Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 OCT. 19, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: GEORGIA TECH BY TYLER HORKA J amal Haynes let out one of those elongated sighs saved for special moments, like when you kick your feet up on the couch after a tough day of toiling on them. Or when you ac- count for 140 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in a comeback victory over a conference rival. For the Georgia Tech junior running back, this was the latter. "Oooooahhhh. Good seat. Feels good." In front of a room full of reporters, Haynes didn't care what came from his mouth when he sat down to take post- game press conference questions fol- lowing a 24-14 Yellow Jackets win over previously unbeaten Duke Oct. 5. He had his best outing of the season to date in Georgia Tech's sixth game; 19 carries for 128 yards and 3 catches for 12 yards and a touchdown. That was after av- eraging 2.6 yards per carry in the prior three games. Oh, and it was his 22nd birthday. "Honestly, it feels great," Haynes said in response to a question inquiring what it was like to have the "old Jamal" back. The old Jamal ran 174 times for 1,059 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2023, his first season as a starter. He was a major reason Georgia Tech won its first two games of the year, too, rushing 11 times for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns in a Week 0 win over Florida State and 17 times for 84 yards and a touchdown in a Week 1 victory over Georgia State. Haynes won't have birthday power at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Oct. 19, and he won't be up against Duke. Or a Florida State team that lost five of its first six games this season. Or a Georgia State team that started the year 2-2. He's got to face Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have had issues of their own early in the season but pri- marily on offense. The defense hasn't been perfect, but that side of the ball has generally done enough to give the Irish ample chances to win football games. Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME AT GEORGIA TECH Date: Oct. 19, 2024 Site: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET Television: ESPN Radio: Notre Dame IMG affiliates Series facts: Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech 30-6-1. The Irish won the last meeting 55-0 in South Bend on Nov. 20, 2021. Head coaches: Georgia Tech — Brent Key (16-12, second full season); Notre Dame — Marcus Free- man (24-9, third season). Noting Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets had not started a season with a 4-2 record since 2017 until this year … Redshirt junior wide receiver Malik Rutherford is just the 13th wideout in Georgia Tech history with 100 or more career receptions … Through six games, Georgia Tech was averaging an impressive 6.60 yards per offensive play; for reference, that was only five one-hundredths of a yard worse than in-state powerhouse Georgia (6.65) … Defensively, Georgia Tech had allowed 5.47 yards per play, tied for 67th in the FBS with Florida … Georgia Tech ranked tied for 13th in the FBS with none other than Georgia, plus Missouri, in red zone scoring percentage through Week 6; those three teams put points on the board on 95.24 percent of red zone trips … Georgia Tech's red zone touchdown rate of 80.95 percent through six games ranked 11th in the nation; Notre Dame was one of the 10 teams with a better mark, checking in at No. 6 in the country with a mark of 81.82. MOJO BACK The Yellow Jackets have been up-and- down to start the season, but are piecing things together