Everything you need to know about Syracuse at No. 7 Georgia Tech
No. 7 Georgia Tech, despite its 7-0 record and 4-0 mark in ACC play, still hasn’t played its most complete game of the 2025 season.
That’s how third-year coach Brent Key sees it anyway.
“We talked this week about the three things we have to be: we have to be focused and keep that focus the entire time, have the discipline to be focused,” Key said about the impending matchup with Syracuse at noon Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium. “The energy that we have to bring for the game. Then, the final thing, is just to go out and execute. We’ve done a good job of that at certain times.
“We’ve played well in portions of the game, now we gotta put that all together. That comes back to the confidence of the players to just go out and execute. If you don’t have the energy and intensity to do that, and the focus for 60 minutes, it’s hard to do.”
It would appear on paper the Yellow Jackets may be able to get away with not playing a complete game, anyway, as they as 16.5-point favorites against an Orange team (3-4, 1-3 ACC) that has lost three in a row coming into the matchup. But Key’s team has a tendency to play close games, so much so that the coach told SiriusXM this week, “I’m gonna have an anxiety attack on the sideline some day. It’s like they’re toying with me and my emotions right now.”
Should Tech be able to play well enough to win in front of a homecoming crowd Saturday, it would sport an 8-0 record for the first time since 1966 and be 5-0 in ACC play for the first time in program history.
Details about Saturday’s Syracuse-No. 7 Georgia Tech game
Kickoff: Noon Saturday
Where: Bobby Dodd Stadium (51,913)
TV: ESPN
Streaming: WatchESPN
Weather: 63 degrees at kickoff, 0% chance of rain
Tickets: Tickets are available on Tech’s official website starting at $46 and via secondary sites starting at $48.
Storylines ahead of Syracuse at No. 7 Georgia Tech
Three starters questionable for Tech: Georgia Tech coach Brent Key announced Thursday that three starters are questionable ahead of the seventh-ranked Yellow Jackets’ matchup against Syracuse at Bobby Dodd Stadium at noon Saturday.
Wide receiver Malik Rutherford, center Harrison Moore and defensive back Jy Gilmore are questionable against the Orange because of injuries suffered during the Jackets 27-18 win at Duke last Saturday. Rutherford is tied for the team lead in receptions with 23 and Gilmore is coming off an ACC defensive back of the week performance against the Blue Devils.
Revisiting 1966: Among other accomplishments in a thrilling season, Georgia Tech’s football team has won the admiration of a certain set of graying predecessors.
Until this past Saturday, the 1966 Yellow Jackets were the last Tech team to start a season with seven consecutive wins, their streak reaching nine.
Round II of Brent Key vs. Fran Brown: A little more than a year ago, Syracuse coach Fran Brown was fired up. Like, really fired up.
“I took it personal when he talked about it wasn’t about X’s and O’s, it was about coming up here and being physical and tough for four hours,” Brown told Syracuse.com after the Georgia Tech-Syracuse matchup in 2024. “We’re from the Northeast, what you mean by that? Like, we don’t play football? Like, we’re not physical and tough? I took that very personal.
“I took that personal because of what the ‘S’ means. It’s Syracuse. It’s been physical forever. I wanted to make sure that would never be said about us. We’re not soft. That bothered me. That rubbed me the wrong way.”
Tech only team in FBS with three 400-yard rushers: If there was any thought that Georgia Tech’s offense in 2025 would deviate from its tried-and-true recipe for past success, that notion should be squarely put to bed at this point.
Once again, the Yellow Jackets have cemented themselves as one of the top rushing teams in the country. No. 7-ranked Tech goes into the weekend having run for 228.43 yards per game — the 12th-best average nationally and second-best clip among ACC teams (only Florida State is better).
Tech proud of 7-0, battling complacency: Georgia Tech coach Brent Key is embracing the attention, the pats on the back, the cheers far outnumbering the jeers. He wants his players to do so as well.
Tech student leader amped up over Jackets football: Georgia Tech football is on a run unseen since the 1960s.
Heading into Saturday’s homecoming game against Syracuse (noon on ESPN), the 7-0 Yellow Jackets sit atop the ACC standings. Lots of work still to do, but a College Football Playoff berth lies in arm’s reach.
Jackets up to No. 7 in AP Poll: The Yellow Jackets continue to climb in the national polls.
Georgia Tech came in at No. 7 in The Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday. It’s the highest ranking for the program in the regular season since 2009, when the Jackets were No. 7 in November of that year.
King, Gilmore honored by ACC: A pair of Yellow Jackets were honored by the ACC on Monday.
Haynes King was named quarterback of the week, and Jy Gilmore was named defensive back of the week. Both were key players in No. 7 Georgia Tech’s 27-18 win at Duke on Saturday.
Future Jackets: Each week, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution looks at how Tech football commitments are faring during their respective senior seasons.
Key has 18 high school seniors committed to the 2026 signing class, which ranks 47th nationally and 12th in the ACC, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Another solid TV crowd watched Tech at Duke: Georgia Tech’s 27-18 win at Duke on Saturday registered 1.7 million television viewers, according to ESPN.
The Yellow Jackets, ranked No. 12 in the AP Top 25 poll at the time and now ranked No. 7, trailed 10-7 in the third quarter before scoring 20 unanswered points. The victory moved Tech to 7-0 for the first time since 1966 and 4-0 in the ACC for the first time since 1998.
Ode to a miracle: Ten years ago Friday, one of the more memorable wins in Georgia Tech history transpired inside Bobby Dodd Stadium.
On Oct. 24, 2015, Tech defeated No. 9-ranked Florida State 22-16 thanks to a game-ending blocked field goal attempt that was returned for a touchdown by Tech.
Tech alumnus C. Cary Anderson has published a book of poetry, “Undefeated: Poems of Victory,” which includes an ode to the Jackets’ 2015 upset.
Key on Dodd Trophy watch list: Key is one 24 coaches on the midseason watch list for the Dodd Trophy.
Named in honor of legendary Tech coach Bobby Dodd, the Dodd Trophy is presented to college football’s coach of the year who stands out for his commitment to the three pillars of Dodd’s coaching philosophy — scholarship, leadership and integrity.
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