Georgia Tech left Saturday with a 44-11 win over Mercer and a little more to feel good about, even if the bigger picture still looks messy at 1-2. The Yellow Jackets are headed into ACC play next, starting with a West Coast trip to Stanford, and the Mercer game offered a clearer read on where this team is - and where the problems still live.
The defense gave up too much on the ground again. Mercer ran the ball 46 times and piled up 188 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per carry.
Strip out the two longest runs, 17 and 16 yards, and the Bears were down to 155 yards on 44 carries, or 3.5 per rush. Georgia Tech also finished with a 0% run-stuff rate, which is the kind of number that jumps off the page for all the wrong reasons.
Stanford has the worst rushing offense in the ACC so far this season, but it still figures to test the Jackets on the ground Saturday night.
Even with those issues, there were some signs of life at linebacker. CJ Gamble and Cayman Spaulding both continued to play well, and Braylon Outlaw got plenty of work on Saturday. Tawfiq Thomas has been giving Georgia Tech good play on the defensive line, and he’ll be important against a more pro-style attack on the road.
The good news for Georgia Tech was that the defense finally made some disruption. The Jackets finished with 10 TFLs and three sacks against Mercer, with Tawfiq Thomas, Taje McCoy, and Noah Carter all earning strong Pro Football Focus grades. That doesn’t erase the concerns, but it does at least show the unit can create some havoc.
CJ Gamble stood out in particular. He was the third-highest graded player on the Georgia Tech defense, posting a 90.3 overall grade and an interception.
Outlaw played 27 snaps and finished with a 72.3 grade. Young players are going to have mistakes, but both of them flashed enough that Georgia Tech may need to keep expanding their roles, along with Spaulding, who is not a young guy.
Mendoza also had a clean day in his first college win. He went 15-for-21 for 249 yards and three touchdowns, and he spread the ball around well.
Nine different Yellow Jackets caught passes, with Dalen Penson leading the group with three receptions. He looked more comfortable in the offense, and now he’ll face what has been the second-worst passing defense in the ACC.
Saturday could be his best chance yet to put together his best game of the season.
Justice Haynes was another bright spot. The offseason addition finally broke through, rushing for 141 yards on 22 carries and scoring two touchdowns on the ground while also catching one.
He had shown flashes against Tennessee, but this was his best performance of the season by a wide margin. Stanford’s run defense sits in the middle of the pack, and Georgia Tech’s battered offensive line hasn’t made much room for anyone this year, so the question now is whether this can be the breakout game Haynes needed heading into ACC play.
The offensive line remains the biggest concern. Georgia Tech averaged just 3.9 yards per carry as a team, and no back outside of Haynes made much of an impact. The PFF grades backed that up: Markell Samuel finished at 51.9 and Will Reed at 53.9, while Kevin Peay Jr. posted a 75.8 and Joseph Ionata a 73.7.
There’s still more to sort out up front, and the injury picture should become clearer later this week. For now, Georgia Tech has a win, a few encouraging signs, and a long list of things that still need fixing before Stanford.
In Other News...
Georgia Tech Just Got Pulled Into A Brutal SEC Debate
The 2026 college football season has given the SEC plenty of ammunition in the annual conference-strength argument, and Georgia Tech is getting pulled into the conversation whether it likes it or not. SEC teams are 10-2 against non-conference Power Four opponents, a mark that stands out against the rest of the major leagues and has kept the leagues supporters loudly pointing to results instead of reputation.
For the ACC, the comparison has been uncomfortable. The league has a losing record in those same matchups, while the Big Ten sits at 4-9, leaving the SECs early resume looking even stronger with wins like LSU over Clemson, Texas over Ohio State and Alabama over Florida State. For Georgia Tech, the broader debate matters because it shapes how the ACC is viewed every time its teams step outside the conference and onto the same stage as the SEC. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Enters ACC Play With One Issue It Must Fix Fast
Georgia Tech is heading into ACC play with a chance to steady its season, and the matchup with Stanford offers a good early measuring stick. After getting back in the win column against Mercer, the Yellow Jackets now turn to a conference game that carries more weight, and Bill Connellys SP+ metric even gives them a 72% chance to come away with a victory in a projected 30-20 game.
The bigger issue for Brent Keys team, though, is less about the opponent and more about cleaning up the details that have slowed them down. Georgia Tech has to start faster and turn more trips into points in the red zone if it wants to keep building momentum, because those are the kinds of habits that tend to matter once ACC play begins and the margin for error gets thinner. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech's Stanford Trip Could Decide If This Season Stays Alive
Georgia Techs win over Mercer offered a small lift after an uneven start, but it also served as a reminder of how much still has to come together before conference play begins. The Yellow Jackets are only 1-2, and the next step is a Stanford trip that now looms larger than the calendar might suggest. There were signs of progress against Mercer, but the bigger questions around run defense and offensive line consistency are still there.
What makes the Stanford game feel so important is the larger picture around this teams season. Analysts are split on Georgia Techs bowl chances, with some leaving the Yellow Jackets out entirely and others still slotting them into possible matchups. A win next week would give the season some real traction heading into the grind of conference play, while a loss would make the path much narrower and the margin for error almost disappear. [Read more 🡒]