No. 16 Georgia Tech looking to buck trend of losing to unranked ACC foes
Under coach Brent Key, Georgia Tech is 7-1 against ranked ACC opponents. Which is great.
Against unranked ACC opponents? The Yellow Jackets are 8-8. Not so great.
That’s the challenge that lies in front of No. 16 Tech this week as it prepares to go on the road to face a league opponent not included in the national rankings. The Jackets also go into their battle against Wake Forest (2-1, 0-1 ACC) at noon Saturday with the added pressure of being ranked themselves, and as 14-point favorites.
Key compared his program’s new challenge with David and Goliath — not that Tech is a Goliath by any means at this juncture, but that it’s always easier to get David fired up for the battle than it is Goliath.
“That was the message last week, that you’re gonna get 100 (percent) from everybody. We don’t have margin to let up. At all,” Key said. “Every game’s gonna be a close game, that’s the way we look at it. Every game’s gonna be a four-quarter football game. We have to be prepared to play that way.”
Off to its best start since 2014, Tech steps back into ACC play looking to start 2-0 in the conference for the first time since 2017. The Jackets got to this point by winning at Colorado and beating Gardner-Webb, Clemson and Temple at home, respectively.
As the victories have piled up, so has national recognition. No longer, at least until the end of November, will the Jackets be seen as underdogs.
“I love it. To be in this type of environment here at Georgia Tech, this is something we’ve craved for a long time, we’ve worked toward for a long time,” Key added. “There’s a lot of coaches on the staff that have experience in these types of times, when the pressure’s on. It’s a great feeling.
“I told the team Sunday, pressure is a privilege. It truly is. That means y’all have earned that. As they become used to it and accustomed to it, the outside noise starts to fade away then.”
Wake Forest will be playing its fourth game under first-year coach Jake Dickert. Dickert spent three seasons at Washington State and part of the 2021 season as the team’s interim coach, where he went 23-20.
Dickert’s first Wake Forest team ranks 12th in the ACC in total offense, rushing defense, passing efficiency and scoring offense. The Demon Deacons, led by running back Demond Claiborne (247 yards, four touchdowns), are also 13th in passing offense and last in the ACC in red zone offense.
But Wake will have had 15 days between its loss to NC State on Sept. 11 and Saturday’s kickoff to show it has improved its level of play and to put forth a better performance when it faces the Jackets.
“I’m really excited about getting our guys back out there and just showing the work we’ve had against a nationally ranked opponent,” Dickert said Monday during his weekly news conference. “Coach Key obviously has their program rolling in a high capacity, and one of the biggest things I look for when looking at an opponent is their identity and it screams off the tape.
“Go watch their kickoff team. Go watch their field-goal block team. Go watch their interior defensive line. It’s physicality and toughness. It’s all over the film. It’s the way they play. I’m a believer in the way (Key) coaches them. You don’t touch the field if you don’t embody that. From the quarterback on down, that’s what you really see out of Georgia Tech.”
Tech owns a 24-8 record against the Deacons and has won four consecutive in the series. The Jackets won their last trip to Winston-Salem in 2023, 30-16, and have won four games in a row at Wake Forest.
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