blocks? Hard to tell on this play




Just continue to smh. For One this cushion needs to be cut down to about 5-6yds instead being 8 on a 3rd and 10. We talked about this in the summer of what’s a flat foot read? In the cover 1 hole off man defense, the DBs is outside leverage and they funnel everything inside to the “hole” LB and middle safety. He should be seeing his man but also the QB out of his peripheral to anticipate the throw based on the drop and where the QB shoulders turn. The QB takes a gather step and turn his shoulders immediately. The nickle should be driving on that slant immediately





Just bad all around. #44 Efford needs to fill off of the DE butt. #7 Tatum needs to stay in his feet, and Brooks takes another horrible angle and gets put thru the rinse cycle




Amazing how we look when fit the run and attempt to get off blocks

I thought #10 Haynes King was off a bit

Here is some miscommunication between Benson & King which imo happens more often than



This is i believe is option route to the TE. Tight man run the wheel off man run the out or
Hook up in the open area. King expect the out and Benson runs the wheel


So your assignment!!!! In no world should the CB be going inside of a blocker. If he’s stays outside, you got CPL there to fill the alley and you force a 3rd & medium. Also, why you letting the QB block you? That’s the moment you blow him up not play party cake




This was the back breaker imo. Good job by BG showing the overload blitz. You either have to chuck it early or take the sack at the 35 for a long FG.



Prime example of not what you’re doing or where you are going.
1- on the run #44 Efford read key pulled so he should be flowing to
The right and not stepping in into the gap
2- #44 Efford is responsible the RB if he come out to his side so this is a double whammy



Football is math. BG is in 3x1 to the back to the 3 WR side. The QB sees it’s 4 defenders for 3 WR so this will be definitely a run. As a weak side LB in gun strong look and the DL slanting to the side the RB, I KNOW i have to get to the backside B gap and based on the slanting i should be untouched. This is horrible angle by both #13 Moala & #14 King. We two unblocked guys and neither touches the RB. UNACCEPTABLE!!!



A pre determined throw by King. Good job by BC CB rerouting and sinking back into the zone. King needs to wait a few more seconds so that Cooley can get to the flat to get that high low read on the CB

Don't know if I can stay awake for for 8 pm KO with prolonged delays. Fingers crossed.

Who cares right ? He had 6 TDs tonight. He went out in fashion over his arch rivals. Kid looked to be on a mission and has improved with his upper body strength. The speed is still there. He also catches the ball very well. Hopefully Tech will take another look there.

THE FLATS – Three-game mini packs that include tickets to three of Georgia Tech football’s four remaining home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field in 2023 – including the regular-season finale versus archrival Georgia – are on sale now.



Georgia Tech plays at Bobby Dodd Stadium four times over the final six weeks of the season with Atlantic Coast Conference battles against Boston College (Oct. 21 – Hall of Fame and Family Weekend), nationally ranked North Carolina (Oct. 28 – Homecoming and Paul Johnson Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute) and Syracuse (Nov. 18 – Heroes Day), as well as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate versus Georgia (Nov. 25).



Mini packs that do not include the regular-season finale against UGA begin at just $100, while mini packs including Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate begin at $150. Not only do mini packs come at a lower total cost than purchasing single-game tickets individually, but they also include better seats than are available through single-game purchases. Additionally, mini packs are the only way for non-season ticket members to purchase tickets for the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate at this time.



For more information and to purchase mini packs online, click HERE.

Congrats to Zion Taylor, who made his debut!

Ethan and Eric have officially burned their redshirts. If Dickens or Cruz play any more this season (they will) both of their redshirts will be burned as well.

Ethan Mackenny - 5
Eric Singleton - 5

Evan Dickens - 4
Jacob Cruz - 4
Taye Seymore - 3
Nacari Ashley - 2
Bailey Stockton - 2
Ashton Heflin - 1
Zion Taylor- 1

Patrick Screws - 0
Gabe Fortson - 0
Benjamin Galloway - 0
Elias Cloy - 0
Shymeik Jones - 0
Ezra Odinjor - 0
Nico Dowdell - 0
Steven Jones - 0
Bryston Dixon - 0
Malcolm Pugh - 0

"summer opening"

Login to view embedded media

Key said they will practice again tomorrow morning before they fly to Miami as part of the night game routine they have set up and the players seem to enjoy the decompression of that practice and the lead up to the night games a little more as they are able to flush the week of school and relax their minds a little more and that could be why they are playing a little better at night. Key said for him the games are the same regardless of the kick but with all the stuff going on for GT SAs maybe it helps having that extra bit of time.

"We are excited to go down they're excited to go down there and get on the field again. I told the team today you can accept the identity that's been out there that takes place from the previous game or you can go out and project a different identity to others and to the teams that you play. That's the choice that we have to make as a football team. Individually first, and each person has to make that choice to go out and play the game the right way and play four quarters extremely hard."

Key said there is also a difference between trying hard and competing and he wants his guys to compete.

"Trying hard is nowhere close to the same thing as going out and competing. They are two totally different things. When you try hard, you use you're using energy. It's all you're doing. And when you compete. There is no scoreboard there is no one thing you're playing up against other than how good you can play individually. If everybody makes that decision to do that thing collectively you will be better because there's times in every game we've played this year that this team has proven to go out and competed at a at a level with anyone that's been across the sidelines from us. But it hasn't been consistent and that's the reason you're sitting here and don't have the outcome you want in some of those games. That's the thing that they have to understand is there's a big difference in going out and trying hard and having a little success and not just thinking you're gonna go out on the field and things are gonna happen. You've got to go out and compete every single play."

Key said he doesn't need to be having fire and brimstone speeches at the end of quarters or halftime, they've got to make the decision as a team that they are not playing to the standard they expect from the team. He said they are continuing to address that mentality with the team to get them to play four solid quarters and not relax and not take their foot off the gas.

I asked Key about the alignment and missed read key issues in the Bowling Green game that both Sed and I pointed out over since the game ended and why guys are trying to do other jobs or not doing their jobs, he said that part of that is confidence in the call, confidence in the players on the field with you and that they'll be in the right position and know what to do with confidence. He said they are working to make sure everyone is on the same page as a unit, but they also have to execute their part of each call.

Chad asked him about his relationship with Mario Cristobal as they worked together at Bama for a year. Key said that Mario is a no-nonsense coach and he is an O-line coach by trade and he believes in physicality on the lines of scrimmage and stopping the run, running the football and creating explosives. Possessing the football, not necessarily time of possession but possessing the football when you want to. They've shared some things over the years and they are in similar situations as former O-line coaches at their alma mater building a football program to be what they want. He does things the right way and he believes in his process and there is very evident improvement in their football team from year one to year two. He isn't a first-time HC either and he has stuck to his game plan.

Key said the leadership piece on the team is something they've worked on since January 6th to develop those guys to speak up. Guys like to talk about leading by example but he thinks that is a fancy way of saying I don't want to speak up. He said that is hard in this society for people to speak up and challenge their peers. He said times change, but 18 to 23 year-olds are still the same and it is hard to speak up to your peers and take that risk of saying something others don't want to hear and they don't have the singular person who is wiling to do that. There are guys on the defense that can do it and they've got to collectively improve there and when you are truly a team anyone on offense, defense or special teams can speak up.

Key said they've worked Corey Robinson at RT a lot this week behind Jakiah Leftwich so he can be the third tackle with Jordan Williams still down. They are working Patrick Screws this week at LT some as Corey learns more RT. They are trying to develop both of them.

I asked very specifically about the play where Haynes King took the sack against a zero blitz look and how much latitude he has there to change calls and protections and if they thought about calling a timeout as well there.

"Haynes knows the offense inside and out. In that particular situation, when they come up and show a zero blitz look, we have a lot of different mechanisms to be able to change plays the line of scrimmage, flip protection calls. One way to another way to take care of things. When you bring an all-out blitz like that, it also means that there are guys that are running in the back end free. They can also line up at the line of scrimmage and then all drop out as well. So you're not going to waste a timeout when it comes to that.

Alright, do you know where your receivers are, and it becomes now that one person was one-on-one because now you have a chance to really big plays and that's the risk-reward versus the zero blitz. It is the big play versus the big play either way. That's not a situation whether he flipped the protection one way or the other way, it doesn't matter. It's still going to be a blitz look like that and there's still gonna be barreling down. He knows what he should have done in that situation. And that's why we coach it up and continue to move forward and make better decisions and in those times, he knows what he should have done in that situation. And that's why we coach it up and continue to move forward and make better decisions and in those times, but now he has a good amount of latitude to make changes at the line of scrimmage."

Key said you could definitely see more of Dontae Smith this week.

Key said that Christian Leary has done a good job and has really improved his ball skills as well and they like his versatility. He lined up as an outside receiver a bunch last week and even in the backfield and they are working on ways to get him the ball. Key said he has been pleased with his growth as a player.

I asked about James BlackStrain and he said he was cleared Sept. 1 and is coming off his second major knee injury and he has been mostly an emergency WR the last two weeks as he works his way back into the rotation. He is making progress. He should start showing up on special teams as well.

I asked about Leo Blackburn, "Leo is a machine. The progress he has made in his rehabilitation and how far he is ahead of schedule is." impressive. He said he isn't the doctor so he isn't putting a date on his return, but he is running and cutting already and he did his knee in April. He is away ahead of schedule and just getting stronger and bigger every day. He is a freak of nature as an athlete. He wishes he could be back today.

On Jamie Felix, Key said he is working on the scout team right now. He has been battling a series of different injuries since fall camp and that put him behind on reps and he is trying to work his way back, but that cost him valuable time and money.

Big performances from Luke Harpring, Demontrae Gaston highlight this past week..

IRVING, Texas (Oct. 5, 2023) – Dick Butkus, the 1983 College Football Hall of Fame inductee who starred at linebacker for the Fighting Illini from 1962 to 1964, passed away today at his home in Malibu, California. He was 80.



"Few names, if any, invoke the level of greatest achieved by Dick Butkus," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning. "He simply was and always will be one our game's greatest legends. An unbelievable competitor, Dick Butkus dominated every inch of the gridiron, on every down, and for every second. There simply was no letup in him. He was relentless and unstoppable. His name is one of the few that I expect will never fade. We are deeply saddened by his passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this time of loss."



A two-time All-American, including unanimous honors in 1963 and consensus in 1964, Butkus earned a reputation in college as a devastating linebacker for Illinois, playing with intensity and desire. According to his coach, Pete Elliott, Butkus, "...never took a loafing step," including warm-ups, practices and games. At 6-3, 237- pounds, Butkus played center on offense and linebacker on defense, leading the Fighting Illini to an 8-1-1 record, the 1963 Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl 17-7 victory over Washington with the future Hall of Famer making a key interception.



Butkus finished his Illinois career with 374 tackles. His 145 stops in 1963 stood as the school record until 1976. Against Ohio State in 1963, Butkus made 23 tackles, a school record at the time. He finished third in the 1964 Heisman Trophy balloting and was named the Player of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. A three-time All-Big Ten selection, he was named the 1963 Silver Football Award winner as the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player. Butkus' No. 50 was retired in 1986, making him and Hall of Famer Red Grange as the only players to have their numbers so honored at Illinois.



Drafted No. 3 overall in the 1965 NFL Draft, Butkus starred for the Chicago Bears as linebacker from 1965-73, twice being named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year and six times as an All-Pro selection. He made eight consecutive Pro Bowls from 1965-72. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Bears retired his No. 51.



Butkus was named to the Big Ten Diamond Anniversary Team in 1970, The Sporting News College Coaches All-Time Team, and the University of Illinois All-Century Team. He was named to the Walter Camp Foundation All-Century team in 1989 and he was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1995. Sports Illustrated ranked Butkus as the best middle linebacker ever in 2001. The NFL Network named him the most feared tackler of all time and the No. 10 player in NFL History in 2009 and 2010, respectively. In 2010, he was named the No. 6 Big Ten Icon in the history of the conference by the Big Ten Network, and in 2020 he was tabbed as the No. 8 player in college football history as part of college football's 150th anniversary.



In 2017, Butkus was inducted as a member of Illinois Athletics' inaugural Hall of Fame Class, and in 2019, a larger-than-life statue of Butkus was unveiled outside the front entrance of Illinois' Smith Football Performance Center. In 1985 the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, Florida, inaugurated a trophy given to the best college linebacker each year. It is called the "Butkus Award," and it has become one of the most coveted awards in college football.



He became a TV commentator and actor. He hosted a national golf tournament which raised money for treatment of cystic fibrosis. In 1989, he received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. Born, Dec. 8, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, he played high school football for Chicago Vocational High School, earning a high school player of the year award as a junior.

The clip has a great Bill Curry clip talking about him early on.

Login to view embedded media

Clayton Powell-Lee

Haynes King

Christian Leary

let's do this thing.

Login to view embedded media
I haven’t listened yet, but could be good

Key offered a pretty good summary of Bowling Green and how his team is similar to them. Basically, they gave hope to a hopeless team and then it spiraled on them.

"The game last Saturday obviously was a poor performance all around for our football team and one that no one is proud of, you know embarrassed of the performance on the field and when you come off the field you got to address things and move forward with them and make the necessary adjustments and changes mean throughout the whole program. I told the team last week that we were playing a fragile football team last week and that's the most dangerous type of team to play and you have a fragile team. One thing can break it, one thing can pull it together and all sudden, you know, one breath of hope and one good thing leads to another and then leads to another."

He told the team now they are the fragile ones and the role is reversed this week with Miami. He wants his teams to be the opposite of fragile, tough. He wants to see mental toughness this week and kids having the right mindset and for the players to rebound from this embarrassment and play the way they are supposed to play.

Key said the Bowling Green game can define the season in two different ways, will it affect them and make the rest of the season good or bad. He said it affected the staff and at practice today he saw he saw how it affected the players.

Key said that he evaluates every part of the program every week including the staff and it was not a sudden knee-jerk reaction to move Kevin Sherrer to DC and demote Thacker to safeties coach.

Key said that Travares Tillman is still the overall DB coach and Thacker will assist him with that and be in the box while Sherrer will move down to the field.

Key said that Thacker has taken the demotion as best he can and he has a solid working relationship with Sherrer and "Andrew is the best supporting person that he can be and he will be that." The decision to keep him at GT was based on how the D performed last year and they are constantly evaluating things and they needed to make a change.

Key said the decision to remove Thacker as DC was not an emotional one. He said he does not make emotional decisions during or immediately after a football game. He wants to go home and think about it and the various scenarios in his head.

Key said the WF game was about sacks and interceptions but they still had a lot of the same issues that plagued the defense in the BG game, they just didn't get any of those plays on Saturday.

He told the staff and then 30 minutes later he informed the team alone just Key and the players. He told the players exactly why the move was made and what the expectations are moving forward. He wanted to make sure it was very clear to them and no other voices were saying this is why or whatnot.

When asked about Ricky Brumfield who had been helping coaching the nickels and safeties during indy periods, Key said that Ricky is in all the defensive and offensive meetings and his primary role is special teams but he helps in other areas as he can.

Key said the team has to learn how to start and finish with the same intensity for 4 quarters. He said they started the Bowling Green game great, but couldn't sustain it and he wants to see just as good a second half as the first and they need to make the proper adjustments at halftime as a staff to put the players in the best position to succeed and play a full four quarters.

Ken tried a little bait on Key asking him how it reflects on him firing Thacker after five games when he retained him. Key said, he is the head coach and he has thick skin. He could careless about what people outside thing. What matters to him are those players and Georgia Tech and that is what he bases all his decisions on, what is best for the players and GT. It is not about his feelings or pride. That is why he is off social media.

I asked him what his expectations are for Sherrer and what can he change in a normal week of practice heading into Miami. Key said Sherrer will be on the field calling the game and Thack in the box and his job is to put the players in the best position to execute on defense and to teach them to do the right things and have them prepared so they have a high confidence in the game plan.

Key said the defensive issues are not scheme-based. If guys are not in the position to make plays then that is a scheme. Their not making the plays is the bigger issue. He said there are 100s of schemes they could run, but it is more about alignments, base knowledge and calls and there will be some adjustments to Sherrer's personality but at the end of the day, defense is defense and everything comes back to Key and it is his responsibility. If he thought there were scheme issues it would be different, but at the end of the day the DC's job is to put the players in a position to make plays on Saturday and they'll look more at other stuff during the bye week as far as adjustments Sherrer might want to make.

Key said that Jamal Haynes was not only a full go but he is begging to be put on more special teams than he already is on. He actually pulled someone off another unit to allow Haynes to get some more special teams reps today so he is not injured.

Key said Jordan Williams is still week-to-week.

Key said that Chase Lane is back practicing, but they are being careful with him because they do not want to lose him for the rest of the year so when he is fully healthy they will put him back in the lineup, but he is hopeful that could be this week.

Key was asked about his past success against ranked teams on the road going into the Miami game, he said there isn't much of a positive from week to week even let alone what happened last year. They need to focus on themselves and fixing what is broken.

The TV team this week is Wes Durham (play-by-play), Tim Hasselbeck (analyst), Taylor Tannebaum (sideline)