CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — If you were told in August that when Georgia Tech and Clemson face off in November, they’d have the same record – with the former owning a better conference mark – there’d be a lot of praise going coach Brent Key’s way.
Dominate Wake Forest on the road, then get dismantled by Bowling Green at home. Win in Miami (because Mario Cristobaol committing coaching sin), then Boston College crushes Tech at home. Follow that performance with a shoot-out victory against North Carolina.
“You can see the culmination of a couple weeks now,” Key said. “We’re starting to come together.”
The Yellow Jackets are over .500 and need one victory to secure a bowl berth. They’ve reached this point with one of the odder seasons you’ll see.
Dominate Wake Forest on the road, then get dismantled by Bowling Green at home. Win in Miami (because Mario Cristobal committed a coaching sin), then Boston College crushes Tech at home. Follow that performance with a shoot-out victory against North Carolina.
That leads us to Saturday, when Tech – a two-point underdog – played one of its more complete games in a 45-17 victory against Virginia. The defense certainly produced one of its better afternoons, holding the Cavaliers to 351 total yards, including 232 passing yards, but the story remains this offense.
Here’s where we’re going to give Key, offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and quarterback Haynes King credit: The offense is a blast.
Tech doesn’t boast the talent of Georgia, Ohio State or Washington. Yet this crew of transfers and unrecognized names has become one of the ACC’s better units. How can that be considered anything other than a resounding success in Key’s first full season?
The Jackets have scored 30 or more points five times. They’ve reached 40 three times. They haven’t been held to less than 23. The games they’ve lost can be pinned on turnovers and shoddy defense (and the offense failing to be spectacular, which is required for this team to defeat non-Cristobal programs).
The Jackets have produced at least 417 total yards in seven of nine games. Yet they’ve outgained their opponent in only four contests, which speaks to their defensive shortcomings. They’re 3-1 when outgaining their opponent. Notably, the Jackets were the second-best ACC team on third downs entering the day and went 8-of-15 in such situations Saturday.
All this is to say: Tech goes as its offense goes. The unit isn’t anywhere near perfect, but the staff and players should be commended for how it’s performed.
“Our offense is full of speed at the receiver position, running back and quarterback,” Tech defensive back Jaylon King said. “So them being able to spread the ball that way and still have a downhill tendency with the run game puts a lot of pressure on the defense because they can’t pack the box and they can’t put more DBs (defensive backs) on the field to cover. They have to pick their poison. Then once (our offense) goes (up) tempo, it’s even harder. Tempo is hard to guard.”
When the offense is clicking, it finds that sweet pass-run balance that King referenced. Since consecutive games with 69 and 99 rushing yards, Tech is back to gashing opponents with the ground game. It’s averaging 300 rushing yards over the past three contests, which includes a 305-yard showing Saturday.
The passing attack remains pristine. The quarterback King has thrown for 2,330 yards with a 22:10 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He has 546 yards rushing with five touchdowns. Tech had only 50 passing yards in the first half Saturday, but King had 81 rushing yards with two scores.
King is having one of the more underappreciated seasons nationally – and one of the better in Tech history. I asked King if he thought the offense would be this dynamic entering the season.
“Yeah, with what we do, it helps everything out,” King said. “Getting their defense running sideline-to-sideline. Now we run the ball, they’re tired. We want to pass the ball, we’re spinning the ball out on the perimeter, having them run like that, then we run it. It gets the defense off-track, and it makes them tired. When we pass the ball, the pass rush is not all the way – it’s still there, but not all the way there. Everything just complements each other.”
I can’t give Tech a pass for that Bowling Green debacle. It was inexcusable. But I also won’t let it overshadow a season that’s showed legitimate promise for a program that previously was stuck in mud. Key has the Jackets trending toward not only competence but being a fun product. That’s fun for the fans to watch. That’s fun for recruits who are considering Tech.
Frankly, if you’re going to be middling, it’s much more exciting to do it with a high-powered offense rather than turn every game into a defensive snooze. This offense is why Tech owns a winning record this late in the season for the first time since Paul Johnson’s final game.
“It was important that we were able to put one game behind us (North Carolina) and prepare the way you’re supposed to prepare, but also have the mindset, the right way to be able to play for four quarters,” Key said.
This team still is hard to figure. A pessimist might call the Yellow Jackets mediocre, considering the context of their wins and losses. An optimist might label them average, maybe even above since they’re 4-2 in conference play. Either way, it’s an improvement over the cringe-inducing previous era. One assumes this isn’t the best a Key team will look, which should leave Tech faithful hopeful.
The Jackets’ remaining schedule: at Clemson, versus Syracuse, versus Georgia. The middle game feels most winnable – the Braves still had a week remaining in the regular season the last time Syracuse won – though this also isn’t Clemson of yesteryear. Next weekend should be a good gauge for where Tech is.
“We can’t settle for just two in a row,” said running back Jamal Haynes, who had 119 rushing yards Saturday. “We have to be hungry and go into next week ready to work and, honestly, go 3-0.”
This feels like a 6-6 team, so the bet here is Tech reaches bowl eligibility. Big picture: Unless the next three weeks go really, really poorly, this offense should attract more talent. The defense has a long way to go, but a little more patience is afforded when the offense has made such progress. Overall, it’s encouraging that the Jackets have established a strength, one that’s an easy sell to players and fans.
