Blake Gideon’s defense still a work in progress for Georgia Tech

The numbers, of course, never tell the full story. And some of No. 17 Georgia Tech’s defensive numbers, truthfully, aren’t great.

But Blake Gideon’s defense has been pivotal on some of the Yellow Jackets’ most important plays of the 2025 season, and is a big reason why Tech is undefeated after five outings.

“Our guys fight until the very last play, very last whistle. One of the more helpless feelings, I think, especially as a defensive coach, is if your guys lose fight,” Gideon said Tuesday. “Then it really doesn’t matter what you call, or what stage of the game it is or what they’re doing on offense.

“But I think we’ve all seen that now. A few examples of that this year is that our guys have an ability to adjust and forget the last play, remember the good and also learn from the bad and move forward. So a ton of credit to those guys in the locker room for having that maturity and that mental toughness and that togetherness to not lose trust in their training and not lose trust in the system and each other.”

Gideon, in his first season as Tech’s defensive coordinator, has seen his defense succeed when it matters most.

On Aug. 29, his unit took the field with 67 seconds left on the clock and Tech leading Colorado 27-20. The Jackets held on and knocked down a desperation heave into the end zone as time ran out to preserve the season’s first win.

On Sept. 13, Clemson had just shut down the Jackets inside the 5-yard line on Tech’s opening offensive series. On the ensuing possession, Omar Daniels forced a fumble that was recovered by Zachary Tobe. Tech scored three plays later, and the early takeaway, one of two on the day for Tech, set the tone for a back-and-forth battle.

Then, on Saturday at Wake Forest, Tech’s defense was sliced and diced in a lot of ways to the tune of 446 yards allowed, 6.2 yards per play, a 9-of-19 conversion rate on third down by the Demon Deacons, and they gave up a whopping 12 plays of 10 yards or more. Yet it was the defense who made one last play, stopping Wake Forest on a game-winning two-point conversion try to seal a 30-29 victory.

“Through five games, we have a talent for winning. I’ll give us that,” Gideon said. “I’ve made that comment before about a lot of teams I’ve played against. Like, ‘Man, that’s a championship program. They just don’t go away, they got a talent for winning.’ However that looks, whatever the score and the stat sheet looks like at the end of the day, they’re there to get themselves a chance to win at the game.

“A ton of credit to those guys in that locker room. I’m still a newbie, and they’re having to take my word for it on a lot of things and still be able to go out there and execute in some high-tense, high-stress environments. Good enough to win so far.”

Realistically, Tech’s defensive unit has a lot of work to do overall.

The Jackets have given up six first downs when the opponent goes for it on fourth down, a clip that ranks 123rd nationally. They also have allowed 95 first downs (19 per game), recorded only eight sacks and only three takeaways (only 11 teams have fewer). Tech also ranks 10th in the ACC and 67th nationally in total defense (356.6 yards allowed per game).

Most alarming is that the Jackets have given up 118.15 rushing yards per game, which is 16th in the ACC (only Syracuse is worse) and 100th nationally.

Improving in those areas, Gideon said, starts with him.

“As far as myself, I’m always gonna look at myself first. I think I could put guys in a lot better positions to make plays and finish plays and simplify it down for ‘em,” Gideon said. “That’s one of the first things I look at, especially having the secondary background that I have, things get moving fast back there on the back end. You don’t want those guys hesitating, right? So belief in what they’re seeing, belief in the call and what they’re looking at. That’s one thing. I’m trying to alleviate that hesitation with how we call it, how we train it throughout the week and we progress that teaching.”

It’s a stretch that should provide Gideon’s unit a chance to trend upward before the final three games of the regular season in November.