Boston College heads into Saturday’s trip to Georgia Tech with a little momentum after its win over Pittsburgh, but Bill O’Brien isn’t buying any idea that this is a soft landing spot.
After Tuesday’s practice, O’Brien made it clear the Yellow Jackets’ record doesn’t tell the whole story.
“I mean, this team is not what their record is,” O’Brien stated after Tuesday’s practice. “They are a very good team, lot of talent.
The Virginia Tech game they came storming back, had every chance to win that game. They beat Duke, who I think’s a really good football team.
So I think it’s gonna be a big, big challenge on the road in a place that’s very tough to play.”
Georgia Tech has been all over the map through its first six games. The Yellow Jackets opened with losses to Colorado and then-No. 18 Tennessee, rolled past Mercer, fell at Stanford, stunned Duke after a bye week, and then lost by 10 to Virginia Tech last week.
BC’s season has had its own uneven rhythm, too. The Eagles are 3-3 overall, and the path to bowl eligibility is right there in front of them. O’Brien, though, is keeping the focus on the opponent in front of his team, and that starts with the player running the show for Georgia Tech.
Quarterback Alberto Mendoza arrived from Indiana in the offseason after backing up his brother Fernando, who went first overall in the 2026 NFL Draft, won the Heisman Trophy, and a national championship. Mendoza may not be that exact kind of star, but he has been efficient and dangerous.
Through six games, the junior has thrown for 1,528 yards and nine touchdowns against only four interceptions, while completing 71.2% of his passes. He is comfortable in the pocket, accurate, and plays with the sort of calm that makes a defense work for every stop.
Georgia Tech also has talent around him, though injuries have changed the picture in the backfield. The Yellow Jackets usually lean on one of the ACC’s better running-back tandems in Justice Haynes and Malachi Hosley. Hosley, who earned All-ACC Honorable Mention last year after rushing for 697 yards and seven touchdowns on 98 carries, has been dealing with an injury that has kept him out for half of the season and is projected to miss Saturday’s game as well.
Haynes, a Michigan transfer, also sat out last week’s loss to Virginia Tech, but he appears ready to return. He leads Georgia Tech with 462 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 87 carries.
The receiving corps has produced its own breakout story. Sophomore Jordan Allen, a 5-foot-9 native of Lawrenceville, Ga., has already blown past his freshman numbers. After posting 304 yards on 22 catches last year, he has 38 receptions for 432 yards and a touchdown this season.
Dalen Penson, who did not play an offensive snap as a freshman, has added 340 yards and a score on 22 catches. Tight end Kevin Roche Jr., a 6-foot-9, 270-pound target from Darien, Conn., is third on the team with 241 receiving yards on 23 catches.
Defensively, Georgia Tech’s biggest issue has been stopping the run. The Yellow Jackets are allowing 179.0 rushing yards per game, which ranks 15th in the ACC.
Still, BC has to account for a few dangerous pieces on that side of the ball, starting with fifth-year defensive tackle Tawfiq Thomas. After three years at Louisville and the last two at Colorado, Thomas has become a real problem in the middle. He has 37 tackles, including 19 solo stops, and is one behind safety Tae Harris for the team lead.
Thomas has also piled up 7.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two quarterback hurries, one pass break-up, and one forced fumble.
Georgia Tech’s defense has also had to adjust after the medical retirement of linebacker Kyle Efford, a two-time All-ACC honoree and two-year captain who led the Yellow Jackets in tackles from 2023-25. Even though Efford has not played since Oct. 10 in the win over Duke, he still ranks fifth on the team with 27 tackles, along with a sack and two tackles for loss.
Senior defensive end Taje McCoy and linebackers Cayman Spaulding and E.J. Lightsley have stepped into bigger roles, but Georgia Tech is still searching for a way to replace what Efford brought to the defense.
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