Georgia Tech heads into ACC play on the road Saturday with its share of problems to solve.
The Yellow Jackets have shown vulnerability to surrendering big plays. And they have yet to give full account of themselves for four quarters.
But among the many traits that can be ascribed to them, perhaps a fair dose of mettle might also be among them. For better or worse, the Jackets trailed in each of their first three games against presumably lesser opponents. And all three times, Tech has earned victories, most notably on Saturday, when quarterback Justin Thomas led the Jackets 76 yards for a game-winning touchdown in the final minutes of Tech’s 42-38 victory against Georgia Southern.
With it, Tech avoided a school record for largest lead given up in a loss. Tech led 35-10 at halftime.
Before the final drive, “I’m pretty sure we were all in there like, this is it, this is make or break,” B-back Zach Laskey said. “We don’t want to let down Georgia Tech. Come on. Let’s do this.”
While the statistic gives some indication of the team’s shortcomings in the past few years, Saturday’s win was the first game in which Tech came from behind in the fourth quarter to win since staging an 11-point, fourth-quarter comeback against Wake Forest in 2010. The commitment and attitude that coaches and players have lauded in this team may have shown themselves in the final 4:12 Saturday.
Tech had one comeback victory last year, coming from 13-0 and 20-7 down against North Carolina to beat the Tar Heels. That lead was erased in the third quarter. In 2012, North Carolina was again the Jackets’ only comeback win in the back-and-forth 68-50 shootout.
The comebacks raise the question of why Tech was ever losing to teams from lesser conferences (Georgia Southern and Tulane) and a lower division (FCS Wofford) in the first place. The Jackets would not have been the first team from one of the five power conferences to lose to a non-power conference opponent this season, although joining the ranks of teams like Indiana, Purdue, Vanderbilt and Colorado would not have been much of a talking point. Tech’s opponent this Saturday for its ACC opener, rival Virginia Tech, knows well the bite, having lost to East Carolina on Saturday.
Perhaps, though, Tech has learned lessons it couldn’t have with smooth-sailing wins, all the while remaining unscathed. The Jackets know – or should know – the perils of a) starting slowly; b) losing focus when ahead; c) turnovers; d) scheduling teams with option offenses.
“We’re undefeated, obviously, but we haven’t been playing good enough at all,” safety Jamal Golden said.
They know the pass rush needs improvement. They must like the potential of the offense. And they have seen their quarterback’s special playmaking ability at a dire moment.
“We fought,” Golden said. “We dug down and we found a way to win again, so we’re looking to carry over on the momentum of actually winning the game and looking to go up to Virginia Tech and play our best game.”
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