Ken Sugiura: Losing two winnable games, Georgia Tech lets opportunity slip away
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At the end of an afternoon of trying to hang on and keep itself in the game, Georgia Tech met its end Saturday with a blocked field-goal try that was returned for a touchdown.
As Louisville's Tayon Holloway blocked and returned Aidan Birr's field-goal attempt 55 yards for a touchdown with a full-throated crowd cheering his race to the goal line, the Yellow Jackets' aspirations for a spot in the ACC title game were drastically reduced and perhaps even doused.
Holloway's touchdown – one of two non-offensive touchdowns gifted to No. 19 Louisville, both the product of Tech mistakes – was the capping blow in the Cardinals' 31-19 win over the Jackets. Louisville was the better team Saturday, but Tech's assorted shortcomings contributed to the final outcome and provided a clearer and less exuberant picture of who the 2024 Jackets appear to be.
The hope and belief inspired by the season-opening win over Florida State in Ireland – that the Jackets, picked to finish ninth in the conference, were capable of much more than initially thought – took a seat on a warm Saturday afternoon at the mellifluously named L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium.
Coach Brent Key took the loss hard, as he ought to have.
"Anytime you come on the road in the league, you can't come on the road and play sloppy football at times and make those critical mistakes that were made," he said.
With two conference losses in just three ACC games, Tech's chances of making the conference title game in a 17-team league appear remote. It would almost certainly require the Jackets to win their remaining five league games to finish at 6-2 in ACC play and hope for generous portions of help.
It surely aggravates Key and Jackets fans everywhere to lose two winnable league games after beating the Seminoles. Consider Tech's remaining five ACC games – Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Miami and N.C. State. Of the five, the Hurricanes look like a stiff challenge. There's no reason that the Jackets, playing as they can, can't win the rest and beating Miami isn't out of the question.
But losing to the Orange and Cardinals has exhausted all of their margin and perhaps pushed them out of the race before October.
Further, the at-times sloppy and ineffective play that Key's team put on display Saturday in a game critical to the season's objectives raise reasonable doubt that even the part that Tech has more control over is within its grasp.
After Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord passed for 381 yards and four touchdowns in the Orange's win over the Jackets Sept. 7, Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough performed his own dissection against the Jackets – 13 for 19 for 269 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including four pass plays of 37 yards or more. Saturday, the Cardinals exploited Tech even as the Jackets were able to contain the Louisville running game (57 yards on 27 carries) that was impaired by injury.
"Coming into the game, we knew we needed to stop the run and make them one-dimensional and I think we did that," said linebacker Kyle Efford, who contributed a team-high seven tackles. "They were just beating us in the air."
On the other side of the ball, Tech could not establish its own running game, a focal point of Key's vision for the Jackets. The Jackets ran 37 times for a season-low 98 yards, a far cry from the offense that led the ACC last season in rushing offense at 203.8 rushing yards per game. Most critically, Tech could not impose its will in two defining moments – a fourth-and-goal from the Louisville 3 early in the fourth quarter when the Jackets were down 24-17 and then a fourth-and-1 on the Louisville 21 with just under four minutes to go when the Jackets trailed 31-19 and needed a first down to keep their hopes alive.
"At the end of the day, all that matters is you either got the job done or you didn't get the job done, and we didn't get the job done on a couple of those," Key said.
Quarterback Haynes King was denied on the fourth-and-goal run and then running back Jamal Haynes was stopped short on the fourth-and-1.
"It doesn't matter if they have six, eight, 12 guys on the line of scrimmage," Key said. "You've got to be able to move a guy, not allow penetration. Going into the bye week, that's something that we will address."
But what might offer Tech fans hope about their team – if you take away King's highly risky lateral to wide receiver Malik Rutherford to convert a third-and-7 deep in its own end (the ball was batted down and returned for a touchdown to tie the game at 7) and the blocked field-goal try (tight end Ryland Goede made what looked like a cursory attempt to block Holloway off the edge), that's 14 points and the game would have been drastically different – is also worthy of question.
In such an important game, why did a team whose identity is supposed to be smart play and discipline make the mistakes in the first place?
"When you come on the road and you're in a big game on the road in conference, you can't try to do more than you're going to do or get out of that zone," Key said. "Because once you become emotional, your fundamentals, your techniques – those things go out the window."
And also, the "if you take away two plays, the game is totally different" game is a little misleading. Tech got a huge gift from Louisville when, after Tech failed to convert the fourth-and-goal with the Cardinals ahead 24-17, Shough tripped and fell in the end zone for a safety, making the score 24-19 and giving the Jackets the ball back with a chance to take the lead. Also, a penalty on a razzle-dazzle play by the Cardinals – one that appeared inconsequential to the ensuing 29-yard gain – in the third quarter cost them 44 yards.
Maybe the Cardinals would have benefited from those plays being executed better?
It's not as if the season is over, obviously. Tech has a much-needed open date coming up, followed by seven more regular-season games to show it is more than what it displayed against Syracuse and Louisville.
Tech played better in the second half of last season than it did in the first. There's no reason that it can't do the same.
After a breakthrough season in his first year as full-time head coach, Key can still lead his team farther than he did last year. However, the step forward likely won't be nearly as big as hoped.
