Georgia Tech’s Brent Key happy his No. 8 Yellow Jackets ‘haven’t peaked’
After No. 8 Georgia Tech’s largest margin of victory against an FBS team this season and second-largest margin against an ACC opponent during the tenure of coach Brent Key, 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.
“We played the best game we’ve played up to this point, but we haven’t played a complete game,” Key told 680 The Fan on Monday. “Look, I’m not pissed about this. I’m happy. I’m happy we still have a lot of room to improve. I’m happy we haven’t peaked as a football team yet. I thought we peaked way too early last year.
“The kids have a great way about them right now where, regardless of circumstance, regardless of scoreboard, regardless of opponent, they’re gonna play the way they play and play to their identity of a football team week in and week out. And I hope that continues.”
Key’s Jackets are 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the ACC after a 41-16 beatdown of visiting Syracuse on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium. They dominated in all facets and responded with 20 consecutive points after falling behind 3-0 (the result of an early turnover), then scored back-to-back touchdowns after the Orange made it a 20-10 game quickly after halftime.
It had been nearly 60 years since Tech had an 8-0 team. And never before have the Jackets been 5-0 in the league that they joined in 1979.
Yet there is no hint of satisfaction from Key. More important to him, perhaps, is Key continues to sense a longing for more improvement from the men inside his locker room.
“If you watch the game, and you see mistakes that were made or times when we didn’t execute or times when we lost focus or lacked discipline in the game, there’s plenty of spots in there that we have to improve on,” Key said.
“I don’t look at the score. I don’t care what the outcome of the football game is. It’s about what we put into the game, it’s about how we play the game. We have lapses — I think it was five instances in the first half we had a lack of focus, which led to a lack of execution. It was like 17 points we left on the field that we could have had on the board. We can’t do that if we’re gonna win the football games that we want to win moving forward. We just can’t do it.”
This week, the Jackets will get an N.C. State team on the fringe of desperation as it pertains to making a postseason bowl this season. The Wolfpack have lost two consecutive overall and three consecutive ACC games to fall to 4-4 and 1-3 in conference.
State is one of the ACC’s worst teams defensively on third down, against the pass, in total defense and in scoring defense. But quarterback C.J. Bailey, who was intercepted three times in 2024 in a 30-29 loss at Bobby Dodd Stadium, leads a potent offense that throws for 270 yards per game and runs for 150.5 yards per game.
Tech has not been to Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, since 2020, and Saturday’s trip will be the program’s second there since 2014. It also will be Tech’s second night game of the season, with a scheduled 7:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday.
The Jackets opened the season with a 27-20 win at Colorado on Aug. 29, a Friday night.
“I hope nothing changes in the way we play. Obviously, a different opponent,” Key said. “It’s a good time for us to have a later game. That’s a lot of time, now, that you have extra to get guys ready to play, to get guys healed up, to get guys (back) that are banged-up a little bit.”
About the Author
