⚡ CFB Dashboard

Georgia Tech is coming off their first win of the season topping Mercer 44-11, and they are now ready to open the first game of the ACC portion of their schedule. With the win Coach Brent Key announced the players of the game for the first time this season. One award winner was not a surprise while the other saw his continued improvement led to the award on the defensive side of the ball. Justice Haynes ran for 141 yards, had 26 receiving yards and scored three touchdowns. "He had a really good game and continues to run hard getting extra yards after contact." Defensively the award went to Taje McCoy. "What a pleasant surprise he's been for us the way he plays and the buy in he has to the football team." Key noted that the way he plays is contagious. He's a player that is starting to rub off and affect the other players on defense. McCoy had two tackles for a loss and a sack and a forced fumble. "He played solid for the first three games. Key has been waiting for the special team's player of the week have his breakout game. Transfer punter Alex Bacchetta was the award winner for the Mercer game. He averaged 51 yards a punt. "He got a hold of some good ones." As the holder on extra points and field goals, Bacchetta had to deal with three or four bad snaps. "That was one of the huge parts of the week that I thought we made a lot of improvements in to control field position with special teams." The Jackets had big kick returns from Rahkeem Smith and Chad Alexander. "We have to guys back there that are dynamic in my opinion." Schematics and blocking have aided their performances. The Bacchetta punts that flipped the field gave the Jackets something they didn't have in the first two games. Georgia Tech could have used that field position in a tight game like the season opener. After watching the film of the Mercer game, Key was able to see improvement in a lot of areas, and he was also able to see area where they have a lot of work to do. One of those areas of improvement was a plus two in the turnover department. "We created some disruption." The defense had seven tackles for a loss and three sacks.  The few times that Mercer elected to throw the ball, the defense was able to affect the quarterback. Doing a better job offensively to start the game is still an area where Key is looking for improvement. "We have to improve our drive starters and first down plays."  One of the bright spots that Key saw was the final two minutes of the half. This was an area that Key talked about the need for improvement after watching the first two games. "I thought that drive really popped a pressure balloon. We got an explosive down the field play." That led to the team playing well in the second half. "Hopefully that was a major turning point in the direction we are heading. I thought that after that there was some confidence in guys." Key will be looking for the offense to continue to get the hard yards inside against Stanford. He is also looking for the offense to be more consistent when they get inside the five-yard line. "My expectations that getting the ball on the one-yard line it shouldn't take more than two plays." Knowing that he is beating a dead horse, Key expressed the need to stop the run.    "All we're worried about this week is being 1-0 and improving as a football team. I excited to go out west and play a game against Stanford."