Thanks to our new sponsor Inteleca for helping bring back Q's Take my weekly look at things around GT and college sports from my vantage.




I've said probably since the spring I thought 4-7 wins was the likely landing spot for this Georgia Tech team and that a bowl game would be a very solid first-year achievement for Brent Key as he aims to rebuild the program. For the first time since probably the Gator Bowl in 2016, the Jackets have some momentum going as a program that isn't artificially created like the hype Geoff Collins created after his hire.

Proof of concept getting to a bowl game in year one is a great start. Key said aloud what everyone who is around or has followed the program for the last 40 years thinks after the game.

“We belong in bowl games and that is the expectation at this place every single year and should be, Key said of Georgia Tech football.

The route was certainly not the one we thought it would be on here before the season but I think the lows and the highs made it more interesting. If GT just beat Bowling Green and BC and lost to Miami and UNC I think the excitement level would not be the same as it is.

I know someone will chime in with, "well it could've been a special season if you won those games AND beat UNC and Miami," but that is not how things work. The best example of this is the 2014 season when Tech lost a good Duke team and a bad UNC team. Talking to the players from that team they said that was sort of what galvanized the team and led to the late run and the 11-win season.

Tech could've folded up. Syracuse wanted that game badly and they were playing as hard as they could play last night and talking smack and playing on the edges of the rules if not a little over the line leading to some near brawls at times. That was a hard-fought game against a team doing the thing Tech's defense struggled the most again and they made plays and closed it out.

Key picked up his sixth win in 11 games this season and 10th win in 19 games as head coach overall.

Seeing George O'Leary on the sidelines and in the post-game media session provided a good reminder of the dark days of Bill Lewis and how GOL rebuilt the program. Key even spoke about how this reminded him a lot of the 1997 Georgia Tech team in GOL's third season that went to the Carquest Bowl (now the Pop Tarts Bowl moved from Miami to Orlando) after going 11-11 in 1995 and 1996. Key said that was the turning point for the program. The Jackets knocked off WV 35-30 and followed it up with a 10-2 season and the Gator Bowl win in 1998. That was the team honored last night that Key started on as an offensive lineman.

Whether Key can replicate that is hard to tell at this point. I think expecting 10 wins next year with the schedule and in the portal era is hard to imagine right now, but increasing the win total, winning the Bowling Green/BC/Wake/UVA/Cuse type games most of the time and getting back to bowling where it is not a big deal anymore like it used to be would be a good start.

Seeing J Batt hug Brent Key after his media session and the level of excitement from his former teammates and GOL last night after the game added something special. Hopefully this is the turning point for the Jackets program and we can retire the GC3 talk soon and he will be the next name that shall not be named and a footnote in the history of the program just like B#$# L#$%^.

...Coach Brent Key will be the winningest coach at GT since Paul Johnson. It took CBK 19 games to reach 10 wins while his predecessor had 10 wins in 38 games.

Will update as more names come in.

Gonna keep this short and sweet. We’re bowling baby! LFG
Now it’s all about THWG

The Ugly- the non targeting call and bs reasoning by officials

Fire away

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Finally got Coach Sensitive to block me

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Georgia Tech offered Mississippi State commit Tyler Carter tonight. Carter is a senior stock riser and a guy that has impressed on film.

Carter remains in the Bulldogs’ class as it stands but admitted that he’s unsure of everything right now. Which is likely why the Yellow Jackets are looking to strike.

THE FLATS – No. 9 Georgia Tech volleyball (22-5, 13-4 ACC) sent its seniors off with a win, defeating Syracuse (2-25, 0-17 ACC) in three sets (25-12, 25-20, 25-13) inside O’Keefe Gymnasium Sunday afternoon. Seniors led the Jackets in kills (Afedo Manyang – 8), assists (Bella D’Amico – 16) and aces (Liz Patterson – 2) in the victory.



QUICK HITS

• The Yellow Jackets have secured their 13th conference victory of the season, marking the fifth straight season Tech has won at least 13 ACC matches, the longest streak in program history.
• This is the 28th consecutive sellout at O’Keefe Gymnasium dating back to the 2021 season.
• The Jackets have swept Syracuse twice in the same season for the first time in program history.
• Tech made nine aces as a team tonight, marking the fourth time this season GT has averaged at least 3 aces/set in a match and the first time since Sept. 29 (at Virginia Tech).
• Senior defensive specialist Liz Patterson made two of those aces, tying her career high. She has now registered multiple aces in four matches over her career, including three this season.
• Senior opposite Afedo Manyang led the team with eight kills on .400 hitting, the third time this year she has made at least 2.5 kills/set while hitting at or above .400.
• Sophomore middle blocker Liv Mogridge was back in her pre-injury form, posting eight kills on .636 hitting with a team-high six blocks.
• Mogridge has made at least 7 kills in 13 of her 15 matches this season, hitting at least .400 in 10 of those matches.
• Her six blocks in three sets of work (2.00 blocks/set) is her second highest average of the season, behind her Yellow Jacket debut performance, 2.33 blocks/set at USF (8/25/23).
• Senior setter Bella D’Amico led the offense with 16 assists, freshman Heloise Soares added in 12.
• Senior outside hitter Tamara Otene made a team-high seven digs in just two sets of action. She is just seven digs shy of 300 this season in her quest to become the first Jacket to achieve a 300 kill/300 dig season since Marianna Brambilla’s All-American year in 2021.
• Junior defensive specialist Lauren Sanden served her first career aces today, making two in the third set.
• Junior outside hitter Bianca Bertolino made two aces as well today, bringing her season total to 60. She is the sixth Jacket in program history to achieve 60 aces in a single season and just the second to do so in the modern scoring era (Julia Bergmann – 64 aces – 2019)
• Junior middle blocker DeAndra Pierce recorded a pair of solo blocks, tying her career high, set earlier this year at Wake Forest (10/1).

Set By Set



Set 1 (GT, 25-13): Patterson started the set out with strong serving, recording an ace on the first point and leading the Jackets to a 4-0 advantage off the jump. Tech cruised through the remainder of the set, never allowing Syracuse to close the gap any more than three points (4-1). The Jackets offense could do no wrong, finishing with 11 kills and no unforced errors. The lone error charged to GT came off of a block from Syracuse. Tech would finish the set hitting .588 to Syracuse’s .000, led by five kills on five swings from Bertolino. Otene led the defensive effort, making three digs while Mogridge made a pair of blocks, teaming up with D’Amico and Manyang to do so.



Set 2 (GT, 25-20): Another string of strong early serves from Patterson helped the Jackets get in front, 4-1. It seemed the second would follow a similar pattern to the first, with the Jackets going in front, 13-5, but the Orange battled back, cutting the lead to as little as two points, 19-17, before Otene and Mogridge took over the offense, making two kills each to help the Jackets close out the set with a five-point cushion. Manyang led the way with four kills, along with three each from Otene and Mogridge. Tech’s passing hit a lull in the second but the efforts on the service line helped make up for it as four different Jackets registered an ace.



Set 3 (GT, 25-13): Syracuse kept the start of the third close (9-9) as the Jackets emptied the bench. Once the Jackets found their rhythm, they went on a 16-4 run to take the set by 12 points, including a 9-1 scoring run to end the set. Sanden was the catalyst at the service line, serving throughout the 8-0 scoring run at the end of play, including recording the first two aces of her career. Junior opposite Laura Fischer was excellent in the set, making four kills on .500 hitting to pace the offense, alongside four more kills from Mogridge. The Jackets defense was up to standard in the third, finishing with 17 digs, led by five from Paola Pimentel and four from Sanden.



UP NEXT
Georgia Tech will play in their final regular season game on Wednesday at 5 p.m., at No. 4 Louisville (23-4, 14-3 ACC). The match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

Looking at getting into collecting baseball cards and football cards anyone have any suggestions or recommendations on the best boxes to buy

Drop your questions here, will go live at 8:30 pm tonight.

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech kept its offensive success rolling on Sunday with a 77-38 triumph over Kennesaw State. Four Yellow Jackets finished in double-figures to help move Georgia Tech to 4-0 on the season.

The Yellow Jackets ran out with a 7-0 lead to open the game and never looked back, pushing its lead to double-digits by the end of the opening quarter. Six different Jackets contributed offensively in the first half, paced by Tonie Morgan with 11 points and Rusne Augustinaite who pitched in nine points in the first quarter.

Georgia Tech continued to pull away in the second half and held the Owls scoreless over the final 4:33 minutes of the third quarter to lead 58-33 entering the final period. Kennesaw State was kept scoreless from the field until the final two buckets of the game with just over a minute to play as Tech extended its lead out to as many as 43 points in the final period.

For the third time this season, Georgia Tech shot over 50.0 percent from the field, connecting on a season-high 58.0 percent (29-50) on Sunday. Kayla Blackshear led Tech with 16 points, followed by Morgan (15), D’Asia Thomas-Harris (15) and Augustinatite (14). Blackshear pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, helping Tech to a 34-28 victory on the glass.

Kennesaw State was led offensively by Sophia Rueppell with 17 points after hitting five three-pointers. The Owls were held to a 25.0 percent shooting effort from the field, and just 13 points in the second half.

Georgia Tech returns to action taking part in the Cancun Challenge next week at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, Nov. 23-25. The Yellow Jackets will face Creighton (Nov. 23) to open the tournament and cap it with a tilt against New Mexico on Nov. 24. The tournament will be broadcast on FloHoops, a subscription-based platform.

Didn't know he was an analyst on ESPN. He is on ESPN right now on set talking about Uconn and Indiana at halftime.

Anyone know how or if the ACC picks which teams goes to which bowl games?
Any predictions what bowl game we will play in?

Well, not so little but you get the point. Keith Brooking’s son, TE prospect Logan Brooking, is releasing a top eight tomorrow.

Georgia Tech won’t be on it.
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Appreciate Coach Key and Team for earning an important step for our program!

It feels good getting back to the point where there is some balance between the highs and lows. The team has given us some memorable moments this year already. Some joyful Saturday nights feeling encouraged and proud. Postgame reflections following Miami, UNC, UVA, and last night were all really enjoyable.

The extended coverage after the games covered by ACC Network are pretty cool after a victory as well 🍻

Keep building!!

And the only name on there that GT fans need to watch closely is Jamie Tremble.

As has been reported here, Tremble was on campus for last night’s game, and he walked away from that game impressed with everything.

Impressed with the increased fan engagement, impressed with the offense, impressed with the culture, and (very) impressed by the drive from his home to the stadium, a much shorter trip than to Syracuse.

Keep an eye on this one. I expect things to heat up.

Listening on my way back to savannah. A Tech fan just called (which of you was it?)

Anyway, the host is Barrett Sallee. He was asked bout Brent Key and said something like " that's a program based on tradition and location that can become dominant in the ACC. They just need to find the right coach, which I think they have"

Sounded great.

Teams starting to come out for warmups.

Kickoff in just over 90 minutes.

#GaTech squeezed the Orange 31-22 and became bowl-bound for the first time since 2018!

Here we are. Nothing to lose whatsoever. It is TIME.

I'm afraid our stadium will be overrun once again when we play the Dwags......