Saturday’s setback for No. 23 Georgia Tech could turn out to be an early turning point for the Yellow Jackets.
Coach Brent Key’s team came up short in its attempt to win a game as a national ranked team for the first time since 2015, losing 31-28 at Syracuse. It was a disheartening result for a team looking to go 3-0 for the first time since 2016 and 2-0 in ACC play for the first time since 2017.
How Tech responds to the loss in the coming weeks will be telling.
“With it being so early in the season, you can still win out, you never know what happens,” Tech quarterback Haynes King said. “Heck, might be in the ACC championship game. There’s no divisions anymore. But the main deal is let’s learn from it, let’s move on and we got a game to win this week. That’s the main focus right now. We have to learn how to get better as a team and, offensively, being more consistent. That’s gonna be our main focus this week.”
King had an exceptionally strong day for Tech in Saturday’s loss. The junior quarterback threw for 259 yards on 28 of 38 passing and completed a touchdown pass. He also ran the ball six times for 67 yards and scored on TD runs of 26 and 21 yards.
Those type of numbers would typically be enough to lead Tech to victory, but Tech’s offense was too inconsistent possession by possession. Tech’s defense, meanwhile, relapsed into its recent history by giving by 515 total yards and 386 yards through the air.
For a team that had done enough in wins over Florida State and Georgia State, respectively, to earn a national ranking, it didn’t do nearly enough to warrant keeping that ranking Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome.
“The thing we said was this year had to be about consistency,” Tech coach Brent Key said. “Consistency starts with the day, within the practice. Consistency within the week, being able to build week to week. Being able to focus in on your job and doing your job and knowing that each individual play is the most important play, and each individual day is the most important day. It’s taking everything back to a microscope of what we’ve got to be able to do.
“Consistency is something that we’re chasing, we’re working for it, but we’re not there yet. That was obvious in the game today.”
The Keydets of VMI will come to Atlanta having dropped their first two games of 2024. After a 5-6 season a year ago, VMI began the ‘24 campaign with a 41-7 loss at William & Mary and a 35-28 home defeat against Bucknell on Saturday. Led by coach Danny Rocco and competing in the Southern Conference in the FCS, VMI has averaged 178.5 rushing yards and 131 passing yards per game over its first two contests.
Saturday’s game will be crucial for the Jackets to get back on track considering a trip to No. 22 Louisville (2-0) looms the following week. Tech will then have an open week before four games in October which includes trips to North Carolina and Virginia Tech sandwiched around a matchup with No. 5 Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
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