Georgia Tech went on the road this afternoon to try and pick up their second straight win, but they fell behind Virginia Tech 24-3 in the first half and could not catch up and make the key plays they needed to in the second half before losing 34-24 to the Hokies.
After the game, Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key spoke with the media and talked about his team's loss.
1. On the defensive performance in the second half
Georgia Tech was terrible in the first half against the Hokies offense, giving up 24 points and allowing big plays. Things got a bit better in the second half and Key broke down what changed for his defense:
"We had more guys around the ball. And look, at the end of the day, in the second half, we were able to get pressure. When you're able to get pressure on the quarterback, it helps the back end out a lot. But in the first half, way too many times, it was one single guy. And reaching, lunging at the guy. We were in post-safety coverage, and the quarterback scrambles at one time. There was three missed tackles on that one. There was three on the running back, another play. So we came out in the second half and played tighter coverage, played more man coverage in the second half, and pressured more. And without pressure, we're able to get more hats around the football."
2. Red zone issues
Georgia Tech was plagued with red zone issues today against Virginia Tech. Trelain Maddox had a fumble in the back of the endzone that resulted in a touchback and Aidan Birr missed a short field goal, not to mention that they could convert other opportunities and score touchdowns. Key talked about his team's red zone struggles and what led to them:
"Well, I mean, down there four times, and we fumbled once going into the end zone. We fumbled on the one. We get the sudden change. We get the fumble and the punt return. And we run a little sweet play. Gives us yards. And then we got pressured on the third down. We're three and out on that drive. And you've got to be able to, the windows get tighter down there throwing the football. And we've got to be able to consistently run the ball down there and have a run game. And the throws can complement it down there.
And then the last one, or the next to the last one down there where we kicked the field goal, it's a 17-point game, and so still three scores. And if it had been kind of that probably three or four -yard range right there, that's kind of what we're looking at. And back further, you can go for it or not, but we go to kick the field goal and we end up pushing it. So we've got to be able to execute better down there. And that really comes in the first downs. First downs, you want to be able to get positive plays, positive yards, and then be able to do a better job running the football down there."
3. On the positives he can take away from the game
While the final score did not go the way that Georgia Tech wanted, there were some positives in this game. The second half offense was encouraging, Alberto Mendoza played perhaps the best game of his career, the defense got five sacks, and Trelain Maddox and Jordan Allen continued to show why they are some of the most talented players on that side of the ball. Key talked about what Georgia Tech can build on after the game:
"A lot of the team in the locker room when you lose a football game, it should rot your gut. I mean, you're supposed to be pissed off. You're supposed to hurt. But this team needs to look and say, understand, anybody can beat anybody on Saturdays. We've shown that we can play with anybody on Saturdays. And we can get in a hole and then turn it around and come out of it and play. But it's the consistency that goes through that.
And look, the outcome of the game is not what we wanted. But there were a lot of things in this game that we did a better job of. And I'm not sitting here trying to. to blow smoke by any means, right? But there was improvement made in places, and that's what you have to show the guys.
The guys have to understand that we improved here, here, and here, okay? And we didn't here. Well, let's find out why we didn't, right? But, I mean, building pressure on the quarterback was much better, right? The second half, what we did in the second half was better. But like I said, we've got to make some adjustments a little bit earlier going into the game with that play"
Georgia Tech will host Boston College next weekend for homecoming, with the game kicking off at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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