Everything you need to know about No. 8 Georgia Tech at NC State
No. 8 Georgia Tech has a chance to pull out all the stops at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at North Carolina State, and it might need to do so against a dangerous Wolfpack team looking to spring a major upset.
The Yellow Jackets (8-0, 5-0 ACC), 5.5-point favorites against the Wolfpack, have an open date next week after their trip to Raleigh, North Carolina. They would like nothing more than to go into that bye still undefeated and still in the hunt for the ACC championship game.
NC State would love to ruin Tech’s party as part of its own homecoming festivities.
“The odds are against you when a lot of players are out and things like that,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said Thursday during a news conference. “But you see upsets in sports all the time, and I’ve been a part of a few of them. So I don’t look at anything as insurmountable, I look at it as a huge opportunity.
“You get to play against a really good coach, a really good team. But my focus is more on how can we get these guys to play their best football. And what’s that look like? Four quarters of complementary football with fewer mistakes, and that’s all we’re focused on right now.”
Also of note for Saturday’s matchup, Tech coach Brent Key said center and guard Harrison Moore and wide receiver Malik Rutherford are probable to play against the Wolfpack. Defensive back Jy Gilmore and defensive tackle Matthew Alexander are questionable, Key added.
On Thursday, NC State listed leading rusher Hollywood Smothers and star tight end Justin Joly as questionable.
Details about Saturday’s No. 8 Georgia Tech-NC State game
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Carter-Finley Stadium (56,919)
TV: ESPN2
Streaming: WatchESPN
Weather: 54 degrees at kickoff, 0% chance of rain
Tickets: Tickets are sold out via NC State’s official website, but starting at $60 via secondary sites.
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NC State football social media: X | Instagram | Facebook
Storylines ahead of No. 8 Georgia Tech at NC State
Haynes King for Heisman: The trophy is named for John Heisman, a legendary coach who led Georgia Tech to 102 wins over 16 seasons in the early 1900s.
Yet Tech has never had a player claim the Heisman Trophy in 90 years of the award.
The halfway point: Saturday marks the start of the final third of the season for Tech. That’s not at all how Key defines it.
“Well, I view it like this: To go where we wanna go, and where everybody wants to go, we’re only at the halfway point,” he said Tuesday after practice. “We can’t predict the future, and it’s not just us, that’s everybody’s goal. That’s where everyone wants to be.”
Jackets start November atop standings: In April, Tech safety Clayton Powell-Lee allowed ESPN to document his offseason decision-making process as to whether he would return to the Jackets or test the waters of college free agency through the transfer portal.
Ultimately, the Westlake High School alum opted to remain in Atlanta because of his loyalty and love for Tech, and to play with what he thought could be a special team. But on Saturday, after the seventh-ranked Jackets handily beat Syracuse 41-16, even he admitted he couldn’t have envisioned this.
Wide receiver Patterson making most of his opportunity: How it has all played out is even a bit difficult for Dean Patterson to believe.
“I think about it all the time. It’s just such a blessing,” Patterson said Wednesday. “It’s like the definition of God’s plan for me. If you wanted to tell me that a senior in high school that didn’t have that much offers and didn’t really get much interest, that I was gonna be in this position? I would look at you crazy. Like, there’s no way that I’d ever. Top-10 team, senior year — that is truly amazing and it’s a huge blessing, and I can only be nothing but grateful for it.”
Key believes Tech hasn’t peaked: After Tech’s largest margin of victory against a Football Bowl Subdivision team this season and second-largest margin against an ACC opponent during Key’s tenure, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows when the Yellow Jackets returned to work Sunday.
And still not so much on a cold and rainy Monday in Atlanta.
More than a million viewers watched Tech beat Syracuse: Tech’s win over Syracuse on Saturday registered 1.3 million television viewers, according to ESPN.
The Jackets, ranked No. 7 in the AP Top 25 poll at the time of the game and now ranked No. 8, scored 20 unanswered points to take a 20-3 lead at halftime, then pulled away in the second half during the matchup televised live by ESPN. The victory moved Tech to 8-0 for the first time since 1966 and 5-0 in the ACC for the first in program history.
ACC honors King, Rutledge: A pair of Jackets have been honored for their respective performances in Tech’s 41-16 win over Syracuse on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Haynes King was named ACC quarterback of the week, and left tackle Ethan Mackenny was named ACC offensive lineman of the week. It’s the fourth ACC quarterback of the week honor for King this season and seventh of his career.
Despite win, Jackets drop in AP poll: Tech fell one spot in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday, dropping from No. 7 to No. 8 in the latest poll released Sunday.
The Jackets beat Syracuse 41-16 at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday to improve to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the ACC. Ole Miss (7-1), 34-26 winners at Oklahoma, moved from No. 8 to No. 7 while the rest of the top six remained the same.
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