No. 16 Georgia Tech wasted no time moving past its first loss of the season.
With their second bye week in the rear view, the Atlantic Coast Conference-leading Yellow Jackets (8-1, 5-1) are ready to bounce back when they visit Boston College (1-9, 0-6) for the first time since 2020 on Saturday afternoon in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
“We’ve got to use those emotions and feelings (of a 48-36 loss to NC State on Nov. 1) to continue to push us forward,” coach Brent Key said. “I talked to the team on Sunday about this. I said, you work from January when we first organized workouts and weight training…you do all that in hopes of playing meaningful games in November, and here we are.”
The loss came despite quarterback Haynes King racking up a school-record 511 total yards and four touchdowns. The redshirt senior accounted for 408 yards through the air, helping to up his ACC-best total yardage to 330.3 per game.
Conversely, NC State’s six touchdowns in 10 possessions and 583 total yards did in the Yellow Jackets. Playing without injured starting nickelback Jy Gilmore and cornerback Ahmari Harvey did not help, but they could be closer to returning to game action after practicing last week.
“(Their possible return) changes some of the coverages you can play, it changes how you look to protect a certain guy,” Key said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to perform and play good defense. We’ve got to be able to stop the run and keep the explosives from going over our heads.”
Their status will become clearer later in the week, but Key is excited about where the team stands following the bye.
“Time is the best cure-all. It is,” Key said. “They’re all out there right now. … I thought Sunday’s practice, we came out and it was as fast and crisp and as much energy as we’ve had.”
Boston College coach Bill O’Brien was an assistant at Georgia Tech from 1995-02, a stint during which Key was a team captain. O’Brien knows that his Eagles will have to defend an ultimate weapon in order to have success against his former player’s team and earn their first FBS win of the season in the home finale.
“This guy has a ton of their production. The way they use him is incredible to me,” O’Brien said of King. “(Key and coordinator Buster Faulkner) do a good job with their offense, and he is the leader of it. He is a competitive, tough player.”
The quarterback position has been uncertain for the Eagles of late, with both Alabama transfer Dylan Lonergan and incumbent starter Grayson James seeing significant action. O’Brien has not confirmed a starter for Saturday’s game.
In last week’s 45-13 loss to SMU, James attempted just two passes and got sacked three times before Lonergan — who started the previous game against Notre Dame — entered in relief and went 25-for-37 passing for 232 yards and a touchdown.
“They have to give us confidence. It’s important for us to have confidence in them,” O’Brien said. “They’ve each played a lot, and they’ve done some good things and some not so good things.”
Senior receiver Lewis Bond enters the game needing just three catches to break Zay Flowers’ all-time receptions record of 200. His 7.3 receptions per game rank fifth nationally.
“For him to have a chance to break the record is really a testament to him, his work ethic, his toughness, his competitiveness,” O’Brien said.
–Field Level Media
