In front of the smallest home crowd since 1989 (coincidentally also against Boston College), Georgia Tech fell again. The Yellow Jackets lost their fourth consecutive game, this time by a 41-30 score to the Eagles.
In a dispiriting defeat in which the Jackets led 21-7 early in the second quarter, coach Geoff Collins’ team also eliminated itself from bowl contention and guaranteed a losing season by falling to 3-7 with two games remaining against No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 1 Georgia. Boston College earned bowl eligibility by improving to 6-4.
Playing before an announced crowd of 31,511, the Jackets committed a season-high 11 penalties and was outgained by at least 125 yards for the third game in a row.
Five takeaways from the game:
Third-and-long a disaster
Collins pointed to three third-and-long plays that Boston College converted that were killers for Tech. After extending the drives with the plays, the Eagles went on to score touchdowns each time.
Boston College hit a third-and-11 on its opening drive when quarterback Phil Jurkovec dropped in a pass to wide receiver Jaelen Gill against coverage by defensive back Wesley Walker for a 24-yard gain.
In the second quarter, with the score tied at 21, Jurkovec picked up a third-and-9 when wide receiver Jaden Williams got behind cornerback Tre Swilling for a 38-yard reception. (Collins said that Swilling was not fully healthy and struggled this past week just to be able to practice.)
When they were protecting a 31-30 lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Eagles converted a third-and-13 from their 7-yard line when Jurkovec found tight end Trae Berry for a 21-yard gain against zone coverage. Safety Tariq Carpenter, who made the tackle, said he was expecting Berry to bend his route across the field but he instead ran straight upfield. On each of the three passes, Jurkovec was well-protected and had time to throw.
“Obviously, we have to do that, get off the field on third down,” Collins said.
Tech is second to last in the ACC in third-down defense (45.7%).
Fast start for Jordan Yates
Quarterback Jordan Yates said he knew “for a good portion of the week” that he would start Saturday in place of Jeff Sims, who watched the game from the sideline with his right foot in a walking boot. (Boston College coach Jeff Hafley said he and his staff had expected Yates to play from about Wednesday or Thursday.)
Yates led the Jackets to touchdowns on their first two possessions, but only nine more points in the remaining seven meaningful drives.
He distributed well but couldn’t hit big pass plays – 17-for-28 to eight targets for 126 yards, with a long of 22 yards – and had 76 rushing yards (without accounting for sack yardage) and a two-yard touchdown run.
“We had a couple penalties and a couple miscommunications on some snaps that may have held us back a little bit, but overall, (we) didn’t execute like we did in the first couple drives,” Yates said.
Hafley said that after Yates’ hot start, Boston College wanted to keep him in the pocket and limit his scrambling to extend plays.
“I think he’s a really good football player,” he said.
Yates made one critical mistake, a third-quarter interception in the red zone when he rolled left and tried to squeeze in a pass to tight end Dylan Leonard in the end zone. At that point, the Jackets trailed 28-24.
“I’d say I was just a little bit hesitant, kind of indecisive right there,” Yates said. “Going forward, I’ve just got to make a decision and live with it.”
It wasn’t clear if Yates will continue as the starter for next Saturday’s game at No. 9 Notre Dame, although it would not be a surprise.
Second quarter Tech’s undoing
The game flipped in the second quarter, in which the Jackets took a 21-7 lead three plays into the period but went into halftime down 28-21.
Tech was eviscerated on defense as the Eagles exposed the Jackets pass defense and the offense couldn’t score despite excellent starting field position on two of its three possessions.
Jurkovec completed passes of 39, 38 and 38 yards (the first for a touchdown) and ran three times for 34 yards and two touchdowns, exploiting poor pass-rush pressure, weak coverage and poor tackling.
The Jackets, meanwhile, tangled themselves up by not blocking well, which twice put them in third-and-long situations that they could not escape. It wasted possessions that started at the Boston College 44 and 48 – Hafley said that the Eagles were not trying to onside kick, as it appeared, but rather had poorly executed squib kicks – the latter of which was extended by a successful fake punt. Tech’s final possession of the half, begun with 49 seconds remaining, was thwarted by questionable clock management.
“We’ve just got to find a way, when we get up 21-7, we’ve got to shut the door on people and just keep gaining momentum and gaining ground and not let go of the rope, that kind of thing, and relax and let good teams back into it,” Collins said. “Frustrating, it hurts, but were just going to keep working.”
Collins with media
After the game, Collins stepped around a question about whether he would be more involved in coaching the defense. In the past four games, Tech opponents are averaging 548.8 yards of offense and 7.7 yards per play.
Collins said that he understood the reason for the question, but wasn’t “going to get into that,” adding that he was hands-on in every phase of the program.
“We’ve just got to continue to work to get better,” he said. “Obviously, we don’t want to have performances where it ends up key third downs cost us and keep the chains moving and (we) get scored on, but the guys keep battling.”
The next question was if he thought the defense was prepared well enough to play better than it did.
Collins’ responded that Tech had prepared for Boston College to use its “12 personnel” package – one running back, two tight ends – as that is its predominant grouping, but then that the Eagles changed to 11 (one back, one tight end) after falling behind 21-7, suggesting that that was a source of problems.
Collins’ demeanor in speaking with media was understandably muted. Where after last week’s loss to Miami he told reporters that they “don’t seem to want to talk about” Tech’s highlights, he did not stress the Jackets’ positives from the game or point out that his team is closing the gap, as he often has.
“Another close game that got away from us,” he said.
Door closing on seniors
Safety Tariq Carpenter was among Tech players feeling the pain of Saturday’s loss acutely. Given the opportunity to play a fifth season because of COVID-19, Carpenter took it, in part believing that the Jackets could have a special season in 2021. Right guard Ryan Johnson, left guard Kenny Cooper and defensive tackle Djimon Brooks were among those who had similar aspirations in returning for their extra seasons.
The Jackets’ loss to the Eagles ensured a losing record and no bowl game for Tech. After the game, Carpenter spoke of his aspirations to play college football since he was a child and the hurt he felt.
“And then just knowing what Georgia Tech was in the past, it just kind of hurts because my goal coming in here was to get us back to where we were,” he said.
Ever resilient, Carpenter tried to frame the moment in hopeful terms.
“But everything has a reason to it,” he said. “Hopefully the young guys learn. I’m Tech for life. Tech is in me.”
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