If there is any sort of silver lining to Georgia Tech’s 31-13 defeat by No. 12 Notre Dame, a loss in which the Yellow Jackets looked anything but themselves, it’s that the setback didn’t derail Tech’s continual efforts in trying to climb up the ACC standings.
The nonconference loss dropped Tech to 5-3 overall, but didn’t change its 3-2 mark in league play. That’s a mark the team can still improve over the next three outings, starting with a trip to Blacksburg, Virginia, this weekend to play Virginia Tech at noon Saturday.
But the Jackets won’t beat Virginia Tech, or anyone left on their schedule, with a performance similar to the one put forth Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Tech had two turnovers (interceptions thrown by quarterback Zach Pyron), botched a field goal attempt and had another one blocked, allowed a fake punt and a fake field goal to go for first downs, rushed for a season-low 64 yards and allowed the Fighting Irish to average 5.6 yards per play.
It was arguably Tech’s worst outing of the year, perhaps cause for concern with two-thirds of the season now gone.
“There’s a lot of season left, but we gotta get these things corrected and we’ve gotta be able to move forward,” said coach Brent Key, who is now 4-5 in nonconference games as Tech’s coach. “I say that every specifically — not move on, because move on means you don’t worry about it. That’s not the case. We’ve gotta move forward. We’ve gotta be able to work forward.”
Tech’s final four games are against teams that are a combined 21-8. All four of the games are against opponents who are .500 or better and two of the opponents, Miami and Georgia, are ranked inside The Associated Press’ top six.
The stretch starts with Virginia Tech. The Hokies have won two straight by a combined score of 73-28, they’ve been off since beating Boston College on Thursday, and they’re playing at their own Lane Stadium — traditionally one of the tougher venues in the ACC for road teams to conquer.
In Thursday’s win over BC, Virginia Tech put up a season-high 42 points, had 532 yards of total offense, ran for 368 yards (at 9.2 yards per carry) and tallied seven tackles for loss.
The Hokies had a losing record at the start of October under coach Brent Pry, in this his third season in Blacksburg. But Virginia Tech’s three defeats were by a total of 14 points, one was in overtime at Vanderbilt (now ranked in The Associated Press Top 25), and another was to No. 6 Miami. That game ended with a controversial overturn of an on-field ruling on a catch in the end zone — what would have been a game-winning touchdown.
Virginia Tech junior quarterback Kyron Drones has 1,319 passing yards and has averaged four yards a carry on 79 rushing attempts this season. Running back Bhayshul Tuten has 871 yards on the ground, 266 (a school record) of them Thursday in the win over Boston College.
Saturday’s matchup will be the second straight week the Jackets will face a quarterback who can do it with his arm and legs — Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard threw for 209 and rushed for 51 (and two scores) in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“I definitely feel like we can put a better gauge on the quarterback. (Leonard) got out too many times for our liking. That’s definitely what we’re gonna work on this week,” Tech defensive tackle Zeek Biggers said Saturday. “We gotta another quarterback (Donres) that’s pretty good, can throw the ball, can run, so definitely just working on that cage and keeping him in the pocket and obviously getting him down.”
The Jackets, 8-11 all-time against Virginia Tech, will make their ninth trip to Lane Stadium. They have won four straight trips there, including a 2022 game which Pyron started and led Tech to a 28-27 comeback victory.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech, noon, ACC, 680 AM, 93.7 FM
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