Georgia Tech football headed to hometown of coach Brent Key for its bowl game
Georgia Tech has been selected to play in the Birmingham Bowl, the ACC announced Sunday.
The Yellow Jackets (7-5) will face Vanderbilt (6-6) at 3:30 p.m. ET Dec. 27 at Protective Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN.
Tech is 20-15-3 against the Commodores and has won six straight in the series. Tech is also 12-0-1 in its last 13 against Vandy. The two programs have never met in a postseason game or at a neutral site.
Tech last played a postseason game in Birmingham in 1985 when they beat Michigan State in the All-American Bowl, also the last time the Jackets played a game of any sorts in the Iron City.
Brent Key, Tech’s second-year coach, is a Birmingham native and played high school football at Hewitt-Trussville High School. Key, 18-15 as Tech’s coach, received a contract extension Friday.
Tech wide receivers coach Trent McKnight is also an Alabama native and was a safety at Samford.
Georgia Tech at the Birmingham Bowl
The Yellow Jackets play Vanderbilt 3:30 p.m. Dec. 27 on ESPN. On Atlanta radio 680 AM, 93.7 FM.
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The Jackets have been off since Nov. 29 when they lost 44-42 to rival Georgia in eight overtimes at Sanford Stadium in Athens. That loss broke a short two-game winning streak that included victories over Miami and North Carolina State, respectively.
Vanderbilt is on a three-game losing streak, having ended the regular season with losses to South Carolina, LSU and Tennessee, respectively. The Commodores, coached by Clark Lea, were 6-3 on Nov. 2.
Tech is playing in a bowl game for the second season in a row, the first time that has happened since the 2013-14 season. If the Jackets win, they’ll have notched eight wins in a campaign for the first time since 2016. Tech has not won back-to-back bowl games since 2003-04.
NEXT GAME
Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt
Birmingham Bowl, Birmingham, Ala.
3:30 p.m. Dec. 27
ESPN, 680 AM, 93.7 FM
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