DUBLIN — One game into the awfully young 2024 season, Georgia Tech served notice that it may be a force to be reckoned with, and a possible ACC title contender, with a 24-21 win over No. 10 Florida State on Saturday at Aviva Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets got a last-second field goal off the right leg of Aidan Birr to beat the Seminoles, their first win over a top-10 team since beating No. 9 FSU in 2015. They got the victory despite falling behind 8-0 and then 11-7, and giving up a 21-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Second-year coach Brent Key said, however, the scoreboard throughout the day had nothing to do with his team’s mentality.
“We set our goals going into the season and they really had nothing to do with the outcome of the football game,” Key said. “We all know that’s what we want to occur, but our goal is to go out and play every play as hard as we can possibly play, not look at the scoreboard. A lot of times people hear that and think it’s kind of coach talk, but it’s starting to be ingrained in who we are. And they’re starting to understand that — the players are.”
Thanks to a thrilling win over FSU, Tech, which returns home to face Georgia State at 8 p.m. Saturday, has a chance to go 2-0 for the first time since 2016. Here are a few more notable takeaways from Tech’s win:
New Georgia Tech DC Santucci wins debut
Much was made about Tech’s offseason hiring of Tyler Santucci as new defensive coordinator. That hire looks real good after one outing.
Tech’s defense held FSU to 291 yards of total offense, its fewest in a regular-season ACC game since Nov. 6, 2021. The Seminoles had 58 yards rushing on their first offensive series, then just 40 rushing yards the rest of the way. The Jackets forced a turnover on downs, recorded seven tackles for loss, held FSU to 5 of 12 on third downs and forced two punts out of two third quarter FSU drives.
“(Santucci) talked to the defense (Friday) night and he said 166 days ago they started a journey. He told them their only goal was to be the best version of the 2024 Georgia Tech defense that they could be. Not to be anything more than that,” Key said. “After that meeting I told those guys, ‘I cannot wait to see you all go out on that field and play together as one.’
“You gotta stay in the moment and play the next play and I thought that’s what they did tonight. Huge credit to (Santucci) and his staff and the plan they put together.”
Santucci got pivotal plays from cornerback Ahmari Harvey, linebackers Kyle Efford and Trenilyas Tatum and safety LaMiles Brooks. Newcomer Romello Height had a sack wiped out by a facemask penalty. Freshman Tah’j Butler had a tackle for loss in his debut.
If there was one rough patch, it was during a fourth-quarter drive in which FSU converted two fourth downs to keep a game-tying drive alive. But all was forgiven after a winning effort by a new-look, new-attitude defense.
“I would say the biggest difference of our defense has nothing to do with football. It’s all just a connection,” Efford said. “We know what we’re playing for now. We play for each other. Regarding football, yeah, we got a new coach, and he put in a great scheme, but we truly bond together as well. I feel like that’s our biggest difference is how together we are. (Santucci) fostered that environment for us to come together.”
Chad Alexander’s debut showed ‘resiliency’ and ‘toughness’
Chad Alexander came to Tech as a walk-on running back out of Archer High School. He worked his way onto the Jackets’ special teams in 2023 and became an integral player. On Saturday, Alexander earned his first opportunity in the backfield and made the most of it by rushing for 41 yards on seven carries.
After backup running back Trey Cooley was injured early in the game on a kickoff return, Alexander was thrown into the fire in the second quarter. His first collegiate carry went for 16 yards on a second-down play from Tech’s own 47. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Alexander then made three crucial carries on Tech’s winning drive, two which gained first downs.
“He’s really a great example of who we are as a football team,” Key said. “We got a lot of guys that aren’t big enough and aren’t fast enough, might have been overlooked at another school and decided to come here. That’s who we are. He was running between the tackles and pushing the pile. Just the resiliency that he showed and the toughness that he showed — his first carry in a football game he’s getting positive yards and falling forward.”
(Haynes) King still on his throne
It wasn’t the flashiest of games statistically from Haynes King, Tech’s junior quarterback. But when it mattered most, the Texan delivered.
King had just 11 completions (tied for second-fewest in a game during his Tech tenure) for 146 yards (fourth-fewest in his time with the Jackets). But he ran the ball 15 times for 54 yards to force the FSU defense to honor the threat of the quarterback run.
On the final drive King had runs of 4, 7 and 3 yards as he orchestrated the game-winning series.
“He’s a really good quarterback. And, you know, obviously that dynamic of his game, of being able to run, he’s got great speed,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said. “Sometimes we were in position, but he did a big job of getting to the edge. That was definitely an X-factor in this game. And I thought he played at a very high level.
“Even on the time where he wasn’t necessarily the ball carrier, he still brings a dynamic where you have to — it forces you to account for him. It all starts with that quarterback, and I thought he did a really good job being efficient.”
For his performance, King was named the game’s player of the game.
Other notes
Tech’s win was its first as time expired in regulation since defensive back Lance Austin returned a blocked field goal 78 yards for a touchdown in Tech’s 22-16 win over No. 9 Florida State on Oct. 24, 2015.
The win was Tech’s first over a nationally ranked opponent in a season opener since a 23-14 win at No. 16 Auburn on Sept. 3, 2005.
The win was Tech’s first over a top-10 opponent in a season opener since a 24-21 win at No. 4 Alabama on Sept. 12, 1981.
The Jackets are 6-5 all-time when opening the season against an ACC opponent.
