Georgia Tech is inching closer to the Gasparilla Bowl and began its second week of bowl prep Monday morning.
The Yellow Jackets (6-6) practiced three days last week before getting the weekend off. Coach Brent Key’s squad is allotted 15 extra practices this month ahead of the Dec. 22 game against Central Florida (6-6). Many of those workouts will be used to continue to develop the younger and more inexperienced players on the roster while also polishing the abilities of those who have contributed all season.
“What I want to do is to be able to get as many opportunities as we can early on to keep our guys in shape to hone their skills so we haven’t lost what we’ve been able to build through the season,” Key said. “Get guys a lot of situational football, a lot of third downs, red area, two-minute, four-minute type situations. The first week of it will be good-on-good and then a lot of time for developmental guys to get practice reps.”
Tech has not been to a bowl game since 2018 so bowl prep is new to most of the current players on the Tech roster. That’s not the case for UCF, which is making its eighth straight trip to the postseason and third trip to the Gasparilla Bowl since 2019.
Knights coach Gus Malzahn said last week his program will follow the same pre-bowl plan it used in 2021 before UCF beat Florida 29-17 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. The veteran coach said the Knights will practice 11 times ahead of Dec. 22.
“We’re using really the same script as far as practice,” he said. “I believe we’re gonna start practice on Friday, we’ll practice Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We’ll give ‘em a few days off, we’ll come back Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then we’ll go ahead and get in our bowl prep after that.”
The Jackets, meanwhile, are also still in the throes of final exams. Tech’s fall semester ends Thursday.
The 2022 game revisited
It may seem like a distant memory from a distant time, but Tech and UCF met a little less than 15 months ago in a regular-season game played in Orlando, Fla., at UCF’s FBC Mortgage Stadium.
The Jackets went to UCF with a 1-2 record and took a 7-3 lead in front of 44,220. Quarterback Jeff Sims threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Carter with 5:54 left in the first half giving the visitors the lead.
But the Knights ended the game on a 24-3 run to win 27-10. UCF had 284 rushing yards, led by quarterback John Rhys Plumlee’s 100 yards on 16 carries, and won handily despite completing only eight passes. Tech missed two field goals, lost two fumbles and had a punt blocked.
Tech fired coach Geoff Collins one day later.
Hail to the King
It has been a long road for Jaylon King, but the patience and perseverance paid off in 2023 for the Tech defensive back.
King came to Atlanta in 2018 from La Vergne, Tenn., as part of former coach Paul Johnson’s final signing class. The next five seasons he remained loyal to the Jackets despite a pandemic, a coaching change and a gruesome, season-ending injury in 2022.
The 6-foot-1, 193-pound safety returned to have his best season yet this past fall and, because of that, has racked up a few postseason honors. King was recently named a third team All-American and ACC safety of the year by the College Football Network, was tabbed second team all-ACC by The Associated Press and second team all-conference by the ACC.
King has four interceptions, two fumble recoveries, 12 passes defended, 65 tackles and has also blocked a kick this year. He is Tech’s highest-graded defensive player, according to Pro Football Focus, having played a team-high 669 defensive snaps. King has also been on the field for 55 special teams plays.
“Rewarding, pretty much seeing all my hard work pay off even through the challenges I went through, not only injuries, but playing behind someone (on the depth chart) for so long,” said King, who suffered a broken leg early in the 2022 season. “Being able to wait it out six years and finally get that recognition is most definitely a rewarding feeling.”
King said he will continue to train and work out after the Dec. 22 bowl game and hopes to get a shot at playing professional football in 2024.
Cheers at McCamish
During the Tech men’s basketball game Saturday, Key and the Jackets were recognized for their 2023 season.
At halftime, Key and his players made their way from the stands to the court where they were lauded for their efforts and for breaking a four-year drought between bowl games. The Tech basketball team went on to beat Alabama A&M 70-49.
Hostile crowd
The Jackets should be expecting to play more of a road game Dec. 22 than a neutral-site bowl contest.
UCF announced last week it had sold out of its initial allotment of 4,000 tickets to the Gasparilla Bowl. The Orlando Sentinel reported the school sold out an additional allotment as well.
The Knights have won five straight games in Tampa – two Gasparilla Bowls victories and three triumphs over rival South Florida. In 2021 they beat Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl in front of a bowl record crowd of 63,669 at the 75,000-seat Raymond James Stadium which is a little more than 100 miles from the UCF campus.
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