SOUTH BEND, IN.- In a season of soul-crushing close losses, Georgia Tech avoided the drama early in a 55-0 drumming against #6 Notre Dame. The Jackets fell behind 3-0 early then a pick-six by Jordan Yates on the next drive started a free fall that never ended. The loss was the worst since the Clemson 73-7 drubbing a year ago in Bobby Dodd Stadium and didn’t exactly supply tons of hope heading into next weekend’s game against #1 Georgia on the Jackets’ home turf where they are winless since 1999.

Head coach Geoff Collins was clear about his disappointment after the game.

“Hats off to Notre Dame, that's a really good football team, but I thought we got outcoached, we got out-executed, and we got out physical(ed) throughout the game. Our response to adversity was not like we've shown in previous weeks and we got to find a way,” Collins said. “We've got the number one team in the country coming into town next Saturday. That one hurt. Obviously, they're hurting in there (the locker room) and this has not been the type of football that we've played and battled the last couple of weeks, so just got to get better.”

Notre Dame scored on every series in the first half plus a pick-six racking up 354 yards of offense. Collins agreed that was a major turning point in the game.

“That opening drive, they get the kickoff return, we lost leverage by two guys on the perimeter which can happen against a good returner, they crossed the 50, they get down into the red zone and the guys had the proper mindset, the right mentality, they get a stop, they force a field goal, then we come out and have that pick-six and then we're unable to respond really for the rest of the first half. That was disappointing to see and we got to find a way to get the right.”

They finally punted on the opening drive of the second half, but still managed to score a field goal. Brian Kelly pulled his starters at that point and the reserves struggled against Tech’s first-team defense.

Jack Coan threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns while a mixture of backs and QB runs put up 212 yards on the ground and three touchdowns for Notre Dame. The Irish averaged 8.7 yards per play while holding Tech to just 3.6 yards per play at 224 yards of offense on the day.

Tight end Michael Mayer had three catches for 86 yards and a touchdown and Kevin Austin had 89 yards receiving on two catches and eight yards rushing to lead the Irish offense.

Yates struggled throwing a pick-six and having a strip-sack returned for a touchdown in the game. He threw 28 times for just 96 yards and ran for just 20 yards because of the negative plays from the six sacks the line gave up despite him having 72 yards pre-net rushing.

Star running back Jahmyr Gibbs was held to 58 yards rushing and zero catches for the first time this season.

Tech did manage three sacks to keep the Irish from eclipsing 600 yards of offense and five tackles for a loss in the game with safeties Tariq Carpenter and Juanyeh Thomas finishing as the leading tacklers, but the expected dynamic duo also struggled in the loss and Thomas put a lot of blame on his own shoulders.

“Two of the biggest passes were on me. It is not like he was running free,” Thomas said of the Irish tight end Mayer. “I mean I got to the dude and he made a great catch, but I have to fight through the ball and we have to have confidence as a defense to make plays on the ball and I take pride in that so I have to make a play on the ball too.”

Thomas said like many of the losses this year, key plays broke down and the Jackets would have one missed coverage or mistake lead to a big play. He said they’ve got to learn to make up for these miscues.

“We have got to learn how to make up for a mistake that is made by one guy,” Thomas said of the defense. “This is college ball and one person can mess up at least one person is not going to be perfect so that is why everything comes together and we have done a good job of staying together so that does not happen, but it goes back to the focus piece and making plays and we didn’t.”

Collins said his team was outcoached but he did not offer additional details as to how he plans to fix that and whether he plans to make changes to his staff as the Jackets look at another 3-win season falling to 3-8 on the year.

Notre Dame took the opening kickoff 51-yards to the GT49. The Irish hit a 38-yard pass on first down to Kevin Austin to set up first and goal. Quez Jackson had a sack to push the Irish back 11 yards on the next play. Jordan Domineck had a sack on third and goal to force a field goal to make it 3-0 Notre Dame on a 41-yard field goal by Jonathan Doerer.

Azende Rey returned the squib kick to the GT30. Yates nearly fumbled on the first play but Gibbs ran for six yards on second down and Adonicas Sanders caught a quick slant to pick up a first down near midfield. On second down Yates threw a pick six (42 yards) to Jack Kiser to make it 10-0 Notre Dame with 10:33 left in the 1st quarter.

Notre Dame’s next kickoff went out of bounds, Gibbs ran for no yards on first down, Yates got sacked on second down and Jordan Mason ran for seven on third down leading to a punt. Notre Dame returned the punt to their 35 and converted on third down and short on a pass to the tight end Michael Mayer and picked up 15 more on a penalty on Djimon Brooks away from the play that flipped the field. Tech got a stop on third down at the GT21, but the Irish went for it and picked up nine yards on a pass to set up first and 10 at the 12. Kyren Williams scored on a 7-yard touchdown run one play later to make it 17-0 in the 1st quarter.

Yates hit Kyric McGowan on a screen for seven yards and Adonicas Sanders for a first down on the next play after a fair catch on the kickoff. Tech drove to the GT46 where they had third and two. Will Lay had a false start out of the timeout at left guard. Tech had a delay of game on the next play and Yates scrambled for four yards leading to another punt.

Tech got Notre Dame in third down again and short, but Kevin Austin picked up eight yards to the ND 48. Michael Mayer caught a 52-yard touchdown uncovered in the middle of the field to make it 24-0. Tech went backwards on the next drive on a first down sack and had to punt to the ND39 out of their own end zone.

The Irish converted on third and short from their own 48 on a leak out by Kyren Williams for 19 yards to move to the Tech 35. Coan hit Deion Colzie for 16 yards and then Braden Lenzy set up first and goal ND at the GT7. Logan Diggs scored on a short run to make it 31-0 Notre Dame.

Tech took over after a fair catch at their 25. Gibbs picked up seven yards on first down, but Notre Dame blew up a mesh on second down and Yates had a blitzer in his face on third down leading to a punt. Shanahan mishit the punt and ND got the ball at their own 40. Kryen Williams ran for 26 yards on first down to the GT34. Williams converted a third down run to move into the red zone. Diggs caught a 20-yard screen pass for a touchdown to make it 38-0 with 7:21 left in the first half.

Ryan King caught his first career pass on the first play of the next drive. Gibbs picked up a first down on a five-yard run on the next play. Malachi Carter had back to back catches to move the ball across midfield to set up first and 10 GT at the ND47. Tech got to the ND45 before having to punt after three failed pass plays. Shanahan’s punt was fair caught at the ND10.

Kevin Austin caught a 52-yard pass on first down to the GT38. Michael Mayer caught an 18-yard pass for another first down to put the Irish in the red zone. Coan scrambled and found George Takacs for a first down at the GT1 on a 19-yard pass. Kyren Williams scored on third and goal from the one to make it 45-0 Notre Dame. The Irish got called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the PAT, so they had to kickoff from their own 20.

Rey took the kick return to the GT34. Dylan Leonard picked up first down on a toss from Yates. Yates hit Leonard for a 22-yard pass on second down to the ND30. The Irish blocked Jude Kelley’s long 47-yard FG attempt to send the game to halftime.

Gibbs took the opening kickoff of the second half out to the GT40. Dontae Smith had a 22-yard run on second down to the ND 35. McGowan caught a screen pass for a six-yard loss on second down to move Tech back to the ND36. Tech ended up in 4th and 12 at the ND36, Collins opted to punt to the ND12.

Tech stopped the Irish holding them to a three and out thanks to two good plays by Juanyeh Thomas on a TFL on first down and a pass breakup on second down. Coan fired the ball into the ground looking for his RB on third down. Tech went three and out on the next possession and were forced to punt, ND was called for an illegal block in the back pinning the Irish at their own 7.

Notre Dame flipped the field on the first play on a simple read-option with backup QB Tyler Buchner who ran 68 yards. ND got down to the GT8 where they were forced to kick a field goal to make it 48-0.

Yates had a 54-yard scramble to the ND15 on the next possession. On third down, Yates fumbled on a sack by Isaiah Foskey and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa returned the fumble 71-yards to make it 55-0 with 4:50 left in the 3rd quarter.

Yates connected with Carter for a first down on a third and long situation on the next drive to the GT46. Yates scrambled to the ND46 on second down and Jordan Mason converted on third and short to the ND40. Tech got backed up after failing to move the ball much on the next two downs and a Will Lay false start. Yates got sacked for a huge loss on third down to force a punt.

ND started the drive at the GT20 after a touchback on the punt, ND converted on first down for 10 yards, but Sylvain Yondjoeun sacked Buchner on first down and he fumbled, but he recovered it. The big loss led to another Irish punt.

Gibbs bailed out GT after a Yates sack on first down with a 17-yard run to the ND49. Yates got Tech across midfield to the ND44 on a QB draw. He got sacked on third down to bring on the punt team. Notre Dame fell behind the sticks on a holding call on first down and Tech got pressure on second and third down by Jordan Domineck to force a punt.

Tech went three and out and Nate McCollum downed the punt at the ND17. Myles Sims had a tackle for a loss on first down, but Audric Estime had back-to-back long runs to midfield for the Irish.