One week after a big-time matchup against Notre Dame inside of Death Valley, Georgia Tech comes to town ready to take a swing at the Clemson Tigers.
The History:
Clemson and Georgia Tech have played since 1898, when Clemson took the first game of the series by a score of 23-0. Even though Clemson started off the series with 4 consecutive wins, Georgia Tech leads this series 50-35-2. However, Georgia Tech really had a stranglehold on this series in the early 1900’s. Clemson has won eight consecutive games dating back to 2015.
A New Era:
After the first four games of the 2022 season, Georgia Tech decided to make a change at head coach. Brent Key took over in the middle of the season and finished the year going 4-4 including two road victories against ranked opponents. Key is a Tech alumnus and football letterwinner. Coach Brent Key is the 21st head coach for Georgia Tech.
Georgia Tech Offense:
Georgia Tech is breaking in a new offensive coordinator this season with Buster Faulkner. Faulkner comes over from Georgia where he was an offensive quality control analyst for the Bulldogs and was a part of the National Championship coaching staff the last two seasons in Athens. This will not be the first time that coach Faulkner is tasked with calling the plays, before his time at Georgia he was the offensive coordinator for Southern Miss, Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee, Murray State and Valdosta State.
Georgia Tech also recently named a new starter at quarterback, in transfer Haynes King. King played his first three seasons at Texas A&M. Last season King played in 6 games, completed 55.6% of his passes, threw for 7 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. Georgia Tech will be bringing back only 5 offensive starters, but 69% of their total offensive production. Running back Dontae Smith is coming back and expected to be the lead back for the Yellow Jackets. Last season Smith finished with 87 carries for 420 yards and 5 touchdowns. Now for who Haynes King will be throwing to, the expected starters are DJ Moore, a redshirt freshman, Malik Rutherford, and transfer dominick Blaylock. Malik Rutherford was the 4th leading receiver for last year’s team with 23 receptions for 225 yards but zero touchdowns. Dominick Blaylock is a transfer from instate rival Georgia. Last season, Blaylock saw action in all 15 games and finished the year with 15 receptions for 227 yards and 1 touchdown.
Georgia Tech Defense:
Head coach Brent Key retained defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker who led the Yellow Jackets defense last season to the 85th overall ranking in total defense. The Yellow Jackets return 6 starters on the defensive side of the ball and 66% of their total defensive production. On the defensive side of the ball, the Yellow Jackets are a veteran led group where 10 of the projected starters are at least juniors or older. Georgia Tech should take a step forward this year but the question is, how much are they able to improve.
What To Expect This Year?:
Last year Clemson and Georgia Tech met in the first game of the season in Atlanta at the home of the Atlanta Falcons. It was a closer game than expected during the first half but the Tigers did eventually pull away and win the game 41-10. Clemson’s offense is expected to take a big jump forward this year and will be in full swing by this point in the season.
Brent Key did inject a lot of confidence into this team last season when he took over and I personally think he will do a good job and take Georgia Tech to be a consistent bowl-level team and be much better than they were under the previous head coach. However, Georgia Tech isn’t ready to take a big enough step to come into Death Valley and take down Clemson. I expect a similar score to last season and for this to be a fairly comfortable victory for the Tigers.
