‘What’s the big deal?’ Georgia Tech takes unusual trip for ACC opener.

Brent Key tried to maintain a straight face.

His Georgia Tech football team opens Atlantic Coast Conference play at Stanford on Saturday roughly 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

Inevitably, Key faced questions earlier this week about travel. About time zones. About the 10:30 p.m. EST kickoff.

He couldn’t help but smile while attempting to deadpan.

“We’re playing a conference game,” Key said. “What’s the big deal?”

The cross-country trip is more than a punchline.

Stanford is 5-11 in ACC play since joining the conference, with four of those five wins coming at home. The Cardinal were double-digit underdogs in three of those victories, including wins over then-No. 19 Louisville in 2024 and Florida State last season. Two of them were night games.

Tech does, however, have recent experience handling unusual travel. The Jackets won at Colorado last season and beat Florida State in Dublin in 2024.

But, as Key points out, both were season openers.

“They’re different from a logistics and planning standpoint,” Key said. “We plan these things months and months and months in advance.”

The Jackets enter Saturday having played three straight weekends at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The team will fly to California on Thursday, with an arrival around 7 p.m. local time. Key said his plan is to keep routines as normal as possible, with lights out at the hotel Friday night at 10:30 p.m. local time.

“There’s protocols we’ll put in place that we’ll do and carry out to ensure we’re in the best position to go out there and compete,” Key said.

Tech senior cornerback Daiquan White said the coaching staff has mapped out everything from when players will sleep to when they will eat.

“College football is all about travel,” White said.

“It’s just about being prepared and understanding where you’re going.”

Stanford, meanwhile, is in its first season under coach Tavita Pritchard. The ACC preseason media poll picked the Cardinal to finish last, and they lost to Miami and Duke by a combined 80-13 to open conference play.

The Jackets opened as a 5.5-point betting favorite earlier this week. The line had shifted to 3.5 points by Wednesday.

“Everything you want to do when you’re building your program, I see with (Pritchard’s) team,” Key said. “Record is not indicative of how the team is being built.”

Key spent time with Pritchard in May at ACC coaches meetings in Amelia Island, Florida. He called Pritchard, a former Stanford quarterback, “super impressive.”

Key also praised the structure Stanford has in place, with former standout quarterback Andrew Luck serving as general manager.

“To see those two guys interact with each other, the passion that they have for their school, knowing what it takes to win there and having been there when they did win big,” Key said. “It’s a unique place, just like Georgia Tech is. There’s a recipe for success there, and they know what that recipe is.”

Against ACC foes this season, Stanford’s defense has struggled in different ways. Miami passed for 428 yards in a Friday night game at Stanford. Duke rushed for 264 yards last week in Durham, North Carolina.