In some corners this summer Georgia Tech was thought to be a surprise team in the ACC. They tried like heck to beat Clemson earlier this year and blew out North Carolina the week after. Hey, alright now! However, most of those good vibes had been extinguished prior to this weekend’s visit to Notre Dame where the Fighting Irish subsequently destroyed any chance for a positive end to Georgia Tech’s season.

They now face Georgia in their finale next weekend and I’m officially feeling bad for the Bees.

Stats Package
STAT IRISH TECH
Score 55 0
Plays 59 63
Total Yards 514 224
Yards Per Play 8.71 3.55
Conversions 6/12 3/15
Completions 18 14
Yards/Pass Attempt 11.61 3.42
Rushes 33 35
Rushing Success 48.2% 44.8%
10+ Yds Rushes 6 3
20+ Yds Passes 4 1
Defense Stuff Rate 28.5% 22.0%

 

A glimmer of hope presented itself when Notre Dame was held to a field goal on the opening drive following a couple of sacks. Oh no, were the offensive line problems back for the Irish? Nope, Notre Dame would kick the field goal and dutifully dominate the 1st half on the way to a shocking 45-0 lead.

Georgia Tech looked like it wanted nothing to do with this game.

Offense

QB: A
RB: B
TE: A
OL: B
WR: B

It wasn’t a crazy efficient day but it didn’t need to be with the amount of explosive plays and the incompetence from Georgia Tech’s offense–plus a pair of defensive touchdowns from the Irish always helps the cause.

Quarterback Jack Coan was calm and smooth for the most part, hitting a 38-yard pass to Kevin Austin to start the game before taking a seat with 285 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 20 throws. Mixed in there was a wide open 52-yard touchdown to tight end Michael Mayer as well as a 51-yard strike to Austin again.

The game got out of hand so quickly (24-0 after the 1st quarter) and the passing attack nearly unchallenged so much that it masked a pretty so-so rushing effort for Notre Dame. Kyren Williams (87 total yards) had a quiet day for his standards while backups Logan Diggs and Chris Tyree weren’t featured much. Quarterback Tyler Buchner racing for over 60 yards on a single carry helped out the old team average.

It wasn’t until freshman Audric Estime came storming onto the field late with 61 yards on 6 carries that there was something to talk about from the tailbacks. And wow, what a debut!

It’s possible Notre Dame was out there looking for some style points this weekend but as per usual in these blowouts there wasn’t much of an effort in the 2nd half. Coan would only get one series to start the 3rd quarter while the offense pivoted to Buchner at quarterback for the rest of the game while a backup offensive line consisting of Michael Carmody (LT), Rocco Spindler (LG), Zeke Correll (C), John Dirksen (RG), and Quinn Carroll (RT) would have their ups and downs.

Rushing Success

Williams – 5 of 11 (45.4%)
Coan – 0 of 1 (0.0%)
Austin – 1 of 1 (100%)
Diggs – 1 of 2 (50.0%)
Lenzy – 1 of 1 (100%)
Buchner – 1 of 4 (25.0%)
Tyree – 0 of 2 (0.0%)
Estime – 5 of 6 (83.3%)
Albano – 0 of 1 (0.0%)

As such, the backups only managed a field goal together as a unit. Then again, most would say a 55-0 win over a Power 5 program is a statement no matter what. No argument there.

If the somewhat deep sideline pass had been brought in by Braden Lenzy as he was being tugged a little bit this might have been the most complete performance of the season from the wideouts. There was a lot to like, including freshman Lorenzo Styles and Deion Colzie hauling receptions of 10+ yards.

I thought the starting offensive line played okay, settling in very well in pass protection and struggling at times opening holes. A success rate below 50% is maybe the only disappointment from this game for the team.

Defense

DL: A
LB: B+
DB: B+

Same grades as last week. Another game without surrendering a touchdown as we witnessed the 5th shutout of the Brian Kelly-era, the first shutout since the USF game last year, and the 310th shutout in school history.

Georgia Tech just could not stay on schedule. Their talented running back Jahmyr Gibbs actually found success on 8 of his 12 carries but his impact was severely limited in tandem with a backup quarterback and an offensive line really struggling to protect him. Notre Dame protected against big plays and the Jackets simply were not competent enough to string together successful plays.

Said backup Jordan Yates actually completed 14 passes! I’m jogging my memory but I think only one traveled more than 10 yards down the field. It was one of those games where it felt like Yates was either quickly completing a 4-yard pass against soft coverage or being harassed for a likely sack before trying his best to get rid of the ball dangerously.

I thought the Irish tackled really well, except for a 22-yard run early in the 3rd quarter and Yates’ 54-yard run shaking off Bo Bauer in the open field. Those plays accounted for 33.9% of Georgia Tech’s offense on the day.

Stuffs vs. Georgia Tech

Pryor – 2.5
Cross – 2.5
White – 2
Bauer – 2
NaNa – 1.5
Lacey – 1
Ehrensberger – 1
Bertrand – 1
Lewis – 1
Foskey – 1
Kollie – 1
Botelho – 1
Ademilola, Justin – 0.5

Their other 61 plays went for 148 yards or 2.42 yards per play.

The Yellow Jackets did cross into Irish territory 6 times only to come away with 0 points in a very similar outcome to Virginia’s effort last weekend. Sometimes when you’re bad, bad things just keep happening to you. Half of those drives, Tech ended up punting anyway so maybe they deserved zero points.

Final Thoughts

It doesn’t seem like the Geoff Collins vibes are really working at Georgia Tech, do they? They will finish his first 3 seasons without reaching 10 wins total and despite a couple nice development projects, and a boost to recruiting because you’re no longer running the triple option, he seems much more of a schtick kind of guy who has rode the coattails of Matt Rhule’s success at Temple. I’m not sure a tight vest and some cool Atlanta slogans are going to get the job done turning around this program.

It may not be so much of a secret anymore–MTA is one of the best athletes on this team! He was moving with agility and speed on his fumble return touchdown. Of course, the white socks gave him extra powers.

Speaking of athleticism, Estime calm down. I know Tech was absolutely demoralized by the time he got his carries and everything. However, since he hadn’t been featured this year it was easy to dismiss him as being really far behind Logan Diggs as freshmen classmates. Maybe not!

I saw Jack Kiser come back into the game and Kelly confirmed his ankle injury is not serious.

Saturday’s 8.7 YPP for the Irish offense was the most since the 9.39 effort against Bowling Green on 10/5/19 and the most against a Power 5 opponent since the 9.08 effort against Syracuse on 10/1/16.

Five straight seasons of at least 10 wins, that’s pretty cool.

Isaiah Foskey notched his 10th sack of the season. The Kelly-era high is Stephon Tuitt with 11 back in 2012.

I remain pretty optimistic about Tyler Buchner at quarterback for next year. He strikes me as someone who is going to be sharp in the short-passing game, inconsistent in the medium routes, and effective on deeper throws. With his wheels it could be really fun. I also keep forgetting that Michael Mayer will still be here for 2022. He’s now up to 663 receiving yards on the season and will need 141 yards over the final 2 games to pass Tyler Eifert’s 2011 mark–and that’s with Mayer missing a game and not being healthy in another.