ATLANTA- Georgia Tech football coach Brent Key spoke to the media on Wednesday for the final time ahead of the rivalry game with Georgia on Black Friday in Athens.
"We are excited to go play a very good football and a very challenging game in a hostile environment and it is going to take everything we have and all our players firing on all cylinders playing with the fundamental basics of football that you have to play with. You can't try to do anything extreme or over our heads," Key said of the game on Friday. "We've got to play a solid game. We know it is going to be a challenge and we've had challenges this year so we need to go out there on Friday night and play to the best of our ability."
UGA football coach Kirby Smart said earlier in the week he expects a street fight between the two old rivals on the field in Sanford Stadium and Key agreed with that sentiment.
"That is the way games are when you play them the right way," Key said of Smart's comment. "There is nothing easy about the game of football. Football is for tough guys and we've had a lot of those games and they have had a lot of those games. We've watched them on tape, we've watched them throughout the season, so yeah, we are expecting a tough, physical football game. They pride themselves on being a physical team. They pride themselves on winning the line of scrimmage and they don't just say it, they back it up. Not just recently, they've backed it up for a long period of time so it will be a big challenge for us."
Key said one of the points he is making this week to his team is to use the emotion of the rivalry to fuel strong play and not get overly consumed by that drive to beat your rival.
"The big thing is taking emotion and using it as fuel. You don't want to play emotionally in games. Emotions get you out of whack and cause you not be disciplined. When you lose control of your emotional state, now everything else is going to go behind it. It is hard to think clearly when you are in an emotional state. I want the guys to get all of their emotions out prior throughout the week and that is why we practice the way we do and do the things we do. You have to turn those emotions into fuel and use that to propel you throughout the game and play to your best ability," Key said.
Key said that UGA is a very talented team and defensively they have guys who have played a lot of football and been very opportunistic all season. That is why they are top 10 team. Offensively Carson Beck is one of the best QBs in CFB and they've had some injuries of their own this season, but he expects them to be healthy and firing on all cylinders in that area. He said that Kirby Smart has done an unbelievable job there building up the program and it is his alma mater so he knows how much it means to him every single day and how much work goes into it every day and how important the UGA players are to Kirby and they will give GT their best shot on Friday night.
I asked about Taye Seymore and Warren Burrell, Key said that Seymore is day-to-day and was an emergency guy last week due to injury. He said that Burrell was out there practicing today (it should've been a walk-through type practice today so that ain't saying much) and he has improved since Saturday and he expects to have them both ready to go on Friday.
Key talked about Will Scissum who was named one of the captains, he thinks he is working on second masters at GT and has been here as long as Key has been back on the staff. He doesn't play and has barely dressed out for games this year but was voted as a captain and it says a lot about him. He is one of their signal guys and he takes it very seriously and stands in front of a mirror and rehearses his calls and he critiques himself and that is just who he is. He came here knowing he probably wouldn't play and barely practice at times and he works hard on his stuff every day staying for 30 minutes after practice to work on pass sets or run blocking, he just wants to be the best version of himself. Key said his dad has a long history in football and Will has never asked them for anything other than a chance to compete and he has made the most of it. He said he is a big presence in the locker room for the team.
I asked him about the core of this team being the OL/DL group that he has worked with every day for four or five years and how special that is, Key said that they had 15-16 guys get double digit votes for permanent team captains and several were OL/DLs and that is unheard of and that the way he wanted to build this program from the inside out because those are the development positions and they wanted to attack the weight room and build maturity and attack that part of it first. He said it has been special knowing the families and they way they do things to see those kids mature and the ride they've been on with them and the ups and downs and the good and bad of it. He said that built a lot of character for those players and it is a true testament for the guys who stuck around and stuck it out here.
On UGA's passing offense, Key said that Beck is a really good player and is very experienced and he has all those reps starring down the barrel of guys going after him and seeing coverages and pictures. He has a unique talent and a unique skillset and gets all the credit for the way he throws the ball in the passing offense. He said as a kid, Beck in HS he was a 4.6 kid who could really run and get out of trouble.
Key said that UGA has good players on the outside that can run and make plays and they have a good group of tight ends in the middle that they can distribute the ball to and a massive offensive line that works to grind teams down as the game goes on to make the pass rush less effective because they lean on you and wear you down. It is a complete package.
I asked about the UGA D that is down statistically from typical years and he said it is still Kirby Smart's defense and they make tweaks game to game, but he doesn't care what happened in the UMass game, he expects UGA to be very formidable and they will have to work hard to establish the LOS, they've got good players and a good scheme and are well-coached.
I asked if having success against Miami or at the time a highly ranked FSU team gives them more confidence as a team going into this and Key said that confidence comes from believing not necessarily having done things, but the games this group has won and how they've played all year has built a lot of confidence in the team and the way the plan and the process they are building here. Not being affected by the scoreboard, not being affected by the environment and honing in on the small details of what has to be done so those other things don't affect you. The guys believe in each other and they want to play for each other.
"We are excited to go play a very good football and a very challenging game in a hostile environment and it is going to take everything we have and all our players firing on all cylinders playing with the fundamental basics of football that you have to play with. You can't try to do anything extreme or over our heads," Key said of the game on Friday. "We've got to play a solid game. We know it is going to be a challenge and we've had challenges this year so we need to go out there on Friday night and play to the best of our ability."
UGA football coach Kirby Smart said earlier in the week he expects a street fight between the two old rivals on the field in Sanford Stadium and Key agreed with that sentiment.
"That is the way games are when you play them the right way," Key said of Smart's comment. "There is nothing easy about the game of football. Football is for tough guys and we've had a lot of those games and they have had a lot of those games. We've watched them on tape, we've watched them throughout the season, so yeah, we are expecting a tough, physical football game. They pride themselves on being a physical team. They pride themselves on winning the line of scrimmage and they don't just say it, they back it up. Not just recently, they've backed it up for a long period of time so it will be a big challenge for us."
Key said one of the points he is making this week to his team is to use the emotion of the rivalry to fuel strong play and not get overly consumed by that drive to beat your rival.
"The big thing is taking emotion and using it as fuel. You don't want to play emotionally in games. Emotions get you out of whack and cause you not be disciplined. When you lose control of your emotional state, now everything else is going to go behind it. It is hard to think clearly when you are in an emotional state. I want the guys to get all of their emotions out prior throughout the week and that is why we practice the way we do and do the things we do. You have to turn those emotions into fuel and use that to propel you throughout the game and play to your best ability," Key said.
Key said that UGA is a very talented team and defensively they have guys who have played a lot of football and been very opportunistic all season. That is why they are top 10 team. Offensively Carson Beck is one of the best QBs in CFB and they've had some injuries of their own this season, but he expects them to be healthy and firing on all cylinders in that area. He said that Kirby Smart has done an unbelievable job there building up the program and it is his alma mater so he knows how much it means to him every single day and how much work goes into it every day and how important the UGA players are to Kirby and they will give GT their best shot on Friday night.
I asked about Taye Seymore and Warren Burrell, Key said that Seymore is day-to-day and was an emergency guy last week due to injury. He said that Burrell was out there practicing today (it should've been a walk-through type practice today so that ain't saying much) and he has improved since Saturday and he expects to have them both ready to go on Friday.
Key talked about Will Scissum who was named one of the captains, he thinks he is working on second masters at GT and has been here as long as Key has been back on the staff. He doesn't play and has barely dressed out for games this year but was voted as a captain and it says a lot about him. He is one of their signal guys and he takes it very seriously and stands in front of a mirror and rehearses his calls and he critiques himself and that is just who he is. He came here knowing he probably wouldn't play and barely practice at times and he works hard on his stuff every day staying for 30 minutes after practice to work on pass sets or run blocking, he just wants to be the best version of himself. Key said his dad has a long history in football and Will has never asked them for anything other than a chance to compete and he has made the most of it. He said he is a big presence in the locker room for the team.
I asked him about the core of this team being the OL/DL group that he has worked with every day for four or five years and how special that is, Key said that they had 15-16 guys get double digit votes for permanent team captains and several were OL/DLs and that is unheard of and that the way he wanted to build this program from the inside out because those are the development positions and they wanted to attack the weight room and build maturity and attack that part of it first. He said it has been special knowing the families and they way they do things to see those kids mature and the ride they've been on with them and the ups and downs and the good and bad of it. He said that built a lot of character for those players and it is a true testament for the guys who stuck around and stuck it out here.
On UGA's passing offense, Key said that Beck is a really good player and is very experienced and he has all those reps starring down the barrel of guys going after him and seeing coverages and pictures. He has a unique talent and a unique skillset and gets all the credit for the way he throws the ball in the passing offense. He said as a kid, Beck in HS he was a 4.6 kid who could really run and get out of trouble.
Key said that UGA has good players on the outside that can run and make plays and they have a good group of tight ends in the middle that they can distribute the ball to and a massive offensive line that works to grind teams down as the game goes on to make the pass rush less effective because they lean on you and wear you down. It is a complete package.
I asked about the UGA D that is down statistically from typical years and he said it is still Kirby Smart's defense and they make tweaks game to game, but he doesn't care what happened in the UMass game, he expects UGA to be very formidable and they will have to work hard to establish the LOS, they've got good players and a good scheme and are well-coached.
I asked if having success against Miami or at the time a highly ranked FSU team gives them more confidence as a team going into this and Key said that confidence comes from believing not necessarily having done things, but the games this group has won and how they've played all year has built a lot of confidence in the team and the way the plan and the process they are building here. Not being affected by the scoreboard, not being affected by the environment and honing in on the small details of what has to be done so those other things don't affect you. The guys believe in each other and they want to play for each other.
