Months of off-season hype for Georgia Tech nearly went up in flames in the ugliest 15 minutes of offensive football you’ll ever see out of a Brent Key-coached team. 3 offensive possessions 3 Turnovers. Georgia Tech was fortunate the score wasn’t worse than 7-0. It could have easily been 14-0, 17-0 or worst case 21-0. On the road too? Yea teams rarely win -3 in turnover margin on the road.
This Georgia Tech team did just that in a heart-stopping 27-20 win in Boulder, as Haynes King threw for 143, ran for 156 and 3 TDs while scoring the winning TD on a 45 yard TD run.
Georgia Tech has more than proven that can compete with the nation’s best teams and win their fair share. It was against teams they were supposed to beat in particular on the road, that the Brent Key and the Jackets had to prove the program was growing. That’s what 7-6 teams do. They show potential, but there are still plenty of things to clean up.
Georgia Tech is by no means a finished product, but winning without your best game, against a P4 opponent on the road – that says something. Brent Key’s identity continues to be stamped all over this program, tough, gritty, and physical.
Where does Georgia Tech go from here? Well they also won without one of their best WR Malik Rutherford, with all the turnovers and all the mistakes. Next week is Gardner Webb, and Georgia Tech should roll in that one with Clemson looming. The ACC needs wins like these to set up those kinds of games later in the year. With SOS so critical, P4 wins are like gold for the schools, obviously, but also for the league. Georgia Tech got the ACC off on the right foot Friday with several other huge OOC games this weekend.
The Jackets are 1-0, and can enjoy watching the rest of the football schedule this weekend. Instead of a crushing loss, Georgia Tech has a gutsy P4 road win on its resume now.
