Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 20, 2021 33 GAME PREVIEW: GEORGIA TECH BY TYLER HORKA G eorgia Tech's season was de- railed before it ever got on track. The Yellow Jackets lost to 18.5-point underdog North- ern Illinois 21-20 at home in Atlanta in the season opener Sept. 4. Outside of a somewhat shocking 45-22 victory over then-No. 21 North Carolina Sept. 25, it's been all downhill for head coach Geoff Collins' team from there. Georgia Tech stumbled and bum- bled to a 3-6 record through Week 10. They've lost in excruciatingly close fashion, such as a 14-8 defeat to then- No. 6 Clemson Sept. 18. They've lost in blowout fashion, such as a 52-21 maul- ing from the Pitt Panthers Oct. 2. To that point, Yellow Jackets had still not lost consecutive games. The sea- son stabilized briefly before a bye week with a 31-27 victory at Duke Oct. 9, but through Week 10 they had not won since then. They lost 48-40 in a shootout at Virginia. The offense took a step back in a 26-17 loss at home to Virginia Tech. A scoreless fourth quarter on offense doomed them in a 33-30 loss at Miami. That's been the tale of the tape for Collins in his Georgia Tech tenure, one that could quickly come to an end if a vast turnaround isn't enacted in a hurry. Collins went 3-9 in his first season in 2019. He went 3-7 in 2020. He started this season 3-6 before games against Boston College, No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 1 Georgia. Being an underdog in all three of those matchups, Collins was in danger of producing his third straight three-win season to start — or finish — his Georgia Tech career. It hasn't always been this way for the Yellow Jackets, either. Former head coach Paul Johnson had seven winning seasons from 2008-18, including a pair of 11-win campaigns in 2009 and 2014. Prior to Johnson, George O'Leary and Chan Gailey produced 11 straight win- ning seasons from 1997-2007. These are the dog days of Georgia Tech football, and Collins needs to pull the team out of them somehow, someway. It won't be easy facing two programs that have been perennial College Foot- ball Playoff participators and contenders over the last half decade in the final two games of the regular season. That starts with a road trip to South Bend this week. If there's one thing that might not necessarily bode well for Collins against the Irish but may pay off in the future if he's still around it's that Georgia Tech has 96 players on the roster who are freshmen or sophomores eligibility- wise. Georgia Tech also only has 13 se- niors, which is the fourth fewest among all Power Five programs. This is a Yellow Jackets team learning on the fly. That clearly hasn't always been easy. "I'm going to look on the bright side and the positive side," Collins said. "There are a ton of young guys having to play, but they're getting to play and get- ting experience and playing highly com- petitive football against good teams." GETTING STRONGER Second-year quarterback Jeff Sims is one of those young players. He already ranks ninth on Georgia Tech's all-time passing list with 3,347 yards. Through nine games, he threw for 1,466 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven intercep- tions. He also ran for 372 yards and four touchdowns. Fellow second-year player Jahmyr Gibbs has had a successful season de- spite the lackluster overall record, too. The running back ran for 591 yards and three touchdowns on 110 carries and caught 29 passes for 440 yards and two touchdowns through nine games. Those two budding stars have played behind an offensive line that has strug- gled to find chemistry and consistency due to injuries and a lack of continu- ity and cohesion. Sound familiar? But like with the improvement along Notre Dame's offensive line, senior Devin Co- chran believes the Georgia Tech line has started to round the corner. "I think adversity has gotten us a lot stronger," Cochran said. "I think week to week, no matter who is out there, we continue to learn how to play with each other better. From what I've seen, I feel like our rapport gets stronger." It's going to need to be incredibly Facts & Figures GEORGIA TECH AT NOTRE DAME Date: Nov. 20, 2021 Site: Notre Dame Stadium Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. ET Television: NBC Radio: This game can be heard on Notre Dame IMG affiliates. Series Facts: This is the 37th meeting be- tween Georgia Tech and Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have a 29-6-1 all-time series lead and won the last game 31-13 in Atlanta on Oct. 31, 2020. Head coaches: Georgia Tech — Geoff Collins (9-23, third season); Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (111-40, 12th season). Noting Georgia Tech: Jahmyr Gibbs ranked third nationally in all-purpose yards per game (161.9) through Week 10 … Gibbs enjoyed a stretch of five games in a row with a big play of at least 50 yards from scrimmage … Georgia Tech's win over North Carolina this season was the Yellow Jackets' first win against a ranked opponent since Nov. 11, 2017 … The Yellow Jackets had previously lost eight games in a row to ranked foes … Seventeen of Georgia Tech's highest single-game completion totals since 2002 have come during the Collins era … Eight of Georgia Tech's 16 sacks through Week 10 came in the win over North Caro- lina … Georgia Tech has had two sacks or less in every other game this season … Despite a young roster at other positions, the Georgia Tech secondary had combined for 154 starts through Week 10 … Georgia Tech was one of three Power Five teams (Ole Miss, Tennessee) with four players who had 60 or more tackles through Week 10 … Only seven ACC players have had 14 or more tackles in a game this season; Georgia Tech has two of them (Ayinde Eley and Quez Jackson). Stumblin' Wreck The Yellow Jackets have endured a string of losing seasons under third-year head coach Geoff Collins Quarterback Jeff Sims threw for 1,466 yards and 12 touchdowns through nine games. He also ran for 372 yards and four touchdowns. PHOTO COURTESY GEORGIA TECH ATHLETICS