Georgia Tech heads back home Saturday night with Louisville coming to town, and the spotlight is squarely on what the Yellow Jackets do at quarterback. After the offense stalled badly in recent weeks, a change under center is very much on the table.
That possibility is hard to ignore after the switch from Alberto Mendoza to Grady Adamson still left the offense stuck under 100 yards. Mendoza’s latest outing against Pittsburgh only sharpened the concern.
He finished 16-25 for 81 yards with a 91.2 passer rating, and ball security was a major issue. Mendoza fumbled four times, recovered three, and lost one.
He never looked settled in that game, and Georgia Tech’s offensive line didn’t do him many favors. Protection broke down, the run game never got rolling, and Mendoza looked like a quarterback trying to force something into existence without much help around him.
Adamson, meanwhile, at least brings a running element that changes the picture a bit. Mendoza is the stronger passer, but Adamson offers something this offense has lacked this season.
Whether Georgia Tech mixes both quarterbacks in practice this week or leans more heavily one direction, the staff has to be weighing a move.
The bigger issue is that the quarterback situation is only one piece of a much larger mess. Georgia Tech keeps running into the same problem: one issue gets addressed, and another one pops up. The Yellow Jackets have been searching for answers all season, and too often the answers haven’t lasted long enough to matter.
That shows up on both sides of the ball. The defense has struggled to stop the run, generate pressure, and create negative plays with any consistency.
Big plays have piled up in both the passing game and on the ground. On offense, the inconsistency has been just as obvious, and Mendoza’s recent struggles have only added to the frustration.
The offensive line has not played at the level expected, and injuries have been part of that story too.
It’s a rough place to be for a team sitting at 2-6, with bowl eligibility hanging by a thread. That’s why the final stretch starts to matter in a different way. Georgia Tech may need to use these last four games to figure out what it has for the future.
That means giving more chances to some younger players who could be part of the next step forward. Trae Stevenson Jr., Tae Harris, Braylon Outlaw, Christian Speakman, Jordan Allen, Dalen Penson, Josh Petty, Kevin Peay Jr,.
Kevin Roche Jr., and Darnell Collins are among the names worth watching. Not all of them will be available because of injuries and other factors, but several could see meaningful snaps down the stretch.
Those reps could be valuable as the staff looks ahead and tries to build something more stable.
"You know, you're looking at roster, you're looking at staffing, you're looking at, uh, recruiting, transfers, and how all those things. From a structural, you know, nuts-and-bolts people's type, and it's done in a lot of ways, which is always a constant thing to look into the program and plan ahead."
Georgia Tech and Louisville kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, with the game set for ACC Network.
In Other News...
Georgia Techs Late Season Slide Is Raising Pressure Around Brent Key
Georgia Techs late-season stumble has turned a promising year into an anxious finish, with the loss to Pittsburgh adding another layer of pressure around Brent Keys program. The Yellow Jackets have now dropped three straight, and what once looked like a path toward a comfortable bowl berth has become a scramble to steady things before the schedule runs out.
Around the ACC, the weekend only sharpened the stakes. Pittsburgh clinched bowl eligibility with its win over Georgia Tech, while Syracuse kept its own postseason hopes alive by beating SMU and Clemson moved closer to qualifying with a win over Florida State. For the Yellow Jackets, the bigger concern is no longer what the conference race looks like around them, but whether they can avoid a finish that would leave them on the outside looking in. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Heads Into Clemson With One More Chance To Respond
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The next few weeks now carry extra weight, starting with a matchup against Clemson and then Louisville after that. Clemson has had an uneven season of its own, and Georgia Tech can still point to its edge in the all-time series as a reminder that this rivalry has not always gone the way the rankings suggest. What the Jackets need now is a response, even if the details of how they get there are still the part left to be sorted out. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Heads Into Louisville With One Problem Still Looming
Georgia Tech heads into Louisville trying to stop a slide that has already reached three games, and the broader picture is getting harder to ignore. The Yellow Jackets are trending toward what would be Brent Keys worst season as head coach, with the problems showing up on both sides of the ball through missed assignments on offense and shaky tackling on defense.
The matchup only adds to the pressure, with ESPN analyst Bill Connellys SP+ model heavily favoring Louisville and projecting a lopsided road result for the Jackets. Even as the losses pile up, the lingering issue is still the same one Georgia Tech has been chasing for weeks, the kind of defensive breakdowns that leave too many plays unfinished and too many drives alive. [Read more 🡒]