Georgia Tech folks will remember this season. To bleed seven wins – including two major upsets and three last-gasp victories – from a stacked schedule, and to have done it despite a significant injury to its most significant player … well, who could ask for more?
Um …
Let’s be clear. Tech shouldn’t win in Athens on Black Friday. But what if it did?
The season began with the Yellow Jackets facing Florida State – this was when FSU was expected to finish first, as opposed to last, in the ACC – in Ireland. Tech won on the final snap. Two weeks ago, Miami and Cam Ward rolled into town unbeaten. Tech led for the final 42 minutes.
Tech isn’t ranked – it received one vote, that for the 25th spot, in this week’s Associated Press poll – but it’s a team nobody wants to play. The Jackets are clever. The Jackets will fight you. They’re rotating quarterbacks, which never works, but it worked against Miami and did again Thursday against N.C. State.
Haynes King can run but, owing to an iffy shoulder, can no longer throw downfield. The freshman Aaron Philo – who was supposed to be redshirting and maybe still is – has become the designated chucker. He ran three times on Tech’s final drive against N.C. State. The results: first down, first down, game-winning touchdown.
Even in a season that saw a bad loss at Syracuse, a not-great loss at Louisville and King-less drubbings versus Virginia Tech and Notre Dame, Tech has kept the faith. Much of that is due to Brent Key, the alum who became the coach and who has, without offering soliloquies about “branding,” branded this as a rising program in a league where anything seems possible.
Does “anything” include beating Georgia in Athens? Probably not, but the Bulldogs have had issues, too. If Tech could get ahead – several opponents have gotten ahead of Georgia – might it control the clock by mixing Philo throws with King runs? It might. Could it keep that up for four quarters? Unclear, but it would be fascinating to see the Jackets try.
Tech last beat Georgia in 2016 on Qua Searcy’s improv leap. The Bulldogs are going for a seventh consecutive victory against their neighbor. That would match their longest streak of running this state, previously achieved in the 1990s and again in the first decade of this century. Since 2000, Tech is 3-19 against Georgia – though all three wins came in Sanford Stadium. All were under Paul Johnson, who enjoys them still.
It wasn’t so long ago that we wondered if – not when, but if – Tech would ever again stare eye-to-eye with Kirby Smart’s Georgia. Last year’s installment marked the first time since 2016 that Clean Old-Fashioned Hate ended with a single-digit margin: UGA 31, GT 23. Was that a sign of a closing gap, or was it a one-off?
The Jackets aren’t great at defending. Both Miami and N.C. State gained 400 yards against them. Then again, Tech won both games. Against the Hurricanes, Tech held the ball for 34 minutes, 49 seconds. Against the Wolfpack, 33:20. Georgia ranks 102nd among 133 FBS teams in rushing offense. Just FYI.
Let’s be clear. I expect the Bulldogs to win. They have more at stake. But this is the first time Smart’s first season that I foresee a competitive game. If we’ve learned anything about these Jackets, it’s that they’ll compete.
With the degree of difficulty involved, Tech folks would be content with a 7-5 season. Should this team somehow get to 8-4, it wouldn’t just be remembered fondly. It would be remembered forever.
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