Everything to know ahead of Georgia Tech football vs. Mercer

Georgia Tech football, simply put, needs a victory.

The Yellow Jackets enter Saturday’s game against overmatched FCS opponent Mercer as losers in six of their past seven games, dating back to last season, and off to an 0-2 start this year.

Tech coach Brent Key said he doesn’t believe in momentum. With the Jackets beginning ACC play next week at Stanford, Key sees Saturday’s game at Bobby Dodd Stadium as an opportunity to build something he considers more tangible.

“Confidence, when it’s built, helps elevate play,” he said. “But momentum is — it’s not a real thing. Getting on a roll, playing good, playing good as a team, you improve as a team. That’s what our goal is: improve week to week, maximize the potential of players and coaches that we’ve got.”

The Jackets lost to both Colorado and Tennessee, with Key describing the games as “one competitive game and one we gave away.”

Tech enters Saturday as a 38.5-point betting favorite, providing an opportunity to put together its most complete performance of the season before an eight-game ACC schedule begins next week.

Key has emphasized a series of familiar messages to his players: “next-play mentality, no scoreboard, faceless opponent.” Whether the opponent is ranked Tennessee or FCS-level Mercer, he said, the focus remains on building an identity and standard.

“All players are looking to go on the field, they’re looking to be confident in themselves, confident in their teammates, confident in the plan and confident in the overall program, the team,” Key said. “You’ve got to instill confidence in the players throughout practice leading up to the game. If they have confidence, good things start going and you continue to play well.”

Here’s what you need to know:

Kickoff: Noon, Saturday, Sept. 19

Where: Bobby Dodd Stadium (52,113)

TV: ACC Network

Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network, 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan, SiriusXM 113 or 236

Odds: Georgia Tech is a 38.5-point favorite, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. The over/under is 58.5.

Series history: Georgia Tech leads 14-1-1. They last met in 2016, when Tech won 35-10 in Atlanta.

Weather: 85 degrees at kickoff, 55% chance of rain, per AccuWeather.com.

Top storylines ahead of Georgia Tech vs. Mercer

The fix: Tech’s weak point on defense is obvious. The Jackets allowed 183 yards rushing against Colorado. Tennessee followed with 299 yards on the ground last week.

“There ain’t no sugarcoating what it is,” Key said.

Through three games this season, Mercer is averaging 219 rushing yards per game and 6.2 yards per carry. But it shouldn’t matter what Mercer has done or aims to do.

The Bears are 0-11 against FBS teams since reigniting their program in 2013. Tech should handle business on Saturday and build toward conference play.

“A lot of teams have been trying to gash us and the run defense,” said Tech defensive tackle Tawfiq Thomas. “That’s going to keep happening week after week if we don’t put on tape that we can stop the run. So this week we’ve been on run, everybody executing their job as one of 11 (players). Stop trying to do other people’s jobs and everybody just do their one job and trust each other.”

Fast and free: Tech’s offense, which has scored just two touchdowns, needs more production on first-down plays, particularly early in games and drives.

Against Tennessee, the Jackets totaled just eight yards on six first-down plays in the first quarter. Three of those plays resulted in incomplete passes and another ended with a sack.

Against Colorado, they had 18 yards on six first-down plays in the opening period. But four of those went for two yards or fewer and one resulted in a lost fumble.

Any other metric used to grade Tech’s offense, especially third-down percentage, will be influenced by better performance on first downs.

“We have to create speed in our starts,” Key said. “We have to create a sense of urgency.”

See what they have: If Tech stops the run and gets off to a fast start offensively, opportunities for playing time across the depth chart will likely open early.

For the first time this season, the Jackets should have room to focus on more than simply winning.