After a weekend off to refresh and recharge, Georgia Tech returned to practice Tuesday and began preparing in earnest for its next opponent, Boston College, and for the second half of the season.
Tech coach Brent Key said the team had two “back-to-basics” practices last week before beginning its scout on Boston College on Thursday. But a large portion of the off-week also gave the Jackets’ the ability to assess where they stood as a team and as a program.
“There’s no shock anymore. We’ve got the ability to win football games and be up on teams. So there’s no shock,” Key said. “At the end of the day, the only thing you’re judged on is when (the clock) says zero-zero. That’s the only time that a W or an L comes on the board. Everything else is how are you gonna play for those 60 minutes?
“That’s the challenge to the guys on the team, it’s the challenge to the coaches on the staff, it’s a challenge to myself, it’s a challenge to the fan base, it’s a challenge to everyone to continue that for the entirety of that football game.”
Key’s squad is six games, three wins and three losses, into a roller coaster of a season that was broken up by Saturday’s open date. The first-year coach spent his Friday on the recruiting trail, took some time to be with family Saturday and got back to work with his staff and team Sunday.
Now he and the Yellow Jackets (3-3, 2-1 ACC) will be looking to create their first win streak of the season when they face the Eagles at noon Saturday (ACC Network). Tech beat then No.-17 Miami 23-20 on Oct. 7 in a thrilling, come-from-behind fashion to get back to .500.
Sustaining that positive momentum will be crucial this week for the Jackets.
“We played for 60 minutes in the last game, but what’s your identity? Your identity is not what you did prior, it’s what you do next and how you can consistently do that,” Key said. “That’s why I talked to the team this week about having a work ethic versus a want ethic. Everyone wants to go do it, but we’ve got to put the work in during the week and then have the right frame of mind and the right mindset that we take the field with.
“The game of football is played independent of any clock and any scoreboard. We’ve got to continue to keep that mindset, whether you’re up or whether you’re down in a football game. That’s the biggest challenge right now, is the continued coaching and teaching and developing of the mindset that we have to have going into each week, but also into each game.”
Boston College (3-3, 1-2 ACC) comes to Atlanta after a bye week of its own. Before that, the Eagles won back-to-back games – both by scores of 27-24 – over Virginia and Army, respectively.
Coached by Jeff Hafley, BC is led by dual-threat quarterback Thomas Castellanos (a Ware County High graduate) who has 500 rushing yards and seven rushing TDs coupled with 1,143 passing yards and 10 passing touchdowns. Running backs Pat Garwo and Kye Robichaux (from Columbus) have combined for nearly 500 rushing yards, and receiver Lewis Bond has caught 24 passes for 356 yards and five scores.
The Eagles have the league’s second-best rushing offense, but are one of the worst squads in the ACC in third-down defense, red-zone defense, scoring defense, sacks, takeaways, tackles for loss, pass-efficiency defense and penalties.
“Offensively, they’ve got some veterans on the offensive line. They’ve got a quarterback who’s really doing a good job of running the offense. They’re playing to his strengths,” Key said of BC. “They’ve got some receivers who can make plays in the slot, plays on the edge. But then they got two big backs. … They’re a load. They’re gonna get downhill on you, and we’ve got to be able to line up and flat-ball the line of scrimmage and prepare to stop those guys.”
NOTES
- A victory Saturday would give Tech its first 3-1 start to league play since 2017.
- The Jackets are 5-11 in their past 16 ACC home games.
- Tech opened as a 6 1/2-point favorite over Boston College.
- The Jackets are 7-4 all-time against BC and 3-3 in games played at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
- Saturday’s game also is part of Tech’s family weekend and Hall of Fame weekend.
- The Jackets’ 12 opponents are a combined 48-28. Tech’s three wins were against teams that currently are 9-9, its three losses against teams a combined 14-6 and its remaining six games are against teams that are a combined 25-13.
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