Georgia Tech Falls To Orange
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Georgia Tech came into today ranked #23. They did not look remotely like a ranked team today. Both offense and defense struggled for huge portions of the game. This game was only close in the end due to great special teams play and some late game offense.
The game started like the Florida State game. Syracuse got the ball first and drove down the field with absolutely no issues to score an opening touchdown. Then Georgia Tech got the ball and returned the favor, albeit with more difficulty. The touchdown was scored on a Haynes King run where he nearly got taken down in the backfield, but was able to avoid the loss and hit the massive hole for the score. Syracuse then came right back and drove down the field again (you’re gonna hear that a lot) before stalling out with the help of a key drop (you’ll also hear that a lot). The first big play of the game for GT special teams came when the Orange tried to kick a field goal and Zeke Biggers got one of his big paws up there to block it. It seemed like momentum was with the Yellow Jackets. But it was not long lived.
A GT 3-and-out led to a punt and Syracuse drove right down the field to make it 14-7. Then GT had another short drive and punt and Syracuse went right down the field again 21-7. The Yellow Jackets offense got it together on the next drive with a long pass to Eric Singleton and Haynes King’s second long TD run. That got it back to 21-14. Syracuse got the ball back and GT was eventually able to get the stop (with the help of a key drop) and in the second big special teams play blocked the punt with a minute and a half left and the ball at their own 40. Some horrific time management led the Yellow Jackets to run out of time and have to have Aidan Birr attempt a 44-yarder which he missed. This will be important later.
It felt like the Jackets could take back the momentum with a score out of halftime, but instead they went 3-and-out and Syracuse led a long field goal drive to make it 24-14. Both teams punt their next drives, and GT starts to panic a little bit. On their next drive they go for it on 4th and 1 at their own 35-yard line and the play gets blown up. The Orange took advantage of the short field to score a touchdown and go up 31-14 with less than 9 minutes remaining. The game felt over.
Then the Yellow Jackets led a long TD drive of their own featuring Avery Boyd and Chase Lane making catches juuuuust in bounds to make it 31-21. With a two score game and just 5 minutes left Georgia Tech had to go for an onside kick. For the thrid huge special teams play Aidan Birr hit a beautiful low bouncer that popped up and knicked a Syracuse player and Georgia Tech fell on it. Then Georgia Tech had their best drive of the game as they go score a quick touchdown which is just what they needed to make it 31-28.
Georgia Tech kicked it deep with 2:30 left in the game. They needed a stop, but the defense couldn’t stop Syracuse all game and it didn’t start now. They got the Orange to 3rd and 10, but gave up a crossing pattern for 12 yards. They knelt out the game to finish it off.
This was a very disappointing game for the Jackets. This may have finished as a 3-point game, but it was not that close.
I’ll start with the defense. The run defense didn’t look great, but that was not the issue. The coverage was terrible, the pass rush was non-existent, and Kyle McCord did not miss any of the open receivers. Far too often GT’s linebackers were trying to guard a receiver or athletic tight end with no or poor safety help. The secondary struggled heavily with man coverage and they didn’t look much better in zone. Far too often they failed to get lined up before a play started or there was confusion about what they were supposed to be doing.
Onto the offense. Syracuse got run all over by Ohio and this offensive line has gotten a lot of praise so far this year. I take it all back. The offensive line was bullied today and Jamal Haynes had no room to run inside. A combination of Haynes King and Buster Faulkner did not want to throw the ball downfield leading to umpteen screens and quick hitters even though the Orange didn’t get a ton of pressure.
Brent Key’s game management was poor. The sequence leading into halftime was criminal. They were running the ball and doing short screens and left time run between plays with timeouts in hand. Late game he made some mistakes or questionable calls. He chose to kick it deep instead of going for a second onside kick. On second down on Syracuse’s final drive they got hit with a chop block penalty. Key declined the penalty to make it 3rd and 10 which they converted. That was at least arguable.
The special teams was the main bright spot and even then you had Birr missing a make-able field goal.
Syracuse played pretty well. Kyle McCord looked great. He only made a handful of tough throws, but he did when necessary. He mostly hit wide open guys right in the hands. He was 32/46 for 381 yards and 4 TDs and honestly that would have been even better if Syracuse didn’t have a case of the dropsies. They were also successful running the ball. On defense they mostly rushed 3 and dropped 8 which turned out to be a great strategy. They crashed the line on runs and Fadil Diggs was a real difference maker with 2 TFL, one of which was the fourth down play that he blew up.
There was a lot going on in this game and most of it was bad. Next week they are home against VMI and they need the easy game to work on some things get back to doing what works. This was a disappointing loss, but the season is far from over.