Georgia Tech heads to Pittsburgh on Saturday with a few big questions hanging over the trip to Acrisure Stadium, and none of them start with the matchup itself. The biggest one is internal: whether Brent Key decides to make a change in the middle of the season after a performance that left the Yellow Jackets searching for answers.
Key wasn’t eager to address that topic after the game, but he didn’t exactly dismiss the idea either. The defense allowed more than 500 yards and 49 points, a kind of outing that naturally puts the coaching staff under a microscope. Semore has been with the program since 2022, which adds another layer to the situation, but Key’s answer left the door open to a possible shakeup.
"Yeah, I won't talk about changes. Again, we'll talk about all that in-house.
But right now, with that performance on the field, obviously what we've been doing is not working. And I'm not talking about just that position.
I'm talking about across the board. So I told the team in the locker room, I'm going to play with you guys.
I want to play. I want to compete.
Same with everybody in the organization,” said Key.
How Georgia Tech responds from there is just as important. After a loss that brought plenty of criticism and more than a little doubt around the program, the Jackets have to show they’re still engaged and still capable of tightening things up.
The question isn’t only whether they can play better. It’s whether they can avoid another stretch where the effort and execution drift apart.
There were a few bright spots even in the defeat. Jonas Duclona turned in his best game of the season.
Josh Petty made a strong impression in his debut against Boston College on Saturday and drew a high grade from Pro Football Focus. Dalen Penson also posted a career night, finishing with 88 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Those individual performances don’t erase the bigger problems, but they do show there’s still some production to work with.
Still, Georgia Tech has struggled to put it all together. The offense and defense haven’t been in sync, and the team has too often looked like a different group from one half to the next. That inconsistency has been the constant theme, and after getting embarrassed at home, the Yellow Jackets have to prove they can flip the script and start fast on the road.
Key put the responsibility on himself when discussing the issues.
"It's on coaching, so that's on me. I'll take full responsibility.
That is, I'm talking about consistency. The only thing consistent is poor football, right?
I'll wait to say a whole lot until I can really say watching the tape, but, you know, when you turn the ball over that many times and you can't stop the same play, that keeps coming 14 times, I believe. Poorly prepared, poorly adjusted.
That's all me,” said Key.
Injuries have only made the situation tougher. Georgia Tech has been hit hard, and the list of players the team could use back is a long one: Jordan Walker, Tawfiq Thomas, Daiquan White, Noah Carter, and Savion Riley.
White has missed time since the Stanford game, and his return could help steady a secondary that has had busts. Thomas matters just as much, if not more, because he’s the team’s best run defender and has been having a strong season.
Carter is another important piece, especially as a pass rusher. He and Taje McCoy give Georgia Tech some pressure potential off the edge, and Carter leads the team with three sacks.
After allowing 399 yards and five touchdowns, the Jackets could use every bit of help they can get. If some of those injured players are back in the fold, that could be the difference in a road upset.
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For Georgia fans, Schumanns profile is easy to understand. He has built his reputation around time spent with successful programs under Kirby Smart and Nick Saban, which has made him one of the more respected defensive minds in the sport. The question now is whether that background keeps him in the mix for a move that would represent a major next step in his career. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Keeps Getting The Spotlight Georgia Tech Fans Hate
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For Georgia Tech supporters, the bigger frustration may be how often the Bulldogs seem to occupy the leagues marquee windows. Georgias trip to Ole Miss was also moved into primetime on ABC, another reminder that the attention around the program is not letting up anytime soon. It is the kind of scheduling glow that can be hard to ignore when your own corner of the state is trying to carve out space in the conversation. [Read more 🡒]