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.
Georgia Tech football provided one of the most improbable wins in college football history on Saturday night in Miami Gardens and it was totally on brand for Brent Key football and never give up attitude he has instilled in his brief tenure as head coach. Facing improbable odds at Virginia Tech a year ago before a dramatic comeback win or playing with QB3 and QB4 at North Carolina without the best receiver on the team, Key's squads are capable of playing with the big boys, especially on the road.
Tech's offense and defense are still a work in progress. Friend of the site @whiskeychef put it best to me this week. He said everyone has to remember progress is not a linear process. The embarrassing loss to Bowling Green triggered a move putting an old-school hard-nosed defensive coordinator at the helm of the defense in Kevin Sherrer and the team responded and played the best overall defensive game of the year against a very potent Miami offense.
The Jacket offense has been the bright spot most of the year though inconsistent at times and they struggled against a good Miami defense but helped with some short fields thanks to the defense and some key plays by Haynes King on a rare off night for him they made just enough plays to win the game.
This is still a flawed and as Key put fragile team. The one thing they could control was their effort and that ultimately won the day. Paul Moala who drew the ire of Tech fans for his honest take on the loss to Bowling Green had one of the best linebacker performances of the season and for a GT player in some time bouncing back from some rough outings.
The biggest difference defensively was the tackling in the secondary and how locked in they played. GT is still not great at covering for extended periods of time and gets mismatched some as Xavier Xavier Restrepo's 12 of 13 targets for 123 yards showed. He was automatic first down most of the time, but the DBs got their hands on balls and intercepted them. LaMiles Brooks looked more like the old Brooks and had a key interception. Jaylon King continues to make plays and Ahmari Harvey got his first pick as well. That was all encouraging.
Sherrer had them in a position to keep it competitive and they kept everything in front of them except for one play where #5 was misaligned pre-snap. That was a major improvement. Sherrer dialed up a zero blitz at the right time as well to force a Miami FG after a Haynes King interception that allowed Tech ultimately to win the game by creating that four-point swing margin in their favor. The Canes were just 1-3 in the red zone as well.
I didn't love the choice of the QB2 package with Zach Pyron in the situation they used it in, but Faulkner was trying to spark something and if the TE blocks the right guy, he probably scores on the play instead of getting tackled for a loss.
The running game is still almost non-existent on most downs unless King scrambles or keeps it. They cannot run inside with any effectiveness and that will become an issue as they play some better defenses in November.
I thought the receivers didn't have their best day either but Malik Rutherford and Christian Leary came up big in key situations following their training and playing in the moment with King.
This is a team capable of playing with every team on their schedule and they are still capable of some bad games and playing down to teams if they are not locked in. Key's job is too keep the team from getting too high or too low. That is what got them in the Bowling Green game IMO along with the horrid defensive tackling.
If the back seven can play above average the team should be able to get to a bowl game with the offense they have even with it not functioning at 100%.
The other big thing now is getting healthy for the Jackets. After the bye, WR Chase Lane and RT Jordan Williams should return to the lineup and at some point I expect to see Leo Blackburn this month at the earliest. That would be a huge boost to the offense.
In reality, they've played the last few weeks without both starting outside receivers Leo and Chase (but Singleton helped cover his loss in a major way) and without Jordan Williams basically the last three games at RT, the most experienced offensive lineman. That will help down the stretch if they can get some of those guys back on the field.
The bye week is well-placed.
I was up until like 5am last night off the adrenaline of watching that whole thing unfold, deleting a story and writing a new one from scratch. Much like the Miracle on Techwood, it was an improbable ending. Mario Cristobal made a terrible coaching decision, but ultimately Moala's effort, Kyle Kennard's recovery, King's moxy and his two Florida receivers' playmaking ability won the day and GT won the game and made the plays to win it. Cristobal made the critical error, but that was on him.
Cleaning up the penalties (false starts killed multiple drives for the offense or put them behind the chains) and finding a way to be more effective with the pass rush are good jumping-off points for the bye week now. Figuring out more of a run game would help as well.
Celebrate the wins, especially against ranked teams JOL Faithful. That was the most Georgia Tech ending ever.
The dark times of GC3 will take time to fully erase from the memory banks as Key builds his vision for the program and it will not be a straight line of progress. Understand that and extend a little more grace to the new guy like you did for a guy who turned out to be mostly full of shit. That's my ask.
Georgia Tech football provided one of the most improbable wins in college football history on Saturday night in Miami Gardens and it was totally on brand for Brent Key football and never give up attitude he has instilled in his brief tenure as head coach. Facing improbable odds at Virginia Tech a year ago before a dramatic comeback win or playing with QB3 and QB4 at North Carolina without the best receiver on the team, Key's squads are capable of playing with the big boys, especially on the road.
Tech's offense and defense are still a work in progress. Friend of the site @whiskeychef put it best to me this week. He said everyone has to remember progress is not a linear process. The embarrassing loss to Bowling Green triggered a move putting an old-school hard-nosed defensive coordinator at the helm of the defense in Kevin Sherrer and the team responded and played the best overall defensive game of the year against a very potent Miami offense.
The Jacket offense has been the bright spot most of the year though inconsistent at times and they struggled against a good Miami defense but helped with some short fields thanks to the defense and some key plays by Haynes King on a rare off night for him they made just enough plays to win the game.
This is still a flawed and as Key put fragile team. The one thing they could control was their effort and that ultimately won the day. Paul Moala who drew the ire of Tech fans for his honest take on the loss to Bowling Green had one of the best linebacker performances of the season and for a GT player in some time bouncing back from some rough outings.
The biggest difference defensively was the tackling in the secondary and how locked in they played. GT is still not great at covering for extended periods of time and gets mismatched some as Xavier Xavier Restrepo's 12 of 13 targets for 123 yards showed. He was automatic first down most of the time, but the DBs got their hands on balls and intercepted them. LaMiles Brooks looked more like the old Brooks and had a key interception. Jaylon King continues to make plays and Ahmari Harvey got his first pick as well. That was all encouraging.
Sherrer had them in a position to keep it competitive and they kept everything in front of them except for one play where #5 was misaligned pre-snap. That was a major improvement. Sherrer dialed up a zero blitz at the right time as well to force a Miami FG after a Haynes King interception that allowed Tech ultimately to win the game by creating that four-point swing margin in their favor. The Canes were just 1-3 in the red zone as well.
I didn't love the choice of the QB2 package with Zach Pyron in the situation they used it in, but Faulkner was trying to spark something and if the TE blocks the right guy, he probably scores on the play instead of getting tackled for a loss.
The running game is still almost non-existent on most downs unless King scrambles or keeps it. They cannot run inside with any effectiveness and that will become an issue as they play some better defenses in November.
I thought the receivers didn't have their best day either but Malik Rutherford and Christian Leary came up big in key situations following their training and playing in the moment with King.
This is a team capable of playing with every team on their schedule and they are still capable of some bad games and playing down to teams if they are not locked in. Key's job is too keep the team from getting too high or too low. That is what got them in the Bowling Green game IMO along with the horrid defensive tackling.
If the back seven can play above average the team should be able to get to a bowl game with the offense they have even with it not functioning at 100%.
The other big thing now is getting healthy for the Jackets. After the bye, WR Chase Lane and RT Jordan Williams should return to the lineup and at some point I expect to see Leo Blackburn this month at the earliest. That would be a huge boost to the offense.
In reality, they've played the last few weeks without both starting outside receivers Leo and Chase (but Singleton helped cover his loss in a major way) and without Jordan Williams basically the last three games at RT, the most experienced offensive lineman. That will help down the stretch if they can get some of those guys back on the field.
The bye week is well-placed.
I was up until like 5am last night off the adrenaline of watching that whole thing unfold, deleting a story and writing a new one from scratch. Much like the Miracle on Techwood, it was an improbable ending. Mario Cristobal made a terrible coaching decision, but ultimately Moala's effort, Kyle Kennard's recovery, King's moxy and his two Florida receivers' playmaking ability won the day and GT won the game and made the plays to win it. Cristobal made the critical error, but that was on him.
Cleaning up the penalties (false starts killed multiple drives for the offense or put them behind the chains) and finding a way to be more effective with the pass rush are good jumping-off points for the bye week now. Figuring out more of a run game would help as well.
Celebrate the wins, especially against ranked teams JOL Faithful. That was the most Georgia Tech ending ever.
The dark times of GC3 will take time to fully erase from the memory banks as Key builds his vision for the program and it will not be a straight line of progress. Understand that and extend a little more grace to the new guy like you did for a guy who turned out to be mostly full of shit. That's my ask.
