2024 Summer Reading: Early look at Virginia Tech’s Week 9 opponent Georgia Tech (2024)

Georgia Tech didn’t waste the momentum that was built over the final eight games of the 2022 season and made sure it capped Brent Key’s first full season at the helm in the right way.

The Yellow Jackets played in their first bowl game since 2018 and won a bowl game for the first time since 2016 by defeating UCF 30-17 in the Gasparilla Bowl. The bowl triumph capped a 7-6 season that was the Jackets’ first winning campaign since 2018 and nearly equaled the number of wins the team had between 2019 and 2021 (nine).

Key took over as interim coach after the fourth game of 2022 and led the Jackets to a 4-4 record and one win from bowl eligibility.

The 2024 season kicks off overseas with an ACC matchup against Florida State in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 24. One week later, the Jackets host Georgia State in the first of four nonconference contests that include VMI, Notre Dame (in Atlanta) and Georgia.

What happened? The Hokies finally got complementary play in Brent Pry’s first season. Keli Lawson’s pick-six and Tucker Holloway’s 90-yard punt return touchdown allowed the hosts to build an 11-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

That’s when it went downhill. Quickly. Georgia Tech had scoring drives of 90 and 73 yards in the fourth quarter to take the lead. The first score came after a Virginia Tech fumble, and the second came on a drive in which the Yellow Jackets converted on third-and-19. A second fourth-quarter turnover sealed the Hokies’ fate in their sixth consecutive loss.

Position(s) of strength: Georgia Tech’s offense took a massive step forward in 2023 during Key’s first full season. The Jackets led the Bowl Subdivision by improving their scoring average by 13.9 points from 2022 (31.1 points per game in 2023 compared to 17.2 in 2022) and averaging 99.4 yards per game more than they did in 2022 (424.6 compared to 325.2).

Almost every player responsible for the offensive turnaround is back for another season.

The group is led by quarterback Haynes King. The redshirt junior put up gaudy numbers with 2,842 passing yards, 737 rushing yards, 27 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns. He was the fourth ACC quarterback since 2000 to put up those types of numbers, joining Deshaun Watson, Jerod Evans and Lamar Jackson. His 37 touchdowns responsible for set a program record previously held by Joe Hamilton.

King didn’t have to do it all. He will have plenty of weapons at his disposal with leading rusher Jamal Haynes (1,059 yards and seven TDs) and No. 4 runner Trey Cooley (274 yards and three TDs).

The Jackets’ top three receivers from one year ago are back. Eric Singleton Jr., Malik Rutherford and Christian Leary combined for 1,525 yards and 12 touchdowns on 119 catches.

King returns four starters on the offensive line in left tackle Ethan Mackenny, left guard Joe Fusile, center Weston Franklin and right tackle Jordan Williams.

Middle Tennessee transfer Keylan Rutledge is expected to start at right guard.

Mississippi State transfer Ryland Goede is projected to fill in Dylan Leonard’s role at tight end.

What’s new in Atlanta: The inability for Georgia Tech’s defense to get off the field in key situations last season led to Key making wholesale changes on that side of the ball.

Key replaced the entire defensive staff. He brought in former Duke and Texas A&M defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci to lead the unit, and Santucci rounded out his staff with Jess Simpson (defensive line), Cory Peoples (defensive backs) and Kyle Pope (outside linebackers).

The coaching changes trickled down to a mass exodus of players entering the transfer portal. Twenty of the 32 Georgia Tech players who entered the transfer portal were defensive players, and that included two players who arrived through the portal for spring practice and left in the second transfer window (Jack Barton and Ayo Tifase).

While Georgia Tech didn’t sign that many players out of the transfer portal (12), it did sign 23 high school players to help fill out the roster.

Key made one change on offense with Trent McKnight joining as wide receivers coach.

Lingering questions: Santucci turned Duke’s defense into one of the ACC’s best units in 2023. Now he’ll be tasked with duplicating the task at Georgia Tech with a defense that returns five starters and two others who cracked the starting lineup from a year ago.

Santucci isn’t simply replacing a starter here and there. He’s also needing to establish depth across the board after 11 contributors entered the transfer portal after the season.

The Yellow Jackets had two starters graduate (linebacker Paul Moala and cornerback Myles Sims) and lost 11 other contributors to the transfer portal. Those who left include starting defensive tackle D’Quan Douse, rush end Kyle Kennard and nickel K.J. Wallace. The other eight appeared on the depth chart throughout the season, including key backups at all three levels of the defense.

Georgia Tech brought in 12 players from the transfer portal. Nine of those are defensive players expected to help fill the voids that were created with the departures.

Santucci’s unit at Duke led the ACC in scoring defense (19 points per game allowed) and ranked top 50 in the nation in seven major categories.

He can rely on linemen Makius Scott and Zeek Biggers, linebacker Trenilyas Tatum and defensive backs LaMiles Brooks and Ahmari Harvey from last season’s squad.

The Jackets brought in six defensive players from Power Four programs. EJ Lightsey (Georgia) and Jackson Hamilton (Louisville) are expected to solidify the linebacker position. The defensive line gained depth with end Romello Height (Southern Cal) and interior lineman Jordan van den Berg (Penn State). The secondary depth was solidified with cornerback Warren Burrell (Tennessee) and safety Zachary Tobe (Illinois).