SYRACUSE, N.Y. — In his first visit as head coach to a university renown for its school of communications, Georgia Tech coach Brent Key learned a valuable lesson about the power of words.
And that lesson is, be careful what you say around Syracuse coach Fran Brown. A seemingly innocuous comment that Key made about Saturday’s Tech-Syracuse game was turned into a personal affront and a rallying point for the Orange, who rode the emotional edge to a 31-28 win over the Yellow Jackets at the JMA Wireless Dome.
“I want to make sure that everyone understands that, when you play us, just be quiet,” Brown said.
At his Tuesday news conference, Key first said that the game wasn’t going to be decided by plays, coverages and the like.
“This game’s about our ability to go be the most physically tough football team we can possibly be from 12 until about 4 o’clock on Saturday. That’s it. Hands down.”
Coaches make similar statements frequently. But here’s what Brown, the first-year coach hired from coach Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia, had to say about it afterward.
“I took it personal when he talked about, it wasn’t about X’s and O’s, it was about coming up here and being physical and tough for four hours. We’re from the Northeast – like, what do you mean by that? Like we don’t play football. Like we’re not physical and tough. I took that very personal.”
If this were a courtroom TV drama, Brown would be sitting in the witness stand, Key’s attorney would dryly read his comment, hand Brown a copy of the transcript and say, “Now, Mr. Brown, for the benefit of the jury, can you point out where coach Key said or even implied anything – anything – about the lack of toughness of football teams from the Northeast?”
It was as though Brown went to see “Frozen” and when someone asked him about it, he said, “By the end of it, all I wanted to do was wipe that smirk off that smug snowman Olaf’s face.”
In fairness, Key probably set him off. On Monday, Brown – who played on defense for Western Carolina in 2004, the same year that Key coached running backs and tight ends for the Catamounts – spoke with generosity toward Key, saying that he was “a part of just helping me become successful.”
On Tuesday, when Key was asked about Brown, he gave an answer that, while apparently honest, did not respond in kind.
Key said of Brown that “I remember he was a good football player,” that he was an older player on the defense while Key coached on offense, he was on the Catamounts staff only briefly and that it was a long time ago. He did also later praise Brown’s team for its physical play. But you could understand why Brown, given that he seemingly went out of his way to complement Key, might have been irked.
And thus, the seeds of enmity had been planted. Syracuse tight end Oronde Gadsden II said that Brown played Key’s quote “over and over and over and over and over at practice through the week. He just kept getting it through our heads.”
And the result?
“It looked like we were just the more physical team out there, especially on the last drive of the game,” Gadsden said.
And, ultimately, that was the part that mattered. However much Brown might have played with Key’s words, it was a masterful stroke. It achieved the response he was looking for.
On Saturday, Syracuse was the tougher, more physical team, undoubtedly playing with an edge supplied by its coach. The Orange outperformed and outcoached the No. 23 Jackets, who took their first loss of the season after a hopeful 2-0 start. After making the Top 25 for the first time since 2015, they’ll fall out after one week.
Two second-half plays told the story. In the third quarter with the Orange ahead 21-14, Syracuse faced a fourth-and-1 from its 44-yard line. Quarterback Kyle McCord handed off to wide receiver Zeed Haynes on a quick-hitting jet sweep that caught Tech off guard. Haynes dashed around the right end for an 11-yard gain and a first down. Syracuse finished the drive with a field goal, one that proved decisive.
In the fourth quarter, Tech was down 24-14 a couple of minutes into the period. Key decided to go for it on another fourth-and-1, this from the Tech 35. At the snap, Syracuse linebacker Fadil Diggs trampled the Tech offensive line to bring down running back Anthony Carrie for a loss. Taking over at the Tech 32, Syracuse drove for a touchdown and a 31-14 lead with 8:39 to play that went a long way to putting the game out of reach.
Tech’s superior special-teams play – defensive tackle Zeek Biggers blocked a field-goal try and a punt and the Jackets recovered an onside kick late in the game, although kicker Aidan Birr missed a 45-yard field goal at the end of the first half – gave the Jackets a chance on a day when the rest of the numbers were heavily in Syracuse’s favor.
Syracuse outgained Tech 515 yards to 371. The Orange piled up 27 first downs to Tech’s 19. McCord had the Tech defense on a string, completing 32 of 46 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.
“We knew they were a physical team,” Key said. “We had to be the more physical team coming in here. That’s what we can control. We control that. I thought, at times, we really showed that we were not.”
It’s a disappointing loss for the Jackets. But it’s one game, and it’s early September. There were plenty of lessons from Saturday’s loss for Key and his team to apply going forward.
Judge Brown all you want, but Michael Jordan made a career out of motivating himself with perceived slights. Closer to home, former Tech coach Paul Johnson was another.
When Syracuse comes to Tech next season, motivation shouldn’t be a problem. For either side.
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