Georgia Tech defenders, ‘put their foot down’ after late-season struggles

ORLANDO, Fla. — Georgia Tech’s defense was not without its ups and downs throughout the first season under the direction of coordinator Blake Gideon.

A bend-but-don’t-break unit for two-thirds of the season, Tech’s defense saw the bottom fall out in losses to North Carolina State and Pittsburgh, and even in a win over Boston College, in which it allowed 34 points and 537 yards. But Gideon, speaking Wednesday ahead of the No. 22 Yellow Jackets’ Pop-Tarts Bowl matchup with No. 12 BYU, said he witnessed a shift in his defense’s mentality during halftime of the Nov. 22 loss to Pitt at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

“I can come up with whatever call, we can scheme whatever scheme we wanna scheme as a staff, but the players are the ones that make it come to life,” Gideon said. “For those guys to put their foot down, really at halftime of the Pitt game, and decide how things are gonna go moving forward, is about as impressive of a thing I’ve ever been around in any locker room.”

Over the final two quarters against the Panthers of what was a 42-28 defeat, one that essentially ended Tech’s hopes of making the ACC championship game, the Jackets gave up seven points and 116 yards (79 on the ground) and held the Panthers to 2-for-7 on third downs — not dominant numbers, but totals that at least allowed Tech to hold on to hope for much of the second half.

The next week against Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Bulldogs managed only 16 points and 260 yards, were held to 70 passing yards and settled for two field goals in three red-zone trips.

“It wasn’t anything Earth-shattering that we did going into the Georgia game,” Gideon explained. “We said, ‘Hey guys, run these calls and we’re gonna get really good at ‘em. I believe in you guys, y’all trust in me and let’s go own our role, own our job.’ You see what we can be as a unit.

“Our guys have stopped, in my opinion, worrying about the result and just played. I don’t care how many points they’ve already scored, how many first downs they’ve already made, they just played the next play. And that’s the game. That’s the measure of a good team, a mature team, especially on defense is their ability to move forward.”

Tech goes into its matchup with BYU at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Camping World Stadium ranking, statistically, as one of the worst defenses nationally in defending fourth downs, defending the run, in passing efficiency, recording tackles for loss and in total defense. And only four teams have fewer takeaways than Tech’s seven.

Yet Gideon’s defense had hung in there long enough this season through eight games to help the Jackets start 8-0. They were allowing 20 points and 371.5 yards per game during that undefeated stretch before N.C. State ran roughshod over them Nov. 1 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and things were never seemingly the same.

“You don’t look at how a season’s gonna go at the beginning and wish you stub your toe,” Gideon said. “But after you do stub your toe, you’re kind of grateful for those moments and what you learn about one other, what I learned about myself and, obviously, as a staff. And then what we learned about the players.”

Gideon’s defense in 2026 will have an entirely new look when it comes to personnel. Ahmari Harvey, Rodney Shelley, Omar Daniels, Jy Gilmore and Clayton Powell-Lee exit the secondary, and the defensive line loses Jordan van den Berg, Jason Moore, Akelo Stone, Ronald Triplette and Matthew Alexander. Gideon and coach Brent Key signed 11 high school seniors to join the ’26 roster and will have to add more through the transfer portal to improve Tech’s defensive skill and depth.

But for now Gideon and the defense have to find a way to end 2025 on a high note.