Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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34 OCT. 31, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY PATRICK ENGEL G eorgia Tech is not canceled. It's not throwing up its hands and punting the season. No, a 73-7 loss at Clemson on Oct. 17 that was the largest margin of defeat in ACC history won't erase what had been a season of progress, head coach Geoff Collins assured. "We had a bad day," Collins said a few days after his program set that mark of futility. "That does not change where this program is headed." To his point, the Yellow Jackets showed some signs of an upward trajectory until that game. There's time remaining to find their way back on that path after being sideswiped off it. They were on the way to out- playing their last-place projection in the ACC's preseason poll, a feat still within reach. A 2-2 start to ACC play (2-3 overall) featured a 16-13 win at Florida State and 46-27 defeat of Louisville, two teams not light on talent that were favored heading into the game. Curi- osities about being ahead of schedule followed after the second. "I don't really worry about those things, but it got me thinking after [losing to Clemson]," Collins said. "The big thing I can say is we're much better at every single phase than we ever were and we continue to get bet- ter. We're bigger, faster and stronger. The culture is stronger." For now, though, those feel-good moments have dissipated with an un- friendly reminder about the lengthy trek that remains before Georgia Tech can hope to compete with the league's best for an entire game. The early ACC slate was the chance to put some distance between the pro- gram's current state and last year 's 3-9 record, which the Yellow Jackets did. Now, just two weeks after draw- ing Clemson, a home game against Notre Dame on Halloween (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC) is another measuring stick for how close it is to the top. A game at on-the-upswing Boston College is sandwiched in between. "We have to learn how to handle success," Collins said. "We're well- versed in handling setbacks and learning from mistakes and building from them. We have to get better at handling success, handling the acco- lades and pats on the back you get when you win by three scores." Maybe that's to be expected from a team starting true freshmen at quar- terback, running back and right tackle. Georgia Tech has ridden the ups and downs of its youth — more recently, the latter — but there have been plenty of the former and indications of a team whose talent level is much improved. "We were picked to finish 15th in a 14-team league in the preseason," Collins said, still incredulous. In fairness, ugly numbers from year one P.T.O (post-triple option) and a three-way quarterback battle featur- ing three freshmen were not going to entice many preseason poll voters. "I think a lot of people thought they'd be totally inept on offense," JacketsOnline.com publisher Kelly Quinlan said. To call the offense dangerous would be a reach, but competent is a reasonable descriptor at this point. Collins and his staff deserve some credit for not only recruiting a top-25 class — No. 25 per Rivals' rankings — but finding ways to get first-year production from some of its members when they made clear in preseason camp they could help. Quarterback Jeff Sims, a four-star recruit from Jacksonville, Fla., has av- eraged 7.8 yards per attempt through five starts. That's up from the team's 6.0 mark last season. Sims' nine inter- ceptions and 53.8 completion percent- age still indicate freshman mistakes and efficiency issues, but he has de- livered some explosiveness to a pass- ing offense that lacked it a year ago. All told, Georgia Tech entered the weekend of Oct. 24 ranked 20th na- tionally in plays of at least 20 yards (24). "At the end of spring, he was prob- ably the third or fourth quarterback," Quinlan said. "He used all his time off to learn the offense and get better. He came into camp with a really solid understanding of what they were try- ing to do. GAME PREVIEW: GEORGIA TECH Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME AT GEORGIA TECH Game Info Date: Oct. 31, 2020 Site: Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET Television: ABC Radio: This game can be heard on Notre Dame's IMG affiliates. Series Facts: Notre Dame leads 28-6-1 and won the last meeting 30-22 at South Bend in 2015. Head coaches: Georgia Tech — Geoff Collins (5-13, second season); Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (97-37, 11th season). Noting Georgia Tech: Collins came to the program after two years as Temple's head coach, where he had a 15-10 record … Before signing the No. 25-ranked recruiting class in 2020, Georgia Tech had cracked the Rivals top 40 only once in the last decade … The Yellow Jackets last won the ACC Coastal Division in 2014, when they went 11-3 and beat Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl … Their last bowl win was in 2016, versus Kentucky in the TaxSlayer Bowl … Georgia Tech fired coach Paul Johnson after the end of the 2018 season, wanting to move on from the triple option despite a respectable 13-11 conference record his last three years. Climbing Upward A blowout loss at Clemson set a sour record, but the Yellow Jackets are seeing some growth in the second year of their reboot True freshman quarterback Jeff Sims has brought some life to the offense despite a high intercep- tion total (nine), helping the Yellow Jackets rank 20th nationally in plays of at least 20 yards (24) heading into the weekend of Oct. 24. PHOTO COURTESY GEORGIA TECH