Georgia Tech shows off formula for win over Florida State

DUBLIN — For a school that produces astronauts and engineers with the utmost efficiency, spontaneous moments of joy are easily intertwined with careful preparation.

And that’s why there’s hurtful hugs, violent fist pumps, and relentless enthusiasm. Georgia Tech No. 10 was beaten at the Aviva Stadium Florida State 24-21 The performance, which took place in Ireland on Saturday night, represented both a celebration and a culmination.

Georgia Tech capped off the 2024 season with a thrilling upset — including a 44-yard walk-off field goal — by beating a top 10 team for the first time since 2015. Aidan Birr.It also provided an empirical tipping point for tech’s growing ambitions.

For Yellow Jackets coach Brent Key, a believer in Tech’s identity and a proud alumnus, all those moments of spontaneity were the byproducts of a precise plan for both a game and a program that was executed to the hilt.

“More than anything, to see or know that so many people now look at Georgia Tech and the brand of football that we play, and it’s not some pretentious brand of football,” Key told ESPN in a quiet moment after the game. “It’s real. It’s tough. We’re going to build at the line of scrimmage. That’s where games are won.”

Key’s signature win in his second year as Tech’s full-time coach came out of a former offensive lineman’s fever dream. It was built so tightly it would make George O’Leary smile, it had enough quarterback runs to make Paul Johnson blink and it had familiar flashes of big plays that were reminiscent of the glory days of Bobby Ross.

The win on a misty day Saturday in the Aer Lingus Classic came thanks to the efficient execution of a game plan that produced 190 yards of rushing, a game clock that ran like a podcast at 1.5x speed and a pressure cooker that demanded each possession be treated like a Fabergé egg.

there was a star quarterback Haynes KingHe ran the ball with his shoulder bent as many times (15 times) as he threw the ball (16 times).

There was the Spitfire Tailback Jamal HaynesLeaping for two touchdowns, rushing for 75 yards and finishing as the contest’s leader with grass stains and end zone paint on his uniform — appropriate badges of honor for this level of play.

and there was the leading tackler Kyle Efford (10 tackles and half a tackle for loss), closing gaps and pushing back piles.

“It means a lot,” Key said of the moment. “I love this place, and I put everything I have into this program to make sure these kids have everything they need to be successful on and off the field. To see the success they had tonight is awesome.”

Tech entered the matchup with a classic underdog plan: run the ball, kill time and shorten the game. The quarterback run game has long been the great equalizer of sports, and the more things change in the game, the more it will resonate as an eternal truth.

Tech made the second quarter disappear with a 14-play masterpiece that lasted just under eight minutes. If Key could find a way to turn this into a fresco, it would be framed and hung on a wall in the Georgia Tech facility.

Yellow Jackets offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner executed the game like a master, with a brilliant series of pre-snap and post-snap shifts and motions. Florida State’s talented defense was flat and confused most of the night. But that innovative window dressing shouldn’t take away from the collective mess of the Tech offensive line, which completely controlled a Seminoles’ defensive line that stood with its hands on its hips for long stretches of the game.

Tech’s determination and power neutralized FSU’s individual defensive talent, which included two 2023 All-ACC linemen. FSU’s starting D-line did not record a sack or TFL and had only one hurried fumble.

On defense, Tech brought in seven new starters and a new playcaller in the form of coordinator Tyler Santucci. It looked to change pitches frequently before the snap to harass the FSU quarterback DJ UiagaleleiConstantly force him to make long throws and limit big plays. The Seminoles finished with seven possessions, 291 total yards and only 3.2 yards per carry.

“We’re building this program very thoughtfully,” Key said. “We’re building it with a strong foundation to last a long time.”

This is a very different Tech team from the one that finished 128th in rushing defense last season. Those who watched Tech closely last year saw King’s ability, Haynes’ guts and Faulkner’s ways of tricking defenses. But without a defense that could play complementary football, it led to a team that was a bit of a tease, losing North CarolinaTop Rated Games Georgia Losing a one-score game and capitalizing on Mario Cristobal’s epic clock management mistake to come out on top miami,

but it lost too bowling Green and lost 21 points in the fourth quarter due to a loss Boston CollegeBecause stability was not available without answers on defense.

“First, we learned how not to lose. Then we talked about learning how to win,” Key said. “The next step in this journey is to learn how to win consistently.”

A lengthy postgame meeting between Key and Santucci on Saturday demonstrated what’s possible when Faulkner’s innovative offense and Key’s philosophy of toughness are combined with a strong defense. (Key has 16 former linemen on his staff, a reminder of the program’s commitment to the line of scrimmage.)

“That hug was just confirmation of what I already knew about Tyler,” Key said. “He said, ‘Thank you for having me here.’ And I said, ‘Thank you for saying yes.’ It’s going to be a really good match.”

With regard to the FSU, its limited powers and the influx of new faces make it difficult to draw any major conclusions following its defeat.

“Every snap mattered so much in that game,” said Seminoles coach Mike Norvell, who was clearly frustrated by the limited possessions and short game.

The scary part long term was FSU’s lack of explosion at the skill positions, which will need to change. Perhaps the smooth grass, Tech’s better schemes and the Seminoles adjusting to a new identity caused the loss and are issues they can overcome.

But as Georgia Tech moved the chains and stayed clear about its identity, it became clear which team had the better quarterback. It was King, who carried the game with his legs but also made plays with his arm when needed. On Tech’s second sensational drive of the night — an 11-play, 89-yard march to take a 21-14 lead in the fourth — King completed all five of his passes. (This included a 15-yard toss to the leading receiver on third-and-12 Malik Rutherford to move Tech from a potential punt to a touchdown drive.)

“Haynes is the best quarterback in the league and I think he has a chance to be the best quarterback in the country this year,” Key told ESPN. “The best thing about him is he doesn’t have to throw the ball. He doesn’t have to run. He can do both and he’s such a selfless kid — and such a selfless player that he puts the team first and does whatever it takes to win.”

King did just that, saving Tech from a frightening fumbled snap on a motion play with a minute remaining. The 10-yard loss separated Tech from field goal range and emerged as the kind of self-destructive play that could have derailed a nearly perfect game plan from the first 59 minutes. But King stayed calm and found the star wideout Eric Singleton 12 yards on third down and 17 yards on the next play.

“You can’t say you have full confidence in your players all week and then be afraid that when it comes to a game they’re not going to do their job,” Key said.

And that’s exactly what Tech did, which served as a reminder of just how noisy college football will be in 2024. It also offers a glimpse into what Tech plans to become under Key’s leadership.

“This is a big step for our program, but this is really where we need to be,” Tech athletic director Jay Batt said after the game.