Brent Key keeping Georgia Tech football focused on ‘explosive’ plays
“Explosive plays.” What exactly does that mean?
While it’s a term en vogue in college football circles for years now, every program likely has a different definition of an explosive play. In layman’s terms, it’s simply a big play, one that gains a large chunk of yardage in an explosive fashion. Offenses crave them, defenses abhor them.
“The biggest predictors in wins and losses in college football are explosives and preventing explosives,” Tech coach Brent Key proclaimed Tuesday.
Key’s Yellow Jackets (4-0, 1-0 ACC), ranked No. 16 this week ahead of a noon game Saturday at Wake Forest (2-1, 0-1), are among the national leaders in explosive plays. Key said he and Pat Boyle, the program’s director of research and analytics, sit down weekly to crunch numbers and focus much of their attention on explosives.
For Key, a gain of 20 yards constitutes an explosive play, and the Jackets have had their fair share of their own while doing a stellar job of limiting the amount by opponents.
Tech ranks 20th nationally with 26 plays of 20 yards and seventh with 14 plays of 30 yards or more. Only Florida State and Southern California have more plays (12) of 40 yards than Tech’s 11. Tech also is one of only 16 teams with an 80-yard play this season.
In the running game, only Connecticut and Missouri have more running plays of 30 or more yards than Tech’s seven, and the Jackets are tied with Brigham Young with six runs of 40 yards or more. Tech is in the top 10 nationally for passing plays of at least 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 yards.
“It’s extremely important, moving the sticks, and then now we hit an explosive, we can change the tempo, whether it’s going really, really fast or huddling and try to get them in a bad situation, misaligned and stuff like that,” Tech quarterback Haynes King said. “It’s very important in what we do.”
On defense, Tech has some work to do, having allowed 13 plays of 20 yards or more and six plays of 30-plus yards. Opponents have logged four runs of at least 30 yards against the Tech defense, and seven passing plays have totaled at least 30 yards.
Two of those plays went for touchdowns against the Tech defense: a 73-yard touchdown pass by Clemson and a 28-yard TD strike by Temple.
“Really just gotta stay disciplined and communicate with our whole defense,” Tech cornerback Ahmari Harvey said about guarding against the explosives. “When our communication is on point, we limit the explosives. But when our eyes are not right, that’s when you see them plays. I feel like if our eyes and communication are right, we good.”
Placing a high importance on explosive plays, however, can equate to a small concession in other areas.
Tech’s defense may have to line up in a formation that allows the opposition to make small to medium gains while the Jackets try to keep everything in front of them. Tech’s offense may try to hit a home run with a deep pass on first down, but if it misses, now it’s second-and-10.
Still, connecting on those big plays while keeping the opponent from doing so will remain at the forefront of Tech’s game plan each and every week.
“We’ve got to continue to do that well,” Key added. “When you emphasize one thing, you’re gonna give up a little bit in something else. It can’t be a total sacrifice of the other or just to do the one thing. So we’ve got to improve in the other areas, but we’ve also got to continue to do that well.”
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