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Not as explosive as King but he can make all the throws, he has experience, & he’s mobile. Manage the offense & GT has a great shot of winning.

We got to chat with Jamal Haynes, Sylvain Yondjoeun and Luke Harpring who made his Tech media debut. (I also typed Matt into my story and corrected it about three times while writing it). Will have more on Harpring in a feature later this week.

Also, Coach Key came up to me, Chad (AJC guy) and the assistant football SID Anthony during media viewing of practice and kind of just shot the breeze with us while they did individual position drills. Key said he gets to see the most out of the players at practice when they think he's not watching so he tries to act like he's doing other things during practice to make them think he's not watching. I think you guys might've been right about the question I asked yesterday because jokingly Coach Key asked me why I had to wait until the last question of the presser to ask about special teams. Ha. He said some other things (and words) that I won't divulge, but I thought it was pretty cool that he came over and just chatted with us off the record for a few minutes. I guess I still have to kind of pinch myself with this job.

Anyway, enough rambling, here are the notes and quotes from today:

Are referees taught to only call the obvious holdings? I feel there are several holdings each game that aren’t called.

KQ- There are specific things they are looking for because you could call it on any play in the game if you were to follow the exactly rules as they are worded.

Why is it that for two games in a row, GT has dominated the stats, but can't reflect that in the score? Against Duke we dominated almost every stat. At half time, it was greatly in GT's favor but only lead by three. Couldn't break away in that game until halfway through the 4th. Against UNC had a missed FG and a returned punt. But were better in yards, TOP, YPP, etc. and had two turnovers to none. Still tied with less than one minute remaining.

If just seems very odd to me that we have better stats, and look like the much better team, yet still can't score points that match the look/stats.

KQ- They gave up field position several times including the punt return for a TD and GT missed a FG, that was probably about 17 points of swing toward UNC and GT only had one momentum swing of 7 points in the positive. That would be the main reason. Same thing happened in the Duke game.

I get wanting to run clock, but the playcalling was WAY too conservative with Pyron in the game. Everybody talks about how Pyron practices and how he prepares as if he was the starter.

Why do you think they were so careful with their playcalling? Was it just focusing on running clock? Uncomfortable with lack of gametime experience in 23 and 24?

If (god-forbid) King can't go next week, what might the coaches hope to see from Pyron this week that they don't see every other practice with how he already preps?

KQ- That is a question for Brent Key and Buster Faulkner, I'm not sure why. Maybe looking at the game again might yield some answers, the substitution penalty that was Buster's fault killed that one drive when they were in 3rd and 1 and had two plays to probably pick up that first down. The D was playing well and they were slowing down a little offensively and it seemed like UNC was all over the WRs and the screen game as well.

Is there a possibility that you allow your members to vote certain people off the board with stupid moronic comments and inappropriate behavior? I would be happy to pay the lost revenue you would incur!

KQ- There is an ignore button that you all can use and I cannot, unfortunately. lol

Why do our fans hate winning?

KQ- I don't get all the handwringing. This team as I said at the beginning of the year is a 5-9 win team depending on how things play out. They are right in that line right now and anything above 7 wins was going to be a great season with the tough schedule set up.

Was the hole Jamal Haynes ran through the size of two or three Waffle House booths?

KQ- It was as big as the bar counter at a Waffle House. lol

Did Collins interact with any of our staff or players pregame or post-game or did he hide pregame and sprint to the locker room immediately post-game?

KQ- He hid like I thought he would. He didn't come out until the full team came out for warmups and he stayed on his side of the field with his players. I saw zero interaction. Maybe there was something after the game, but I doubt it was much.

What round do you think Omarion Hampton goes in the draft? They better hope he doesn’t go down. He’s really impressive.

KQ- He is probably a 2nd or 3rd round pick because the NFL doesn't value RBs and he has a lot of miles on his tires as well. He is closing in on 3,000 career yards rushing and will go over 500 rushing attempts in his career in the next game, that is a lot.

Anything you're aware of that's preventing Anthony Carrie from seeing the field? We ran the ball almost 50 times against UNC and he wasn't out there, and I don't think he ran against Duke or Louisville. Seems like he's at the very bottom of the depth chart, which surprised me after all the positive things we heard about him in the off-season.

KQ- He is not at the bottom of the depth chart, Anthony is 3rd right now behind Haynes who was the ACC POW and Alexander who was running for over 6 yards per carry. Most teams do not play 3 RBs in a game unless it is a slog with a lot of long drives. The two RBs had 29 carries 19 and 10 each, that is a pretty normal workload. I get people being excited to see him but Alexander is ahead of him right now and has a better grasp of the offense.

I know it really doesn’t matter, but why does Harrison Moore have to change numbers? Could he not report as eligible to the ref and be fine?

KQ- College does not have the same rules as the NFL where they'll just announce that #78 is eligible for this play when they bring in an extra OL so when Moore was coming into the game against Duke as an extra OL he could not run routes or catch a ball beyond the LOS. By switching to a non-lineman # he was eligible and they had him out in the pattern a few times.

I was curious so I checked. We're No. 32 in the country at 444.6 ypg, 4 spots behind UGA and ahead of Bama, USC and Mizzou just at a quick glance without scrolling further. Our QB has been dinged all year and- something I think people aren't talking about enough- our second best offensive player (#11) is finally 100% healthy and it's showing. That's going to be big for us down the stretch.

We're 41st in the country, 7 spots behind UGA, at 32.9 ppg. Don't really care to get into the minutiae of who has inflated our numbers, bc everyone in the country has played creampuffs like VMI that has boosted their numbers at this point. I would imagine we've improved on 2023 to this point running what we've been running within the framework of what is going to make our offense successful.

Gonna be a big test this weekend against a ND defense that has given up the 11th fewest ypg on the season and 11.7 ppg tho I think they were fortunate to get A&M Week 1. Louisville put up 24 against ND on the road and outgained them 395-280.

As a reference, Duke is currently at No. 25 ypg defense and Louisville No. 43. GT...No. 36!

Saturday could be a slog. Limit mistakes and STs have GOT to play clean.

Shocker, Notre Dame has a bunch of four stars all over the field. They are playing some youngsters though on both sides of the ball.

It's all the same as the UNC game so no clarity on any injuries or anything like that. (I know it's the same as UNC game because when I saved off the PDF, it saved as GT-depth-UNC.

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Not to create another thread but curious what the sentiment is. I fall into don't like it but understand why and appreciate J Batt's efforts to make us solvent.

So as not to have two threads going, pls just vote in this one and keep the comments in the other.

He now holds offers from 10 different schools, including Georgia Tech and Georgia.

Mark Schlabach ESPN- Sun Bowl vs Washington (12/31)
Athlon- Duke's Mayo Bowl vs Rutgers (1/3)
CFB News- Duke's Mayo Bowl vs Indiana (1/3)
Brad Crawford 247- Holiday Bowl vs Washington (12/27)
Kyle Bonagura ESPN- Fenway Bowl vs Tulane (12/28)
Brett McMurphy Action Network- Military Bowl vs Navy (12/28)
Jerry Palm CBS- Military Bowl vs Memphis (12/28)

Haven’t seen him around JOL in over two weeks. Hope he is ok.

I forgot to mention this, I talk about the QB deal without giving away anything I haven't said already and more. 22-minute mark

……and I Feel Fine.

We have to fill the $20m NIL revenue gap somehow folks. To quote a wise old ball coach, “it is what it is”.

How do we get our tickets!?

Anybody know if there's anywhere to watch a replay of the game on demand? I haven't seen anything on Youtube other than condensed game/highlights. I wasn't able to watch until mid 3rd quarter and would like to go back and re-watch the 1st half.

I'm back at OTE Arena today for some preseason action.

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Slot type committed to Louisville, McKnight reoffered him

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THE FLATS – Georgia Tech redshirt juniors Jamal Haynes (Loganville, Ga./Grayson H.S.) and Keylan Rutledge (Royston, Ga./Franklin County H.S.) have been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Running Back and Offensive Lineman of the Week, respectively, for their roles in the Yellow Jackets’ 41-34 ACC win at North Carolina on Saturday.



Haynes rushed for a career-high 170 yards in the victory, including one of college football’s signature plays of the season to date, a 68-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds to go in the game that broke a 34-34 tie and lifted the Yellow Jackets to the thrilling win. Haynes’ 170 yards came on just 19 carries (8.9 avg.) and included a pair of scores with a 4-yard touchdown to go along with the game-winning 68-yarder.



Haynes’ 170 yards at UNC came on the heels of him matching his previous career high with 128 yards on ground the previous week versus Duke. With 298 yards over the last two games, Haynes has moved to fifth in the ACC with 536 rushing yards this season. He also ranks second in the ACC and 18th nationally with seven rushing touchdowns and eight total touchdowns on the season. His 298 rushing yards in October lead the ACC and rank third nationally.



Rutledge helped pave the way for Haynes’ 170 yards on the ground and the Yellow Jackets’ 371 rushing yards as a team, including a key block on Haynes’ game-winning touchdown run. Behind Rutledge – the Yellow Jackets’ right guard – and the rest of Tech’s offensive front, the Jackets posted their highest rushing total in nearly four years, dating back to a 377-yard rushing performance against Duke on Nov. 28, 2020. Tech averaged 7.7 yards per rush in the dominant ground performance at UNC and also did not allow a sack against the Tar Heels.



For the season, Rutledge has not surrendered a sack and allowed just two quarterback hurries in 206 pass plays according to Pro Football Focus, good for a 99.2% efficiency pass-blocking efficiency rating. On the ground, Rutledge has helped Georgia Tech rush for 204.4 yards per game, good for tops in the ACC and 25th nationally. The Jackets have rushed for a whopping 616 yards over the past two games (245 vs. Duke on Oct. 5 to go along with the 371 yards at UNC).



The ACC weekly award is the second of Haynes’ season and career (he also earned the honor vs. Florida State on Aug. 24) and the first of Rutledge’s career as a Yellow Jacket.



Georgia Tech return home this Saturday to face No. 12/11 Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.

Fire away

I was only able to watch the game on mute while busy with other things. What is with all of the complaining about the management of the game? The conservative calling in the last few possessions? Or were there other issues? Serious question.

DB is a thin position for ND already. This could be a huge blow for them. He is also one of the captains of the defense. The will be starting two freshman CB's now I believe.

Good
- WE WON. 5-2 with a chance to really make a statement next week vs ND. Not sure if you noticed Bama and even GA struggling against bad teams and we don’t have their talent discrepancies

- Running game is back

- We got QB pressure and turnovers

Bad:
- playing with our food nearly cost us. Dumb penalties, special teams issues, and coaching mistakes

- Efford is great against the run but struggles everywhere else. Brooks refuses to cover his area in zone and can’t tackle.

Ugly (Geoff)
- STOP KICKING FROM THE RIGHT HASH
- 3rd and forever doesn’t mean to gift them 20 yards
- Pyron is not a RB. Let the guy be a QB too.
- Throw deep jump balls to people over 5’11, Please. You have like 3-4 guys over 6’3. Try it with them at least once
- GEOFF COLLINS. we owe you a few more million but thanks for being so terrible that FB reputation harmed our academic reputation. Cabrera is hellbent on removing your stench

I have not seen anything in the North Carolina media outlets about GC3 and backlash related to his defense. Has anyone else seen anything, where I would have to believe the ytd. results and the current talent on the unit would put him on a very hot seat.

CHARLOTTE- Georgia Tech men's basketball coach Damon Stoudamire spoke to the media and gave some additional time to local media at the ACC Tipoff on Wednesday to share his thoughts on the state of men's basketball, his Yellow Jackets and college sports in general.

Damon talked about recruiting and he said that people are not focused on the right things and relationships with the kids are part of the development process not just hoops, he would rather lose a kid for being honest with him (which happened) and he had one who left after last season that he invested heavily in that frustrated him (I believe this is Tafara Gapare) and that kid let outside sources change what he thought and he stuck with him through struggles to help develop him for the future so that is frustrating.

He told a story about Daniss Jenkins who was a star player at St. John's for Rick Pitino last year. He said that he went to Dallas and scouted the kid and offered him when he was at Pacific after watching him play after just five minutes of action. He told Jenkins that every other school in the area was going to offer him but to stick with him because he believed in him and people were just going to offer because he offered and they didn't want to be outsmarted in their backyard by Damon. Damon said he won 23 games with him as a freshman and then had him go to a JUCO when he left for the NBA because it was what the kid needed.

Damon then told the media he can take chances on kids like Nait George, but at Duke or UNC it is a lot harder because so many people care and they care about stars and all of that, it is hard to take it on the chin if you miss on a lower recruited guy at Duke or UNC and you'd have to have a thick skin to do that. He said his track record is pretty good on finding these kids and even someone like Baye Ndongo wasn't a sure bet because Baye was coming off the bench behind a McDonalds All-American and was a bit of an after thought, he became one of 16 freshmen in ACC history to average 12 and 8 and the other 15 all made the NBA.

On Atlanta being a hotbed for recruiting, he said it is definitely not Baylor and what Coach Drew had to do there plugging away on 50 to 150 kids. He said there are a lot of stereotypes they battle because it is a hard academic school but every kid has to go to class and everything comes through Atlanta and they are going win some and lose some and there are some Atlanta kids who want to leave the ATL, but there a lot that are pure Atlanta kids that just want to be there because Georgia Tech is Atlanta. He said that kids tell him that Atlanta is killer and why would they go anywhere else and there are some kids who are good enough to go anywhere they want to and you have to respect that, but he is trying to build Tech up to be one of those places those kids want to go to as well. It won't ever been easy and you can't be complacent.

On how close GT is to turning the corner, Stoudamire said the ACC needs Tech to be successful, it is the biggest market in the league and everything goes through Atlanta. When Tech has been successful it has been good for the league and made the league better. You always got Duke and Carolina on the main stage, but when Tech is really good they usually make a run or two and they were like that in a consistent window for 8 to 10 years where you could pencil them in as a tournament team that could make a run and he doesn't believe they are far from that.

Damon said he screwed up the scheduling last year with the long Christmas break after Hawaii and that cost them out of the gate in ACC play at FSU. He said that he wanted to be home for 12 of the first 15 games and then get a game in during Christmas break before they start ACC play. He thinks you can create some momentum that way. He thought he killed their momentum coming off the trip to Hawaii last year where they played for the title in the Diamond Head and were rolling.

Damon was asked about former players coming back to Tech to be around the program or give money and Damon said he wants all the former players to come back and he doesn't think it is appropriate to ask a man for his money, but he is happy to ask them for some time to give back to the kids and share their experiences so that is what he tries to do. He said that Derrick Favors has been coming back around and has been exploring coaching with Paul Hewitt in the G-League and Favors is one of his favorite former GT guys and he took him to dinner and said Derrick you are an Atlanta guy and he left so young chasing that NBA dream he needs to share that experience with his younger players and he has been doing that along with Dennis Scott and some former walk-ons as well. He tries to leave the gym open for former players (there are always guys around playing hoops in there). Damon said he remembers when GT and Arizona were the spots to go to for a young point guard and he is trying to bring that back.

I asked him about his scheduling and why they opted for all the home buy games and he said that with the 20 ACC games and the other games they had locked, UGA, Cincy and the Northwestern game in Milwaukee and an SEC game that was likely to be on the road he wanted to not overschedule. He had a feeling they would end up with a tough ACC schedule and they got at UNC and Duke in the first couple of league games. He said Cincy is supposed to be good and Georgia you never know they could be good and Northwestern and at Oklahoma so that was pretty good scheduling and they've got to handle their business.

On what he is changing from year one to two in the ACC coaching, Stoudamire said he is going to be less tolerant of things. He said a few times last year he let some things slide and by the end of the year he was down to play the guys who were still giving it their all and were invested and he was investing in them and three of them decided to come back, he said he isn't going to tolerate the lack of attention to detail, he said they aren't skipping things and they have to create good habits and at times they looked lost last year from bad habits.

On beating UNC and Duke in his first season, he said it meant a lot to him but not for the reason people think, he grew up on the ACC even though he was a West Coast kid and wanted to play in the ACC and admired the conference and Duke and Carolina were rolling back then with some many great players so it was more nostalgic for him and about the past than just say beating Carolina or Duke. He said the Carolina game in particular because Baye Ndongo was out with a concussion missing like 37 minutes of that game. He said he thought the best win of the season came at Wake Forest because they lost to them at home and the circumstances around that loss and they had to put on their big boy pants to beat them up there and Wake was playing to get into the NCAA Tournament and needed that game desperately. He said winning at Clemson was the other one that stood out to him. Those were tough places to win and huge wins for the team.

I asked him about Duncan Powell and he said that Duncan is called the "Shag Man" and he isn't going to say he is rough around the edges, but he is different and you need guys like that. he has been a good addition and at his core he plays basketball with a chip on his shoulder and a big one. He is from North Carolina and he has a big chip on his shoulder and he is very coachable. He had heard all these things about him before he came and he hasn't seen any of that, he has been great and a good guy to be around and he also has two years left which is why they brought him in as well. He said if you want to understand Duncan you have to go to his IG page. He said he has carried a chip on his shoulder for a long time and he doesn't forget anything.

On Dyllan Thompson, Damon said he is in fact a walk-on and he can really shoot the ball and he wants to carve out his own niche. He is in a tough spot being compared to his mom Tina Thompson who is a half of fame player. Damon thinks he will eventually be able to help the program.

On Ryan Mutombo, Damon said he is just dealing with it as best he can.

On Doryan Onwuchekwa, Damon said that he has a chance to be special and has a little something about him, his competitive spirit and he just plays hard and works hard and isn't perfect but that is what he loves about him, he does his best to be perfect. He can shoot the ball, he can stretch it and he can rebound and he will be a really good player.

I asked him about Kowacie Reeves' spiritual journey, he said that he always felt like he had more than basketball going on and that is not normal at his age, the way he talks about stuff and what he talks about it s impressive. He went to Spain this summer with his class and lived there and he has always been a different kid, he said he doesn't put his view on other people and everyone else is respected and that is great. Reeves has written a book and is working on a second one.

I asked about this eclectic group he has put together and he said it wasn't intentional it just happened they have a cast of characters and you got Shag Man (Powell) on one end and then Wacie over there and guys like Baye are starting to show their personality too and DO (Doryan) is starting to show his personality now too, it is a team full of characters.