As 2019 closes, there’s questions about Geoff Collins but also hope.

Georgia Tech’s season effectively finished on Thursday night with a 28-26 over win over NC State. Yes there is still UGA left, but the final score of that game will be irrelevant to this season. UGA is fighting to be a top 4 team, and GT is trying to win game number 4. If the Jackets are competitive, it will be a bonus. Let’s be honest Georgia Tech is not currently equipped to handle an OLine and the stable of backs that UGA has. I hear their defense is pretty good too.

In any case, I think we can go ahead asses how Geoff Collins did his first year.

There were some historically bad losses this season – the 27-24 loss to The Citadel, and the 45-0 home defeat to Virginia Tech. There was a constant rotation of QB’s early in the year, that seemed to disrupt the ability to have any offensive continuity. Why Collins didn’t just settle on a QB earlier didn’t seem to make any sense.

Then after last week’s loss to Virginia Tech, Collins said the talent at Virginia Tech was the best he’d seen since GT had played Temple. It was a comment that wreaked of shameless self-promotion after an embarrassing loss. To talk about the talent level at your former school is not a good look.

That is why we can’t call Geoff Collins the sure thing Scott Satterfield is at Louisville, but there is enough there to have hope.

The transition for Georgia Tech to change offenses was never going to be easy. At the beginning of the season the offense barely looked functional, but most GT fans would be satisfied just to see improvement.

Improvement is what they saw.

Three times in the 2nd half of the season, Georgia Tech scored 28 points after not reaching that total once in the first half. Collins settled in on a QB with Jay Graham who trended upwards as the season progressed. He became a better passer and a more assertive runner. There were wins over Miami and NC State to ensure that GT wouldn’t be the worst team in the ACC, to go along with competitive games with Virginia and Pittsburgh.

Ahmarean Brown tied Calvin Johnson’s Georgia Tech freshman TD record, and may break the record next week. He’s a future star.

The 45-0 loss to Virginia Tech was bad, but the Hokies followed that up with a 28-0 win over Pittsburgh and will be the ACC’s second highest ranked team next week. You have to give credit to the Hokies for playing so well.

Collins kept his team engaged and motivated during a trying season. They got better, and didn’t quit.

How much more can one ask of a team that was injury riddled and undersized especially on defense?

Collins is no sure thing. I saw plenty that concern me, but I also saw plenty that says you can’t write him and the future off in only year one of his tenure.

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