4 quick takeaways from Georgia Tech’s loss to N.C. State
As happens in virtually every championship aspirant’s season, No. 8 Georgia Tech took its turn Saturday night.
The Yellow Jackets were not at the top of their game while their struggling opponent was. Tech couldn’t summon nearly enough defense to give itself a chance, and the result was an unexpected and disappointing loss to N.C. State in Raleigh, N.C.
A 5.5-point favorite, coach Brent Key’s team suffered its first loss of the season, dropping to 8-1 with a 48-36 loss to N.C. State at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Four quick takeaways from the loss:
A flat start
The first half was the Tech defense’s worst half of the season, although the second half gave it a run for its money.
In the first two quarters, the Wolfpack scored 24 points on their five possessions. The Jackets failed to provide much resistance against either the run or pass, recording just one tackle for loss in 37 snaps and not breaking up any passes in quarterback CJ Bailey’s 22 pass attempts of the half.
N.C. State accumulated 296 yards of total offense, 215 through the air. Bailey completed his first 10 pass attempts. It was a rather lively effort from N.C. State, which was without its leading rusher (Hollywood Smothers) and reception leader (Justin Joly).
The 24 points were the most allowed in a half this season, surpassing the 17 scored by both Temple (second half) and Wake Forest (first half). (N.C. State matched the scoring total in the second half.) It was also the most points scored by the Wolfpack against an FBS opponent this season in a half.
Two key plays
Two misplays by the Jackets offense were costly.
At the end of the first half, on second-and-6 from the N.C. State 36-yard line, quarterback Haynes King was sacked for a nine-yard loss, just the fifth sack allowed by Tech this season, to put the Jackets in a third-and-15 bind.
Down 21-17, Tech was able to gain some of the yardage back on third down, but kicker Aidan Birr hooked his 54-yard field-goal attempt.
The miss gave the ball back to the Wolfpack at their 37-yard line with 54 seconds left.
With the advantageous field position, N.C. State ended the half with a field goal to take a 24-17 lead.
On Tech’s opening possession of the second half, the Jackets drove to the Wolfpack 1-yard line and elected to go for it on fourth-and-goal. But a false start on the right side of the line pushed the Jackets back five yards.
Rather than a chance to tie the game at 24, Tech kicked a field goal to cut the deficit to 24-20.
Defensive breakdowns
Tech’s defense uncharacteristically broke down to allow the Wolfpack to hit big plays. Before Saturday, the Jackets had allowed one play from scrimmage longer than 42 yards this season and were tied for fifth nationally in FBS with one play allowed of 50 yards or more.
But Saturday, they gave up three such plays, of 51, 69 and 55 yards, all of which either went for touchdowns or contributed to touchdown drives.
Maybe the most costly was on a third-and-20 from the N.C. State 33 in the second quarter. Bailey escaped the pocket and found wide receiver Terrell Anderson for a 51-yard gain to the Tech 16. The Wolfpack was in the end zone two plays later to take the lead at 21-17, an advantage they never gave up.
Damage inspection
Tech will learn Tuesday how costly the loss was when the College Football Playoff selection committee releases its first ranking of the season. A guess here is that the Jackets will debut around No. 12 or 13. Losing to a team with a 4-4 record will presumably not be received well by the committee.
Still in the running to play in the ACC title game and with a game against No. 5 Georgia remaining, Tech can still make its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. But Saturday’s loss extinguished much of its margin for error.
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
