Can Georgia Tech’s defense recover enough ahead of season’s biggest games?

Is Georgia Tech’s defense, overall, this bad? Is it just going through a slump? Has the opposition simply exposed the Yellow Jackets’ biggest weaknesses?

All of the above?

These are the questions Brent Key, defensive coordinator Blake Gideon and Tech’s defensive coaches have to find answers to before it’s too late.

“At the end of the day, I’m responsible to get it fixed, and we did not get things fixed,” Key said Monday on 680 The Fan. “We can sit here and give all the excuses you want, guys, and say, ‘We practiced this, we worked on this.’ That’s for losers to say. At the end of the day, we didn’t get it done. We weren’t able to carry things from the practice to the games. We’ll have a different plan of attack when it comes to the information we give to the players and what we expect them to be able to go out there and do.”

Key and his Yellow Jackets (9-1, 6-1 ACC) were back on the practice field Tuesday morning, preparing for a showdown with No. 22 Pittsburgh. A win over the Panthers (7-3, 5-1 ACC) puts Tech in the ACC title game Dec. 6 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

But Tech’s chances of winning Saturday are largely dependent on how the team’s defense plays.

In the last two games, the Jackets have allowed an average of 560 yards and 41 points. The play on the defensive side of the ball has become a major concern, and with two regular-season games left that could make or break Tech’s season, Key’s job is to make sure the defense doesn’t become a liability.

“You can’t change things this late in the season,” Key said Tuesday. “In the same breath, to sit there and say you’re gonna do the same thing and get different results is … not good. We’ll make some tweaks in different ways. I’m not gonna give game plan things away by any means.”

Key said he installed some live periods during Tuesday morning’s practice, meaning his full-padded players went full speed. That tactic was to help with the team’s tackling issues, Key said, adding, “I’m not a genius by any means. The only way I know to get better at something is to do it.”

The Jackets, according to PFF, rank 113th nationally in tackling. They’re also 113th in pass rush, 104th in pass coverage, 82nd in rush defense and 114th in overall defense, according to the site.

Those are just a few of the alarming metrics in relation to Tech’s defense.

Among ACC teams, Tech is ninth in defending third downs (39%), 10th in scoring defense (24.2 points per game allowed) and 11th with 208 first downs allowed, in passing defense (243.2 yards per game allowed), in passing efficiency defense (139) and sacks (1.8 per game). The Jackets are also 13th in the ACC in total defense (409.2 yards per game allowed), 15th in tackles for loss per game (4.8) and 16th in rushing defense (166 yards per game allowed) and with just six takeaways.

Gideon’s defense is now 129th nationally having allowed 29 plays of 30 yards or more.

“We have a process,” Key said of reviewing each game with Gideon. “We have a whole form of a sheet we’ll fill out — good, bad, ugly, preparation errors, things we gotta do well, things we didn’t do well, things we gotta continue, how we gonna work ‘em in practice, run, pass, everything. Goals. All those things.

“Well, now you start to justify things. Well, justifications are nothing more than an excuse. You gotta take ownership in these things. And if I don’t take ownership as the head coach, the coordinators aren’t going to and the players aren’t going to.”

Tech’s statistical regression on defense is confounding considering the unit had done well enough through eight games to be considered a major part of the Jackets’ undefeated success to that point.

They held Duke on Oct. 18 to 68 yards rushing, scored a defensive touchdown and had two red zone stops. In six of the first eight games they made at least one red zone stop. Safety Clayton Powell-Lee made a game-winning interception on a two-point conversion at Wake Forest. Colorado, Temple and Virginia Tech were all held to less than 200 yards passing.