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Takeaways from Georgia Tech v. UCF

Georgia Tech lost in their home opener against non-conference foe UCF 49-21 Saturday, but the final score doesn’t necessarily dictate how the game went. Georgia Tech had closed the gap to 28-21 with 13:12 to go in the final quarter of play, but turnovers and injuries ended up being the deciding factor.

The Yellow Jackets were injury-depleted, especially on the defense side of the ball. Central Florida’s up-tempo offense proved to take advantage of that. The defensive line was missing TK Chimezda (out for the season), Antonneous Clayton, Antwan Owens, and Curtis Ryans (national defensive player of the week in week 1). The Jackets were also missing All-ACC running back Jordan Mason and both starting tight ends in Dylan Deveney and Dylan Leonard. Still, the offense managed to produce 471 yards, but they couldn’t overcome six turnovers and some questionable officiating in the second half.


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A Few Takeaways:

1) Jahmyr Gibbs is everything the Jackets want out of their true freshman running back. The highly touted 4-star prospect out of Dalton High School was well over 200 all-purpose yards in his debut on the Flats along with two touchdown scores. Expect big things from him as the season goes along.

2) The offensive line is still a very solid unit. Coach Brent Key’s patience and development are showing clear as day. There were a lot of questions coming into the season about how well the offensive line would perform, but two games into the season and I can personally say I am very impressed with their performance thus far.

3) The defense made adjustments after halftime, but the injuries took a large toll on the Jackets upfront. Missing a few pieces last week, the Jackets took out the Seminoles in the 2020 opener, but UCF’s speed on the perimeter and uptempo just seemed to be too much to handle.

4) Let’s not take away any credit from one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Dillon Gabriel. He picked up from where he left off last year passing for 417 yards, and completing 27 of his 41 passes. Under pressure, Gabriel was much less accurate, but after losing a couple more defensive lineman to injuries during the game, the Yellow Jackets decided switched to a 3-3-5 on defense which left some pressure off of Gabriel. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this guy launch himself further into the national spotlight this season.

Overall, the Yellow Jackets still played a great game despite the mistakes and injuries. It’s tough to host the #14 team in the country at home and fall victim to adversity late in the game. There is a lot to be optimistic about for Georgia Tech fans though, as the young core of this team continues to impress and exceed expectations. With a healthy roster and plenty of time to correct some mistakes, this team could blossom as the season continues into the fall. The Jackets will travel to Syracuse (0-2) next Saturday for their second ACC game of the season.

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