Defense does enough as No. 13 Georgia Tech’s undefeated season continues
Georgia Tech, with its No. 13 national ranking and undefeated record, doesn’t have much to be down on itself about after another win at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Yellow Jackets beat Virginia Tech 35-20 on Saturday and are perfect through six games for the first time in 14 years.
But as Jackets coach Brent Key said on ACC Network in the immediate aftermath of his team’s latest triumph, “We still got a lot of work to do.”
The former Tech offensive lineman isn’t wrong, especially when it comes to his team’s defense, which did plenty to help the Jackets win Saturday, but also allowed the visiting Hokies to make enough plays to keep things interesting.
Virginia Tech totaled 367 yards of offense, averaged 6.7 yards per play and 5.5 yards per rush, gained 20 first downs and allowed 10 plays of 10 yards or more. Quarterback Kyron Drones threw for 181 yards and a touchdown on 13 completions and ran for 83 yards and a score.
“I think the one thing they need to do is they need to make some adjustments and secure the back end of that defense a little bit because you can’t play defense like that and finish in the end where they want to finish,” ACC Network analyst Steve Addazio said at the end of Saturday’s telecast. “So they got some things to do there.”
Now, granted, there were some positives, too.
The Hokies were 0-for-8 on third-down conversions, the first time Georgia Tech has held an opponent 0-for on third down since Chattanooga went 0-for-12 in a game in 1988.
Defensive back Rodney Shelley recorded his first career interception, a play that halted a solid Virginia Tech drive. And even though the Hokies were 3-for-3 on its first three fourth-down conversion tries, Georgia Tech’s defense stopped the final attempt when defensive end Ronald Triplette sacked Drones on the Georgia Tech 13.
The Jackets also forced three punts on Virginia Tech’s first three possessions.
“Bend but never break, mentally mature,” defensive end A.J. Hoffler, a Clemson transfer, said about Georgia Tech’s defense identity. “I’ve been a lot of teams where a lot of stuff that happened, we probably would have lost the game. But we got real mature guys, and so we like to say, ‘Let’s win the game, don’t lose the game. Win the game and win because of us, not in spite of us.’ Coach BG (defensive coordinator Blake Gideon) does a real good job of making sure that whatever happens, it is what it is. You can’t cry over spilled milk. Just go and make the next play.”
Tech’s defense will need, perhaps, one of its biggest performances of the season Saturday when it faces Duke (4-2, 3-0 ACC). The Blue Devils rank fifth in the ACC in scoring offense, fourth in total offense, sixth in rushing offense and third in passing offense.
The Jackets certainly know the challenges will continue to rise.
“I feel like it was a solid day,” linebacker Kyle Efford, who had seven tackles, a sack and a pass breakup, said. “Definitely some stuff that needs to be cleaned up. (Virginia Tech) put more points on the board than we wanted them to, we always want a doughnut. Obviously, there’s stuff to clean up so we wanna get right back to work.”
Ahmari Harvey update
In the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game, Georgia Tech senior cornerback Ahmari Harvey left with an apparent serious injury.
Harvey broke up a pass in the middle of the field, then immediately stood up and threw his helmet in frustration before falling back to the turf. He was carried off the field by two Tech staff members.
Key didn’t have an immediate update on Harvey’s injury, only that he was upset he didn’t make an interception on the play.
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