Across the Beat: Getting to know Georgia Tech
The first ACC team to make a coaching move this season scored what one of the most-surprising road wins of the season so far last week.
So what’s the deal with Georgia Tech, having fired Geoff Collins and won at Pittsburgh last week?
We’ll find out with the help of Kelly Quinlan, publisher of Jackets Online on the Rivals network (among other responsibilities which make him the MVP among publishers).
Here is our five-part Q&A:
1. Let’s kick this off with a simple vibe check: What’s the feeling around Georgia Tech’s program these days, given the rollercoaster of a fired coach and a road win over a ranked Pitt team?
Answer: The fans are ranging from cautiously optimistic to GT is back baby!
It is pretty funny to see how hard things swung in one game. Brent Key pushed the right buttons and fixed most of the major issues that have killed GT this season and for much of Collins' tenure in just three full practices.
The kicking game was on point for the first time since Paul Johnson's final season in 2018, the punt blocking was fixed with a scheme adjustment that was painfully obvious to make but the old coach didn't, and then the team played hard for the entire game and didn't play like a team waiting for something bad to happen.
The team has had this inability to play with confidence for extended periods of time and folding in during adversity throughout the Collins era and that was absent last week. Old habits die hard so I think people want to see what happens over the next few games as Key auditions.
2. Did anything drastically change under Brent Key? Or was last week’s win more about an emotional rallying point?
Answer: They played clean football and truthfully they caught a couple of breaks, like Pitt senior safety Erick Hallett II dropping two interceptions in his hands and another tipped ball that would've been momentum killers.
The Jackets cut down their penalties and they just let Pitt beat themselves. I think the kids were really playing for each other as much as coach Key and that was what he wanted as well.
3. It looks like GT’s defense, and particularly its pass rush, was the key against Pitt. Pro Football Focus recorded 28 pressures – was that anticipated, or was that a breakthrough moment?
Answer: They have been much better at rushing the passer this season in large part to the development of the defensive linemen in the program by DL coaches David Turner and Larry Knight and having a healthy Keion White on the edge.
White was brought in last year to be a dynamic pass rusher from Old Dominion but he injured his leg playing basketball and missed most of last year. He is a NFL-level talent as an edge rusher and he gives them something the defense has lacked for four years on the edge.
That opens up so much for the other guys and the younger DL linemen are now experienced guys with two years of tough lessons under their belts and they are getting four-man or five-man pressure with a linebacker at times. The pass rush has improved dramatically even through the first few games of the season.
This week will be a little more of a challenge with a running quarterback and that has been the great equalizer early in the season as they often get too aggressive and lose contain on running QBs.
4. Hassan Hall had 157 rushing yards against Pitt – more than he had in the first four games combined (103). What opened up against Pitt that wasn’t working previously?
Answer: He had one really long run, but really GT has three running backs they like, Dontae Smith who averages 6.0 yards per carry for his career and has a 100-yard game this year, Hall who is an all-around weapon and then Dylan McDuffie who ran for 1,000 yards in basically 6 1/2 games last year at Buffalo. Each game plan and the week of practice has dictated who starts.
In the Pitt game, Hall got a lot of his yards in the second half as the GT offense just kept chipping away and wearing down Pitt defensively.
5. How sustainable do you think the emotional response to the coaching situation can be?
Answer: That is the million dollar question and the one that will determine if Key can become the full-time head coach or just a guy keeping the seat warm for the next guy.
The reality is the ACC Coastal is garbage and anyone in the league right now except Virginia Tech and maybe Virginia has a chance to win it over the next 6-7 weeks. I can't even tell if Duke is good or they are just winning because Mike Elko is a good coach and they don't make any mistakes and make you beat them unlike the rest of the Coastal.
So I think this will be an interesting game for both teams. GT has played a pretty tough slate and sit at 2-3, exactly where I thought they would be through five games. This is a swing game for them if they want to go bowling and give Key the keys to the program.