Brent Key Knows What is at Stake For Georgia Tech on Saturday

Georgia Tech can clinch bowl eligibility with a win over Syracuse on Saturday

When he has been asked about bowl eligibility before, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key has not wanted to discuss it and kept the focus on the week and the opponent ahead. 

That tone changed yesterday though. 

Georgia Tech can clinch bowl eligibility with a win over Syracuse this Saturday night at home and Key talked about the opportunity that lays in front of his team on Saturday: 

"So up until Sunday, I had not said the word at all, it is the same mentality each week, it is a one-game season each week and that is the mentality each week and taken, but yeah on Sunday, I brought it up, I did. This is playoff football now, this is NFL Championship, win and you're in. There is no... there is no dwelling on the last game, it is boom and you have to move on and that is the way it works and we brought it up. We talked about it. It is a big deal for these kids, a really big deal. As an alumni here, it is a really big deal for me, it is a big deal for these guys coming back here, it is a big deal for Georgia Tech, it is a big deal for the athletic association, it is a big deal for the entire Georgia Tech community so heck yeah we talked about it and these guys understand that and know it is something special they have in front of them to work and get."

Brent Key can lead Georgia Tech to a bowl game on Saturday with a win / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Not only was Key talking about the possibility of making a bowl game, he stressed the point of what a difference the home crowd can make and how he wants to see Bobby Dodd Stadium filled this weekend: 

"Yeah that is huge. They (Syracuse) have had some struggles... as an offensive line coach I get those issues that you have several different guys back there with cadences and different rhythms of the cadences, you have different types of sounds and noises and things and that is tough on the center, he has to be keyed in on his calls and getting everyone lined up, keying in to listening to the snap count or cadence or whatever mechanisms they use and the louder it gets, the harder it is to do and for the fans and the student body in particular, this week, the way they were at UNC, the way these guys are able to support the students out there playing, we really have an opportunity to make this a great, great homefield advantage and be a 12th man for the defense and to help them with these things as long as possible and be a part of this, I want everyone in the stadium to be a part of this game this weekend."

This will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two programs and just the third since Syracuse joined the ACC. The last time the two programs met was in 2020, a game in which Syracuse won 37-20. The only time the two programs have met in Atlanta was 2013 and Georgia Tech won that handily 56-0.

After beating Pitt last Saturday, Syracuse is now one win away from getting to a bowl game as well. The Orange have suffered a rash of injuries this year, but they just need one more win to get to the postseason. Both teams have a lot on the line when they face each other in Atlanta next Saturday. 

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