A lot happened in Week 11 of the college football season for Georgia Tech, all without the team playing a snap.
The Yellow Jackets entered the bye week on a sour note, fresh off their first loss of the season to N.C. State. A top-10 ranked Georgia Tech team slid to No. 16 in the AP Top 25 and No. 17 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings released on Nov. 4. The CFP committee placed Virginia at No. 14 and Louisville at No. 15.
A week later,
the playoff picture looks quite different. Virginia and Louisville both lost. Miami, eager to climb back up the ranks after losses to SMU and Louisville, beat Syracuse handily. On Tuesday, the CFP committee ranked Virginia No. 19 and Louisville No. 20. Meanwhile, Miami rose to 15th and Georgia Tech improved to 16th.
But despite the outlook of the season shifting in Georgia Tech’s favor, the Yellow Jackets are laser-focused on the task directly ahead: Boston College.
Boston College is 1-9 overall, 0-6 in conference play and last in the Atlantic Coast Conference. That doesn’t offer the Yellow Jackets any peace of mind heading into Week 12.
“They’re a well-coached football team,” coach Brent Key said Tuesday. “They’ve had a run of bad luck with some things, but that stuff changes pretty quickly. So, we’ve got to be prepared. We have to use all of our energy focused on going up and accomplishing what we have to accomplish.”
Key’s team isn’t only locked in, Georgia Tech’s 105-man roster is angry.
“There’s two emotions that are felt right now by this team and by everybody involved in this team. Number one, there’s an anger, a pissed off, hurt, mad emotion from the previous game," Key said. “We’ve had two weeks to sit on that thing. Damn right I’m pissed off, everyone is. But on the flip side, there’s the excitement and energy of what’s in front of us.”
Quarterback Haynes King doubled down. Over the past week, King and his team have been boiling, eager for their next opportunity to prove Georgia Tech belongs in the playoff picture.
“Every single one of us kind of still has that bad taste in our mouth from the last time that we played," King said. "We’ve had a long week and a long time to think about it, and I feel like we’re all excited and ready to go showcase what we’ve been working on, and you know, overcome what happened.”
In a college football landscape often dominated by Southeastern Conference and Big Ten teams, King thinks the ACC isn't always given the credit it deserves. As the season narrows, Miami, Georgia Tech, Virginia and Louisville are all still very much in the running for the ACC title game and the playoff berth for the winner.
“The last three or four weekends show you how tough the ACC is,” King said. “Anybody can win. You know what Miami’s been through. … Now you have Louisville, Virginia lost. It’s hard to play in the ACC on the road."
Regardless of the fluctuating ACC standings and CFP rankings, the Yellow Jackets know there's no ACC championship appearance without a win against Boston College.
“You’ve seen what’s happened when we go on the road, how tough the opposing team plays," King said. "To win that game (Boston College), we’re probably going to have to be perfect.”
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