As a life-long ride-or-die Georgia Tech fan, I had yet to buy in this season, even with a 6-0 record. However, after this win against a talented Duke team, I am 100% bought-in and excited about the state of our football program. I said last week that this game against Duke was the ultimate test to prove that our program has turned the corner. We passed with flying colors, and now we are 7-0 for the first time since 1966. The celebration did not last long, however, because we still need to achieve
a 1-0 record on the week and remain focused on the end goal. Fran Brown and Syracuse come to town for Homecoming, and we know we can NEVER overlook these guys. Show up and show out to Bobby Dodd for this one, as we look for revenge against this struggling Syracuse team. Here is what I think I know for our homecoming matchup against the Orange.
The run defense finally showed signs of life against Duke.
Even though Duke only scored 18 points, they still had a field day offensively against us. Darian Mensah was 32/44 for 373 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Cooper Barkate is going to be in my nightmares, as he had 91 yards in the first quarter alone. Our defense never had an answer for him, as he finished the game with 13 receptions for 172 yards. On the flip side, the run defense held it together quite nicely and showed improved play, only allowing 68 total yards and keeping Nate Sheppard to 50 yards on 15 carries. We have been struggling with quarterback scrambles, but we managed to hold Mensah to -13 yards, thanks in part to a few sacks. We will need to keep this up, as Syracuse has struggled in the run game this year, totaling only 670 yards. Their leading rusher, Yasin Willis, has 91 carries for 353 yards, which brings his average to 3.9 yards per carry. Backup Will Nixon has also been able to produce, with 59 carries for 219 yards. This weekend will be a prime opportunity for our defense to gain confidence in the run game and take advantage of this struggling Syracuse offense.
As easy as it is to hate on our defense, they are still finding ways to get things done. Can this continue against better competition? That is the biggest question mark at this point, but it is hard to count them out given how they have kept teams from scoring points. The Jackets’ defense has held every single opponent below their season scoring average, with the highest score given up being 29 points in overtime. So yes, the stats may look bad, but the defense is doing what they need to do: keeping points off the board and winning games.
We need to play a full four quarters of football if we want to continue our success.
We have yet to see a game this season where we play four complete quarters of football. This is typical of many Tech teams I’ve seen recently, except now we have figured out how to win these games under Brent Key. As Tech fans, we have experienced years of this team not playing complete games and have been disappointed time after time. Now, we haven’t quite figured out how to give it our all just yet, but we are finding ways to dominate fourth quarters and pull out wins. We are going to continue to get the team’s best efforts, and a lot of this is due to our hell of a head coach and our quarterback. These two guys just need to figure out how to get a full four quarters from everyone on this team if we want to make a run.
Haynes King: the toughest player in college football, and a Heisman candidate.
Last week, Haynes King was named the ACC Midseason Top Offensive Player for his ability to be a game-changer through the air and on the ground. He did just that against Duke, throwing for 205 yards and running for 120. He singlehandedly turned this game around on offense. Even when he has a bad drive or a bad half, he always figures out how to get it done. This team, led by this quarterback, doesn’t know how to lose. Leadership, toughness, poise, and dual-threat capabilities should have Haynes King in the Heisman conversation. If he can keep this team winning, he should be there.
Syracuse is a different team without injured quarterback Steve Angeli, and that is a team we should beat.
Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli was having a historic season for the Orange, even putting on a clinic in Death Valley against the Clemson Tigers. Before getting injured in Week Four, Angeli led the FBS with 1,317 yards and 10 touchdowns. In the upset victory against Clemson, he had 245 yards with a QBR of 79.3 before going down with a torn achilles. The Orange have not been the same since, and the team has given up at times. Before the Angeli injury, Syracuse was 3-1 with their only loss being to Tennessee. The Orange have now recorded three straight losses, with none of them even being close. Backup quarterback Rickie Collins has been decent, but he has thrown eight interceptions in his three games as quarterback. To pair with that, their defense has been abysmal, ranking 125th in total defense, averaging 448.8 yards per game, and giving up 29.83 points per game. It will take a valiant effort for Syracuse to win on Saturday, but I would never count out Fran Brown.
The 2025 college football season is pandemonium, and I love every second of it.
Who had 0-4 UCLA or 3-2 Northwestern beating Penn State on their bingo card? What about Indiana being a Top Two team and Vanderbilt being in contention for an SEC championship? This season has been one of the craziest we have seen in a long time, and the preseason rankings are in complete shambles. We are just over halfway through this season, so more craziness is yet to come. There is also a world right now where we see a playoff with Vanderbilt, Virginia, Indiana, Georgia Tech, Texas Tech, and South Florida. In that same world, Virginia could be the ACC champion and Indiana could be the Big 10 champion. Welcome to the 2025 season. It’s a wild one!
Georgia Tech Homecoming is superior
Prove me wrong. Here are some essential homecoming activities listed below:
Friday, October 24th:
5:00 pm – Buzz Bash
5:00 pm – Mini 500
Saturday, October 25th:
6:30 am – Freshman Cake Race
8:30 am – Ramblin Wreck Parade
9:30 am – Yellow Jacket Alley
Be in your seats! Syracuse vs. Georgia Tech @ 12:00 pm.
We partied like it was 2014, and now we can party with Bobby Dodd like it’s 1966. The Jackets have only been 7-0 for eight seasons in our team’s history, and this is one of them. No matter the road to get there, this is going to go down as one of the best seasons in Tech history. Enjoy it, because in this day and age of college football, nothing is ever guaranteed. Let’s beat the Orange this weekend.
Go Jackets!
