Georgia Tech fell to 5-4 after a listless 21-6 loss to Virginia Tech. With 3 games left should we already be talking about missing a bowl game? You bet when 2 of your final 3 opponents Miami and Georgia are in the top 10. NC State the third opponent is showing signs of life too.
I thought bowl games didn’t matter though. Well in the scheme of college football, they don’t with all the opt-outs, and emphasis on the playoffs, but to a rebuilding Georgia Tech it matters a lot.
Georgia Tech after making a bowl and winning it last year showed signd of moving in the right direction, but to miss a bowl game would be a clear stall in the progress – plus with the ACC athletic money incentives for making a game, that’s revenue that was there for the taking that you let get away.
If Georgia Tech misses a bowl game, the season will be called a disaster, a setback and regression, especially after a 5-2 start. That would be a 5 game losing streak to end the season on.
Yes the the schedule was tough, yes QB Haynes King missing 2 games and counting hurts, but there are coachable things that you can control. Special teams collectively has gotten worse. In fairness, it was serviceable today, but a disappointment overall this season. The offense largely behind backup Zach Pyron has scored 19 points in two games in a barrage of offensive playcalling by Buster Faulkner that doesn’t seem to fit his skillset.
A look at the defense without their star Kyle Efford giving credible efforts against Notre Dame and Virginia Tech also indicates that DC Tyler Santucci is getting more out of his defense than Faulkner is out of his offense despite injuries on both sides of the ball.
In any case missing the post-season simply can’t happen in year 2 for Brent Key, and he’s got to find a way to make it, and that means finding a win over Miami (unlikely), NC State (best chance, but no guarantee), and Georgia (if a miracle happens) is an absolute must.
That’s the difference between a season you can live with if maybe not happy with and one where Brent Key might find himself with some hotseat whispers going into next year.
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