Georgia Tech ended its second week of preseason camp with a scrimmage Saturday inside Bobby Dodd Stadium.
The closed competition lasted roughly 3-1/2 hours, according to second-year coach Brent Key. The Yellow Jackets ran 160 plays, up from about 126, Key said, from the first preseason scrimmage in 2023. About 20% of those snaps were reserved for the third-team offense and defense.
In the first half of Saturday’s scrimmage, the ball was placed at the 20-yard line with 80 yards to go for a touchdown. Those possessions ended with four touchdowns, five three-and-outs and a 52-yard field-goal attempt that was blocked. The second phase of the scrimmage focused on third-down conversions in which the first-team defense, “was 8-for-8 in big plays against the first offense,” Key said.
During the ensuing red-zone portion of the competition, the first-team offense had two drives and scored two touchdowns.
Key noted the individual play of wide receivers Christian Leary and Leo Blackburn, tight ends Brett Seither, Jackson Hawes and Luke Harpring and quarterbacks Haynes King and Zach Pyron. The second-year coach also said that every Jacket that was able played Saturday.
“Went into this talking, ‘This isn’t a dress rehearsal. This is game day. Prepare yourself going into it as if it’s game day.’ Then we’ll hit a hard reset (Sunday) and go back into camp preparation, building our football team mode,” Key said. “I think now is the point in camp where the guys know what to do. It comes down to the details, the techniques, the alignments, getting into the proper stances and alignments before the snap, being able to play whether it was a huddle play or a tempo play or whatever it may be.”
The Jackets now have had nine practices as they build toward starting the 2024 season Aug. 24 against Florida State in Dublin. Those practices have been conducted in the midafternoon heat, and Saturday was no different inside Bobby Dodd Stadium, where Key said he was more concerned about getting players as many reps as possible rather than who was playing with the first string or second string.
Key also has been keeping a keen eye on his defense, a unit that includes four new assistant coaches and all sorts of new players. Improving the defense, particularly on the front, is imperative for the Jackets if they are to win more than the seven games they won last season.
“We’re better. We’re deeper. It allows the guys that have been here, that have played a bunch of reps, to play more efficient reps,” Key said of the defensive line. “You don’t wanna count your chickens before they hatch, we still have a lot of camp to go, but I feel like we’ve improved our pass rush and our ability to stop the run with the front.”
The Jackets are less than three weeks from the opener at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Key said he and his staff will pencil in a depth chart Sunday and then continue to evaluate over the next week as time inches closer to the trip overseas.
As for Saturday, Key said he was pleased that the scales didn’t tip one way or the other in terms of defense or offensive control. He believes that bodes well for the future.
“There was not a dominant on one side of the ball or the other, and that’s what you look for. You don’t want it to be one-sided. You want it to have flow back and forth,” he added. ”Both sides of the ball, whether you talk to (defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci) or (offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner), only reason the other side had success was because of mistakes. That’s what it’s about.
“It’s about being honest with yourself, being able to self-assess and challenge everybody to look themselves in the mirror. If we can come in and have a real hard, tell-the-truth day (Sunday), we have a chance to get better this week.”
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