Amid fan fury, Georgia Tech players keep focus on task

“How is he still coach of this team?” wrote one fan in one of the tamer responses.

A slight problem – as wide receiver Malachi Carter’s photo was on the graphic, he also was tagged in the post.

“So every comment was being replied to me, personally, too,” Carter said. “So it was like, ‘Y’all don’t mean it, but y’all are talking to me, too.’”

Carter, who comes across as mature and easygoing, handled it about as well as one could hope from a college student.

“That’s just how it goes,” Carter said. “You saw what happened to Alabama last year. They didn’t have their best season, and the whole country’s in an uproar. That just comes with the game at any level.”

It may come with the game, but it doesn’t make the situation any more palatable for Carter and his teammates. With the Jackets’ 42-0 loss to No. 16 Ole Miss on Saturday, fan fury at Collins has reached unprecedented heights in his fourth season and further destabilized his job security. Collins has sought to insulate himself from the criticism, staying away from social media and not checking his email.

“So it’s a little easier, but I’m not an 18- to 22-, 23-year-old young man who has social media and all those things,” Collins said.

Tech will aim to correct course against the Knights in the Jackets’ fourth game of the season. While their focus has to be trained on this moment, the swirl of questions about Collins’ future is hard to ignore. Players are trying to keep their focus narrow and their spirits up.

“Obviously, people are going to talk and say negative things, but that’s not my worry,” cornerback Zamari Walton said. “I’m focused on what we can do this upcoming week to get the win.”

Walton spoke to teammates at the start of a defensive unit meeting Tuesday, reminding them that the team’s record is 1-2 and that most of the season remains.

“There are things that we’re seeing on film that we can do better,” he said, paraphrasing his message. “So just letting guys know, if you’ve got your head down, if you’re thinking any negative thoughts, let’s be positive and lets’ come to practice and let’s play the way we’re supposed to play.”

Speaking Wednesday, Walton said that players had been treating practices like games.

“So when we go out there, we’re making sure we’re talking, running to the ball,” he said. “It’s just, everything’s different. Everybody has that energy.”

They have tried to make the Ole Miss loss, which linebacker Charlie Thomas called embarrassing, a lesson. In response, Thomas said that there had been an attitude of raised commitment to working at practice.

“We’re just trying to hold a standard as high as possible, hold each other accountable every play, every day,” he said. “Make sure that what happened on Saturday doesn’t happen again.”

Carter, the unwitting fan-anger receptacle, can’t deny his frustration. Even as far back as the 2020 preseason, he shared that, after the 3-9 record of Collins’ first season, “we want to start winning some games. We want to put Georgia Tech on the map.” Two years have come and gone with those expectations going unfulfilled.

“It’s obviously frustrating,” Carter said. “We all had high hopes coming into the season, and we still do, so it’s frustrating. You have a good week of practice and you go out to the game, and it’s just not what you thought it was going to be.

“But we’ve figured out what it was that needed to be fixed,” he continued. “We just pick up the intensity so we’re ready for the next game.”

What’s needed, he said, is for all 11 players on the field to handle their responsibilities on every play.

“You’d be surprised what one mistake from a player can be to an offense and defense,” he said.

In practice, there has been an emphasis on attention to detail – a stated priority for Collins as far back as spring practice in 2021 – but it hasn’t been carried to the field consistently.

“Because, obviously, we’ll get some positive plays, but those negative plays are, believe it or not, probably from one or two mistakes,” Carter said. “Just consistently doing your job – that’s the biggest thing.”

Carter held up Thomas, whose 28 tackles rank second on the team behind linebacker Ayinde Eley despite missing three-plus quarters because of a targeting suspension, as an example of how the team needed to play.

“He’s got something about him,” Carter said of Thomas. “He’s always got energy.”

Thomas’ solution is similar to Carter’s.

“We’ve just got to get in the game and execute,” he said. “When the big lights come on, we’ve got to not freeze and do what we’ve been preaching.”

Upsetting the Knights, who were a 20.5-point favorite as of Friday, will require not faltering against UCF’s up-tempo offense, churning out first downs and points against a Knights defense rated 32nd in FBS by Football Outsiders (Tech’s offense is ranked 89th) and avoiding special-teams blowups.

Steady offensive play – the sort that relies on consistent execution – will be a mountain to climb in the Knights’ FBC Mortgage Stadium. The Jackets have had 31 possessions this season that have started at or behind their 35-yard line. Those drives have generated 17 points, 14 of which were scored against FCS Western Carolina.

Tech’s defense (Football Outsiders rank: 107th) likewise will have to prevent the UCF offense (Ranked 42nd) and its powerful run game from powering through the Jackets by coming up with third-down stops and turnovers. Tech has shown an ability to make plays – the Jackets are tied for seventh in FBS with 27 tackles for loss – but buckling down has been a task not yet mastered. Opponents have had 31 possessions starting at their 35 or behind. They have created 69 points.

It is but three games, two of them against ranked opponents, the most hopeful Tech supporters might note. If not in the realm of Twitter, that group has company within the confines of the Tech locker room.

“We’ve got to stay together,” Carter said, “and anything can happen.”