Georgia Tech played one quarter of magnificent football Friday. The other three were forgettable and familiar.
Louisville scored on 5 of 6 possessions in the second half while erasing a 28-13 deficit in a 39-34 victory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It took advantage of Tech playing on its heels and not on the front foot, not playing the exhilarating and hopeful ball it displayed during a fun 15 minutes before halftime.
“The second quarter we were on everything. We were on a roll,” Tech quarterback Haynes King said. “And then the second half, I feel like I gotta do a better job putting all the offensive players in better situations.”
The Yellow Jackets (0-1, 0-1 ACC) looked like a team poised to take the world by storm in the game’s second quarter. They found the end zone on four straight possessions and turned a 13-6 deficit into a 28-13 lead. King threw touchdown passes to Brett Seither, a Georgia transfer, and Chase Lane, a Texas A&M transfer. Trey Cooley, a Louisville transfer, ran the ball in from a yard out and then later from 23 yards out.
After each ensuing kickoff the Tech coverage unit turned to its sideline and asked for the white and gold faithful in the stands to get louder and louder – and they acquiesced, turning the venue into a true home game atmosphere.
But many of those diehards became fidgety and quiet as the clock ticked away in the second 30 minutes. The Jackets punted twice, missed a field goal, fumbled a possession away and turned the ball over on downs in the second half. They managed just 60 rushing yards over the final two quarters.
The Tech defense took on water while Louisville totaled 302 yards of offense, scored 26 points and averaged nearly nine yards per play over the final two quarters.
“I feel like we made the mistake of thinking we had the game at half. So once that outcome changed, we were really disappointed. That’s really the biggest thing,” Tech safety Jaylon King said. “And our biggest takeaway from that is going into the games now we get to a hot start. The game isn’t over until it hits all zeros at the end of the fourth quarter.
“Can’t be satisfied at halftime what the score is. Just gotta stick to the plan, execute.”
At the end of the night, Tech had outgained Louisville by 14 yards. It held the Cardinals to one first down on 11 third-down tries. It won the time of possession battle. It only committed two penalties to Louisville’s seven.
Yet the Cardinals, who won eight games and a bowl in 2022, changed direction coming into the second half by making a concerted effort to keep the ball on the ground. Tech’s offense, conversely, went suddenly stagnant.
Even after the Cardinals cut the score to 28-23, and Tech’s defense finally made a stop and forced a punt at the end of the third quarter, Tech couldn’t take advantage. King and the offense drove to the Louisville 19 but could only muster four yards in three plays.
Gavin Stewart came out and pushed a 33-yard field goal wide right. The Cardinals snatched momentum back by going the other direction in just seven plays to score the go-ahead touchdown.
“We’ll learn from this,” Key said. “We had a lot of new guys out there. They played a lot of meaningful downs tonight, a lot of downs. A lot of them had some big plays made by some new guys out on the field. It’s encouraging when those guys can go out and do that. But at the same time, we’ve got to be able to do it for the entirety of the football game.”
Tech now turns its attention to hosting South Carolina State at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Bulldogs, an FCS program, are 0-2 after losses to Jackson State and Charlotte, respectively.
The Jackets have not started a season 0-2 since 1989.
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