After a weekend of minimal football stress, it is time for a conference test to save our season. We play the Duke Blue Devils, our old Coastal Division rivals, who have been sneaky good this year. Not many expected this after star quarterback Darien Mensah left for Miami in rather dramatic fashion. Yet here the Blue Devils are, sitting at 4-0 with an eight-game win streak, which is tied for the fourth-longest active win streak in the country. Their program record is a nine-game winning streak, which dates
back to 1941, so they could tie that record this weekend. Like us, Duke is coming off a bye week, so we have no advantage there. The Blue Devils are a well-coached, solid football team, so the Jackets will need to make some serious adjustments during the bye week if we want to come away with a win. So, with all that being said, here is what I think I know as we head back to Bobby Dodd for Week Six.
Improvements must be made, though I am not sure they will be.
How much can really be fixed during the bye week? It is hard to have much confidence right now, especially after watching us struggle to fix the same problems through the first four weeks of the season. There is no obvious single fault here, either. It is hard to pinpoint just one problem, coach, player, or position group responsible for the struggles. There just seems to be a lack of effort, energy, and overall execution. Coach Key even said it felt like there were “11 independent contractors” out on the field rather than a team. Not exactly what you want to hear from your head coach. Key also said he wanted to use the bye week not simply to improve, but to rebuild. With how banged-up we are right now, my hopes are not exactly sky-high that we will actually be able to rebuild or take any major strides forward. The staff has had their work cut out for them over the last two weeks, and I expect we’ll see some improvement and more cohesion this upcoming weekend.
To put this into a numbers perspective, our run defense ranks 123rd in the country, while our run offense ranks 109th. Our total defense is at 96th, and our total offense is at 91st. Alberto Mendoza has already been sacked 10 times through four games, which is more than last year’s total. I would also like to point out Justice Haynes’s success in his previous year at Michigan. Through his first four games of last season, he had 537 total yards and was averaging 134.3 yards per game. This season at Georgia Tech, he has 393 yards for an average of 98 yards per game. While his production is not necessarily bad, it is a step back from last season.
With the talent we have in the backfield, these numbers are especially frustrating. I was very excited to watch our run game operate this season. It feels eerily similar to when we had Jordan Mason and Jahmyr Gibbs and still went 3-9. We cannot afford to let that happen again. Justice Haynes was in the Heisman conversation before breaking his foot last season, and Alberto Mendoza has shown plenty of playmaking ability. Still, neither has had much of an opportunity to shine. The men in the trenches are often the most overlooked players on a football team, but they can also be the most important. Mendoza may be a talented quarterback, but he cannot make plays if he has no time to throw. Justice Haynes may be one of the more talented backs in the country, but he cannot do much without holes to run through, and with no one blocking for him downfield. The offensive line has to improve if we have a shot at winning another game this season. And if we want to give the offense a chance, the defense has to do its part by getting off the field and giving the offense more time and opportunities. Both sides of the ball have to work together to succeed, and right now, neither is doing enough to help the other.
The passing defense was a strength of this team in the first three weeks. Now, it is evident that the defense as a whole is looking rough.
Stanford quarterback Davis Warren has a lot of experience, having either appeared or started since 2022. Last Saturday, he had his career high in yardage, touchdown passes, and QBR. Stanford, which had one of the worst offenses in the FBS (averaging only 339.7 yards before our game), racked up 482 total yards, with 396 of those yards coming through the air. The secondary had performed well before Week Four, and then they were totally exposed. The run defense actually had a much better showing, allowing only 86 yards and 2.3 yards per carry. I guess you do not need to run much when your quarterback is throwing dimes. 396 passing yards is also the most Stanford has had against a Power Four opponent in seven years. Do with that information what you will. We have not been able to put out a consistently good defense for many, many years, and that is a serious concern. It was especially concerning after the Wake Forest defense only allowed three points and 197 total yards against Stanford last weekend.
Duke has a legit Heisman candidate in running back Nate Sheppard.
The Blue Devils have a superior run game this year, which is a recipe for disaster for the Jackets. Sophomore Nate Sheppard has 91 carries for 644 yards and six touchdowns through four games. He has more yards than any back in the country (in terms of games played) and has absolutely run through the competition so far this year. As a team, Duke is averaging 243.5 yards per game, which ranks 12th in the country. Sheppard himself is averaging 161 yards per game, which is just insanity.
San Jose State graduate transfer Walker Eget is the Blue Devil’s starting quarterback, and he is not having the best year, but he is doing enough to get the job done. He has 721 total yards on the year with six touchdowns. The key note here is that he has only been sacked once, which is good for second in the nation. If you are putting two and two together like I am, Duke has a strong offensive line that is allowing Nate Sheppard to run wild and is protecting the quarterback. Our defense has struggled to get pressure on the QB, so this could be rough for the Jackets. Let’s hope that Sheppard and that offensive line somehow forget how to play football on Saturday morning.
Beating Duke will not be easy, especially with how terrible we have been at stopping the run. The game plan has not worked for Key in the first third of the season, and now we get to see if adjustments can be made. I am holding on to that last straw of hope here.
Hang in there, Tech fans, and go Jackets.
