No. 12 Georgia Tech loses starting cornerback to injury
Georgia Tech’s defense received a big blow Thursday with the news that Ahmari Harvey will miss Saturday’s game and is out indefinitely with an injury.
Coach Brent Key confirmed the news Thursday.
Harvey, a 6-foot, 195-pound senior defensive back, was injured Saturday in the Yellow Jackets’ victory against Virginia Tech.
“He’ll be out this week. We got really good news on it, though, in that it’s not a season-ending injury,” Key said. “That was really, really good news. He’ll be out for a little bit and start to rehab. We don’t have a timeline for exactly when he’ll be back. But it is not season-ending, and he’ll be back before the end of the season, which is really great news with what happened. Count our blessings on that one.”
The No. 12 Jackets will face Duke on the road at noon Saturday.
With the clock ticking toward four minutes to go in the fourth quarter against the Hokies, Harvey was on coverage on a completed pass from Virginia Tech’s 45 to Georgia Tech’s 20. Harvey tried to plant his right foot, but it got caught in the turf.
Harvey stood up briefly to chuck away his helmet in disgust before falling back down inside the 20, where he was tended to by Georgia Tech medical staff.
Harvey’s 305 defensive snaps this season are second only to safety Clayton Powell-Lee’s 310. He is the Jackets’ second-best overall defender among players with at least 200 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, and has the team’s top coverage grade.
Harvey has 17 tackles (two for a loss) and has broken up four passes. He also returned a blocked field-goal attempt for a touchdown against Gardner-Webb on Sept. 6.
A native of Tallahassee, Florida, who began his college career at Auburn, Harvey has played more than 1,400 defensive plays with the Jackets and made 112 career tackles.
Tech will look to a number of players to step into Harvey’s starting spot.
Senior Rodney Shelley, who had his first career interception Saturday in the win over Virginia Tech, has played more than 800 defensive snaps in his career. Juniors Daiquan White, Zachary Tobe and Jon Mitchell and sophomore Kelvin Hill all are available to fill that role as well.
“That’s the reason we play a lot of guys on defense, we play a lot of guys on the football team. The only way to really get experience is to play,” Key said Tuesday. “Shelley was out for the first few games, so he is getting back in the swing of things and back in the mix, so that is good to see. (White) has played a lot of football, (Mitchell) has played a lot of football. We have depth there.
“We have some guys who are young that are not quite ready yet, but they are going to be good football players, too, so if anything were to happen like (Harvey’s injury), it happens with a position where you have depth and experienced depth.”
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