Georgia Tech’s rebuild took another step forward after their 46-27 win Friday over the Louisville Cardinals. Following a poorly played mistake prone effort against Syracuse, the Jacket season hung in the balance against the Cardinals. Another sloppy effort and Georgia Tech would have been 1-3, with Clemson, Notre Dame, and Miami still remaining on the schedule.
To Colllins and his staff’s credit, Georgia Tech played their cleanest game of the season. The Yellow Jackets had zero turnovers. Where previous game redzone trips were an adventure at best, the Jackets scored a TD everytime in the redzone Friday. Jeff Sims had by far his best decision making game of the season, and the Jackets cut their penalties by more than half from their game with Sryacuse.
The Jackets even made 3 of 4 XPs, and had just 1 blocked. If you have seen Georgia Tech the previous 3 games, you know that was an improvement. We’ve also seen the clear emergence of RB Jahmyr Gibbs. Gibbs is the best freshman offensive talent at Georgia Tech since the legendary Calvin Johnson… period. Gibbs is headed towards a freshman All-American season, and suddenly with the healthy return of defensive lineman former 5-star transfer Antonneous Clayton, Georgia Tech has some semblance of a pass rush.
What you are seeing with Georgia Tech over the last 1 1/2 seasons with Collins is clear unmistakable growth. The first half of last year saw a complete mess of an offensive football team that lost to the Citadel following the Jackets transition from the triple option. The 2nd half had wins over Miami and NC State and a number of more competitive losses than the first half.
This year had a surprising win at Florida State, and now a win over Louisville as an underdog as Georgia Tech evens their record at 2-2.
The Jackets are still very much a work in progress. This is not a great team, but progress is being made. From the ACC’s worst team during the 1st half of last year, to being better than 1 or 2 ACC teams at the end of the year, to now trending towards the middle of the ACC.
If you are a Jacket’s fan some games are going to be very frustrating at the moment, but games like Friday offer glimpses of where the program may be headed.
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