In challenging circumstances, Georgia Tech will pursue its fourth win of the season Thursday night against Pittsburgh at Bobby Dodd Stadium. A win over the Panthers would be the biggest of the season for the Yellow Jackets, who are short on rest and may likewise be short on players.
Here are five things to know about the game:
Productive pair at linebacker
Linebackers David Curry and Quez Jackson are putting together two of the more productive seasons for linebackers in recent team history.
Since 2000, only three Tech players have logged at least 70 tackles through nine games. Julian Burnett is one, in 2011. Curry did it last season (74), and he and Jackson have reached that mark together, with 70 each. At 7.8 tackles per game, they’re tied for eighth in the ACC.
Since the team’s four-week break between games ended, Curry has had 24 tackles in the past two games, including two tackles for loss against N.C. State on Saturday and a forced fumble and two pass breakups against Duke.
“We’ve played better at the line of scrimmage, so that’s allowed them to be better tacklers,” defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker said. “Less space creates better tacklers at linebacker.”
Thacker also said that both players have improved at wrapping up ballcarriers and noted their devotion to preparation. He recalled a play by Curry in the N.C. State game in which he recognized what play the Wolfpack were running before the snap and made a key tackle for loss.
“Those guys study and give themselves a chance by knowing what’s coming,” Thacker said.
Brooks’ impressive run
Of the seniors who will be honored Thursday night before the last home game of the season, none have had careers that unfolded quite like defensive tackle Djimon Brooks. At Washington County High, Brooks was recruited mostly by junior colleges and was considering playing at Division III Berry College before a walk-on opportunity opened at Tech.
He redshirted in 2016 and then played in one game in the next two seasons. Last year, he won a spot in the defensive tackle rotation and played in all 12 games, starting four. He ranked second among defensive linemen in tackles with 27. In July, coach Geoff Collins put him on scholarship and gave him the team’s first No. 0 jersey, in this case symbolic of his status as a “zero-star recruit.”
On Tuesday, the team announced that Brooks had been nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy, given to the most outstanding FBS player who began his career as a walk-on. In recent team history, few walk-ons have made a larger on-field contribution than Brooks.
Asked this week what he would have thought had he been told as a freshman how his career would unfold, Brooks responded with the confidence of a young man who knew what he could do and how hard he was willing to work to get there.
“I probably would be like, I already know that,” Brooks said. “It’s more a mindset of already knowing what you’re going to do and what you’ve got planned for yourself.”
Setting the stage
The loss to N.C. State eliminated the possibility for Tech to finish with a winning record. Coming out of their break, the Jackets had aspirations to win their final four games and finish 6-5. A win over Pitt, though, would be the most significant of the season.
Pitt might have the third best defense in the ACC after Notre Dame and Clemson, although the Jackets will have the fortune of playing the Panthers with defensive end Rashad Weaver (7.5 sacks, ACC-leading 14.5 tackles for loss) having reportedly opted out this week.
It will not be easy. Tech will be playing on a short week while Pitt had an open date last week. Moreover, Pitt students finished with final exams last week while Tech’s final-exam schedule ended only Tuesday. Tellingly, on Monday, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi moved practice back to allow his players to get extra sleep. On the same morning, Collins moved practice up because of an exam that almost 40 players were taking.
“Obviously, in a normal schedule, we would not be having all of these things combined, but that’s what it is right now, and I know our guys will handle it the right way,” Collins said.
Freshmen emerging
Neither Kyle Kennard nor Jared Ivey began the season on the “Above the Line” chart, but they’ve made it into the starting lineup. The two freshman defensive ends played with the first-string defense against N.C. State and, if the latest “ATL” chart is an accurate depiction of who will be available against Pitt, they’ll likely do so again.
The two played more than 50 snaps each because defensive ends Chico Bennett, Jordan Domineck and Curtis Ryans were all unavailable. That coaches didn’t know until Saturday that Kennard and Ivey would have to start indicates that some or all of the absences were COVID-related. None of the three were on the “ATL” chart released Tuesday along with several teammates.
Against N.C. State, Kennard was starting his second game, Ivey his first. Kennard generated 1½ sacks, the first of his career. Ivey had three tackles and a quarterback hurry. There have now been at least seven members of the 2020 signing class to start a game this season.
“They did a great job,” Collins said. “They had been getting more and more reps throughout the season, but then getting thrown in as starters on game day and then playing over 50 snaps each, that’s just commendable to who they are.”
Challenge for run game
Tech’s run game, which has amassed 638 yards in the past two games, will have a formidable challenge Thursday. Pitt leads the ACC in rushing defense at 93.1 yards per game.
Offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude praised the work not only of the offensive line, but of the tight end group and wide receivers for their blocking work against N.C. State.
“Those guys did a super job of covering guys up, so your 4-yard runs turn into an 8- or 9-yard run because we don’t have free hitters coming in from the third level,” Patenaude said.
Tech will need to keep an eye on linebacker SirVocea Dennis (named after the cognac Courvoisier), who is tied for second in the ACC with 14 tackles for loss.
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