Georgia Tech heads to Blacksburg on Saturday with a few clear pressure points in place, and the good news for the Yellow Jackets is that one of them has started to look a lot healthier. Over the last three games, the offense has put up 44, 27, and 28 points, a stretch that suggests the unit may have finally found its footing.
That trend showed up again against Duke. Georgia Tech managed 383 total yards and answered a late Blue Devils lead with a game-winning drive.
The run game was a big part of that night, piling up 165 yards and leaning back into the identity Brent Key’s team is built around. The Yellow Jackets also found the end zone on the opening drive for the first time in nine games.
It wasn’t flawless, but it was productive, and lately that has been enough to keep the offense moving in the right direction.
Saturday will be another test of whether that progress is real. If Georgia Tech wants to leave Virginia Tech with a win, the offense is going to have to keep producing at the level it has shown in recent weeks.
The other side of the ball brings its own challenge. Georgia Tech’s run defense has quietly been trending up, too.
Over the past three weeks, the Yellow Jackets have turned in two productive showings against the run and held one of the nation’s better backs to 99 yards and 3.7 yards per carry. Before that, they limited Stanford to 86 rushing yards and kept Micah Ford to 55 yards on 19 carries.
That’s a meaningful step forward.
Now comes a different type of test. Virginia Tech’s rushing attack runs through Jeffrey Overton Jr. and Marcellous Hawkins, with Overton Jr. leading the way at 528 rushing yards and four touchdowns. He has been the Hokies’ featured back, and Georgia Tech will need to slow him down if it wants to stay in control.
"Well, that was the whole thing. We talked about setting edges, constricted cutback lanes, and then the pursuit and being more than one hat on the ball with him and wanted to make sure that he felt us.
Held him to just under 100. I think it was 99 total.
You know, we weren't sticking enough on him in some of the coverage aspects when he was able to get out.
He's a good football player. I was looking for him after the game.
I didn't see him. But he's a really good football player.
They do a good job utilizing him in a lot of different ways. And all the defense did a good job at rallying to him," said Key.
Georgia Tech has also gotten timely help from different places on offense. Trelain Maddox and Jordan Allen were both major reasons the Yellow Jackets were able to finish the job in their last win.
Allen caught 10 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown, while Maddox delivered 10 carries for 81 yards and three scores. Week to week, someone new seems to be taking on the spotlight for Georgia Tech, and the same has been true on defense with Tae Harris, Tawfiq Thomas, and Jaylen Mbakwe.
That kind of spread-out production may matter again on Saturday. To pull off another win as an underdog, Georgia Tech will likely need another new name - maybe Kevin Roche Jr., Dalen Penson, Gavin Harris, Cayman Spaulding, Braylon Outlaw, Christian Speakman, or Taje McCoy - to make a play when it counts.
In Other News...
Georgia Tech Exposed A Duke Problem Right Before Rivalry Week
Georgia Techs 28-25 win over Duke did more than tighten the standings heading into rivalry week. It also pushed Manny Diaz into a broader conversation about where his team stands after two years with the Victory Bell and what needs to improve before the Blue Devils can turn the page to North Carolina. Diaz framed the loss as part of a larger correction process, while also acknowledging that the roster has been dealing with some notable absences.
Those injury issues have made the timing less than ideal. Duke has been without placekicker Cosme Salas and linebacker Elliott Schaper, two key pieces who would have mattered in a one-score game like the one in Atlanta, and Diazs comments made clear the team is still sorting through how to cover those gaps. With North Carolina next on the schedule and its strengths already on the mind, Duke is carrying more than just the disappointment of the Georgia Tech result into rivalry week. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Suddenly Faces A Major Void In Its Defense
Georgia Techs defense took a significant hit with the loss of Kyle Efford, whose presence in the middle of the unit had become one of the most reliable parts of the program. A three-time team tackles leader and an All-ACC performer, Efford brought both production and steadiness to Brent Keys defense, and his absence creates an immediate challenge for a linebacker group that had leaned on him in a major way.
Effords football playing days are over because of injuries he has battled for years, but he is not leaving the program. He will stay on as a player-coach and captain for the 2026 season, a role that keeps his leadership in the building even as Georgia Tech reworks its linebacker rotation. For a defense looking to replace that kind of voice and consistency, his continued presence softens the blow, even if the on-field void remains a major one. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Got Pulled Back Into Another Ugly Officiating Controversy
A postgame officiating debate from the Georgia-Alabama game spilled into something messier when David Pollack had to step in and clean up a viral fake quote making the rounds online. The former Georgia standout and current college football analyst used his official social media to make clear he had not accused referees of cheating, even as the real discussion around the play kept drawing attention long after the final whistle.
Pollacks clarification also underscored how quickly AI-generated misinformation can warp a sports conversation, especially after a high-profile SEC game. He did offer his football view of the contested moment, but the larger problem was the false attribution itself, which turned a standard rules argument into another ugly example of how easily bad content can spread. [Read more 🡒]